Nippon Oil
Encyclopedia
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
company. Its businesses include the exploration, importation, and refining of crude oil; the manufacture and sale of petroleum products, including fuels and lubricants; and other energy-related activities.
Its products are sold under the brand name ENEOS, which is also the name used for its service stations. It is the largest oil company in Japan, and in recent years it has been expanding its operations in other countries.
History
The company was established 1888 as the , "Nisseki" (日石) for short. In 1999, the company merged with and absorbed the former . The merged company was called until 2002, when it adopted its present name.In late 2009, Nippon Oil announced its most recent merger activity. An excerpt from the press release is attached...
'"Nippon Oil Corporation and Nippon Mining Holdings, Inc. have been working towards their business integration based on the business integration agreement entered into on October 30, 2009 and the share transfer plan for the establishment of the holding company, assuming the approval of the general meetings of shareholders of Nippon Oil and Nippon Mining and of the regulatory authorities.
As the Companies have agreed upon the operational structure of oil refineries, manufacturing facilities and branch offices of JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corporation to be established on July 1, 2010 (“JX Nippon Oil & Energy,” a wholly owned petroleum refining and marketing business company of JX Holdings, Inc. to be established on April 1, 2010) and the branding to be used by JX Nippon Oil & Energy..."'
Worldwide operations
The company has world wide locations including JX Nippon Oil & Energy USA Inc in Itasca, IllinoisItasca, Illinois
Itasca is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. The population was 8,302 at the 2000 census.In 2009, BusinessWeek rated Itasca as the 'Best Affordable Suburb' in the state of Illinois...
, Torrance, California
Torrance, California
Torrance is a city incorporated in 1921 and located in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. Torrance has of shore-front beaches on the Pacific Ocean, quieter and less well-known by tourists than others on the Santa Monica Bay, such as those of neighboring...
, and Nippon Oil Lubricants (America), LLC
Limited liability company
A limited liability company is a flexible form of enterprise that blends elements of partnership and corporate structures. It is a legal form of company that provides limited liability to its owners in the vast majority of United States jurisdictions...
, in Childersburg, Alabama. ENEOS is JX Group's corporate brand. They have brought their premium brand motor oil ENEOS and SUSTINA into the United States recently. The product line includes the extremely difficult to formulate 0W-50 viscosity
Viscosity
Viscosity is a measure of the resistance of a fluid which is being deformed by either shear or tensile stress. In everyday terms , viscosity is "thickness" or "internal friction". Thus, water is "thin", having a lower viscosity, while honey is "thick", having a higher viscosity...
oil. New line of premium full synthetic motor oil SUSTINA is now available in the United States.
NOC employs over 4,222 people with additional employees from oversea divisions, and operates the following refineries throughout Japan:
- Muroran RefineryRefineryA refinery is a production facility composed of a group of chemical engineering unit processes and unit operations refining certain materials or converting raw material into products of value.-Types of refineries:Different types of refineries are as follows:...
(Nippon Petroleum Refining Co., Ltd.) - Sendai Refinery (NPRC)
- YokohamaYokohamais the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
Refinery (NPRC) - NegishiIsogo-ku, Yokohamais one of the 18 wards of the city of Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2010, the ward had an estimated population of 163,406 and a density of 8,520 persons per km². The total area was 19.17 km².-Geography:...
Refinery (NPRC) - MizushimaKurashiki, Okayamais a historic city located to the west of Okayama Prefecture, Japan, sitting on the Takahashi River, on the coast of the Inland Sea.As of April 2010, the city has a population of 473,392. The total area is .-History:...
Refinery (NPRC) - OsakaOsakais a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
Refinery (NPRC) - Marifu Refinery (NPRC)
Nippon Oil Exploration also owns a 5% share of Syncrude
Syncrude
Syncrude Canada Ltd. is the world's largest producer of synthetic crude oil from oil sands and the largest single source producer in Canada. It is located just outside Fort McMurray in the Athabasca Oil Sands, and has a nameplate capacity of of oil, equivalent to about 13% of Canada's consumption...
, a Canadian oil sands
Athabasca Oil Sands
The Athabasca oil sands are large deposits of bitumen, or extremely heavy crude oil, located in northeastern Alberta, Canada - roughly centred on the boomtown of Fort McMurray...
mining company, through its fully owned subsidiary Mocal Energy.
The company also has technical collaboration with Tide Water Oil Co., an Indian petroleum products manufacturer. Superior quality lubricants under the brand name ENEOS are manufactured and marketed in India by Tide Water Oil Co. in India.
2011 earthquake and tsunami
On 11 March 2011, a 145,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Sendai was set ablaze by a magnitude 9 earthquake. Workers were evacuated, but tsunami warnings hindered efforts to extinguish the fire until 14 March, when officials planned to do so.Environmental record
While developing the Rang Don Oil Field and Helang Gas Field NOEX, part of the Nippon Oil Corporation, conducted environmental impact assessments. These assessments helped them implement management plans based on the results of the assessments, specifically, how to reduce the impact of the fields on surrounding sea areas.In 2005 Nippon Oil and Ebara-Ballard announced they were going to start field testing a 1 kW household proton-exchange membrane fuel cell system that uses coal oil
Coal oil
Coal oil is a term once used for a specific shale oil used for illuminating purposes. Coal oil is obtained from the destructive distillation of cannel coal, mineral wax, and bituminous shale, while kerosene is obtained by the distillation of petroleum...
as fuel. It was the world's first household test with the system. The system achieves a greater power-generation efficiency than normal heating. The system can operate in temperatures as low as -10 deg C.
In 2007 Nippon Oil was the recipient of the Nippon Keidanren Chairman’s Prize in recognition of its achievements in a number of areas. They were the first in the Japanese petroleum industry to achieve a zero emission status at their refineries. They are also developing fuel cell systems as well as producing and selling sulfur-free fuel. The Rang Dong Oil Field in also one of the biggest CO2 reduction projects in the world. The project utilizes associated gas produced along with crude oil for additional energy production.
Connection to human rights abuses
The construction of the Yetagun pipelinePipeline transport
Pipeline transport is the transportation of goods through a pipe. Most commonly, liquids and gases are sent, but pneumatic tubes that transport solid capsules using compressed air are also used....
in Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
has been linked to 'severe human rights abuse
Abuse
Abuse is the improper usage or treatment for a bad purpose, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, sexual assault, violation, rape, unjust practices; wrongful practice or custom; offense; crime, or otherwise...
s' by Burmese troops. The company stated it 'was not aware of such abuses.'However critics claim that such foreign investment by Nippon Oil and other multinational
Multinational corporation
A multi national corporation or enterprise , is a corporation or an enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country. It can also be referred to as an international corporation...
s: 'provides a crucial source of support to the junta
Military junta
A junta or military junta is a government led by a committee of military leaders. The term derives from the Spanish language junta meaning committee, specifically a board of directors...
, allowing it to ignore demands that it return Burma to civilian rule and end human rights abuses.' http://www.business-humanrights.org/Categories/Individualcompanies/N/NipponOil
Sponsorship
Nippon Oil was formerly a sponsor of the Honda Racing F1 Team and is a current sponsor of the F.C. Tokyo footballFootball (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
club. It also sponsors other motor sports teams, such as Team Lexus LeMans ENEOS SC430 in the Japanese Super GT series in the GT500 class. In the late 1980s and early 1990s JSPC
All Japan Sports Prototype Championship
The , abbreviated as JSPC, formed by the Japanese Automobile Federation, was a domestic championship which took place in Japan for Group C and IMSA GTP prototype cars and also featured cars that were eligible for touring car racing in its earlier years...
, it sponsored the Trust Racing Team
GReddy
is a Japanese automotive aftermarket company specialising in performance tuning parts for cars. The company is widely known for its subbrand of tuning parts GReddy and the turbochargers under this brand.-The Trust Company:...
Porsche
Porsche
Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....
.