Oil, petchem plants in Kyushu, Japan, running normally after quakes

[TOKYO] Oil and petrochemical plants on Kyushu island in the southwest of Japan are operating normally after a series of earthquakes measuring up to 7.3 magnitude, company officials said on Monday.

JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp, Japan's biggest oil refiner, said its 136,000-barrel-per-day Oita refinery located in the northeast of Kyushu has been conducting normal refining operations, a company spokesman said.

The company had briefly halted marine and truck product shipment operations early on Saturday but they all returned to normal by Saturday afternoon, he added.

The only naphtha cracker in Kyushu, the 691,000 tonnes per year facility owned by Showa Denko, has been continuing normal operations and there were no injuries or facility damage after the quakes, a company spokesman said.

Shares of JX's parent, JX Holdings ended up 0.2 yen at 455.4 yen (S$5.67) on Monday after tumbling 5 per cent minutes after the market open due to concerns about the operations at Oita.

REUTERS