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Asia: Massive Japan earthquake shuts refineries, power plants, ports

https://www.chemnet.com   Mar 14,2011 Platts
Japanese refiners Cosmo Oil and JX Nippon Oil and Energy shut their refineries in the eastern part of the country following a massive earthquake that struck the area on Friday afternoon. Several power plants and ports in the Tokyo Bay area were also closed.

An 8.9-magnitude earthquake struck the northeast coast of Japan at 2:46 pm local time (0546 GMT), sending a 10-meter tsunami sweeping across the coast near Sendai. The quake struck at a depth of 24.4 km, some 130 km (80.6 miles) east of Sendai on the coast of Honshu, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

A Cosmo Oil official confirmed a fire at storage tanks at its 220,000 b/d Chiba refinery and said that the refinery was shut.

JX Nippon Oil and Energy, Japan's largest refiner, also shut its 145,000 b/d Sendai, 189,000 b/d Kashima and 270,000 b/d Negishi refineries.

"The refineries were automatically shut [after the quake]. All other refineries are operating normally," a company official said.

Showa Shell, Idemitsu Kosan and Fuji Oil, were, however operating their refineries in the region normally.

Showa Shell is running its 185,000 b/d Keihin refinery in Tokyo Bay as usual, a company official said while an Idemitsu official confirmed that its 220,000 b/d Chiba refinery was operating normally. Fuji Oil too said that its 192,000 b/d Sodegaura refinery was operating normally.

In a knee-jerk reaction to the quake, April Brent crude futures fell by $2.60/b while the yen fell sharply against the dollar and regional stock markets tumbled. In Japan, the Nikkei stock index finished 1.72% lower at 10,254.43.

Japan's Tohoku Electric Power Company shut its three nuclear reactors at its Onagawa power plant while a Tokyo Electric Power Company spokesman said it had shut seven units at two of its nuclear power plants in Fukushima prefecture.

TOKYO BAY PORTS SUSPEND OPERATIONS

Key ports in the Tokyo Bay area also suspended operations, shipping sources said.

"The ports in the Tokyo Bay areas are shut," a source with a shipowner said. Another source said that operations could remain suspended for several days.

The Tokyo Bay area also includes several major LNG import terminals, including Tokyo Electric Power Company's 16 million mt/year Futsu terminal, 14.7 million mt/year Higashi Ogishima terminal and 10 million mt/year Sodegaura terminal. Tepco was unavailable to confirm whether the terminals were also shut.

The quake unleashed a 10 meter-high tsunami that tossed ships inland and sparked fears that destructive waves could hit across the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued a widespread warning for territories as far away as South America, New Zealand and Hawaii, where evacuations were ordered. Tsunami warnings have been issued for Russia and the Mariana Islands, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia and the US West Coast.

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