Nippon Oil to Raise Wholesale Gasoline Prices

Tokyo, Feb. 27 (Jiji Press)–Nippon Oil Corp. said Wednesday it will raise its wholesale gasoline prices by around 3 yen per liter next month.

Including kerosene and other oil products, the largest Japanese refiner will raise its wholesale prices by some 2 yen on average.

Japan Energy Corp., another major refiner, also announced an average hike of 3 yen.

The markups are likely to push up retail gasoline prices that have been on a downtrend since they hit a record high late last year.

At Nippon Oil, procurement costs decreased 0.3 yen per liter as the yen’s appreciation offset an impact from a rise in crude oil prices.

But past costs worth 2.3 yen per liter have yet to be reflected in wholesale prices of oil products, company officials said.

For gasoline alone, the company needs to raise wholesale prices by slightly over 3 yen to offset cost increases in the past because it has failed to pass them on to prices due to stiff competition among gas stations, the officials said.

Separately, the Oil Information Center said retail prices of regular gasoline in Japan averaged 151.8 yen per liter as of Monday, down 0.3 yen from a week before.

The average slid for the 10th straight week since it climbed to 155.5 yen last December, the highest since the survey began in 1987.END

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