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Japan’s 3 top oil companies to cooperate
Japan’s three major oil companies — Nippon Oil, Teikoku Oil and Inpex — agreed Dec. 19 to seek cooperation in oil and gas exploration and production business abroad.
Nippon Oil Corp., Japan’s largest oil refiner in revenue and refining capacity, said it will support a planned merger between Teikoku Oil Co. and Inpex Corp.
Under the agreement, Nippon Oil and the Teikoku Oil-Inpex will consider a capital tie-up as well as a business alliance in new oil development projects, the three companies said at a joint news briefing. Relationship would create major A business relationship between Nippon Oil, and the Teikoku Oil-Inpex, if realized, would create a major comprehensive oil company handling activities from oil field development to refining and sales, analysts say.
“Combined with Nippon Oil’s refining know-how, and gas-to-liquid oil production technology, we are expecting to strengthen our (the new holding company’s) competitiveness in the global competition for natural resources,” Inpex President Naoki Kuroda told reporters.
As part of its long-term business plans, the cooperation agreement could help Nippon Oil boost oil and gas exploration and production businesses abroad.
“Joining them (the new holding company) should help form Japan’s major oil and gas exploration group, and contribute to Japan’s long-term energy supply security,” Nippon Oil Shinji Nishio said. Teikoku-Inpex merger announced in November In November Teikoku Oil and Inpex announced merger plans for April next year under a joint holding company, and a complete merge by June 2008, in an effort to improve their competitiveness in the race for global oil and gas assets.
Inpex, in which the Japanese government holds a 36 percent equity stake, is a company that promotes the development of international oil resources to gain a stable supply for the Japanese market. Teikoku Oil is an oil and gas exploration company. The three companies involved all are based in Tokyo.
Under the plans, by June 2008, Nippon Oil will consider holding a stake of about 5 percent stake in the Teikoku Oil-Inpex, which will consider holding a stake of about 1.5 percent in Nippon Oil. The agreement has set the cap of Nippon Oil’s stake in the merger entity at 7.5 percent.
—The Associated Press
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