Nippon Oil Cuts Fuel Output Further on Weak Demand

By Michio Nakayama and Shigeru Sato

Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Nippon Oil Corp., Japan's largest refiner, said it is making further cuts to output of gasoline and other petroleum products this month because of weaker demand.

Nippon Oil will cut crude oil processing 10 percent from a year earlier to 3.22 million kiloliters, or about 675,130 barrels a day, a spokesman said under condition of anonymity because of company policy. Previously, the Tokyo-based refiner said it planned to cut output by 3 percent.

Prices of gasoline at the pump climbed to record levels and slashed demand for the automotive fuel by the most in five years in August. Sales of the fuel plunged about 10 percent last month from a year earlier, according to the Petroleum Association of Japan.

Gasoline demand typically reaches its annual peak in August in Japan, and the fuel is the main contributor to refiners' profits during the summer season.

To contact the reporters on this story: Shigeru Sato in Tokyo at ssato10@bloomberg.net; Michio Nakayama in Tokyo at mnakayama$@bloomberg.net.