Boston, MA -- (SBWIRE) -- 09/04/2014 -- New legislation intended to streamline the refining sector saw around 400,000 barrels per day ( b/d ) of Japan's refining capacity taken offline. We forecast weak refined product demand to offer limited future prospects for the sector. We forecast the first nuclear power plants to return to the Japanese grid before the end of 2014, reducing the need for fossil fuel imports. The mild summer has also tempered LNG demand and softened import costs. That said, we expect liquefied natural gas ( LNG ) demand to remain high as a significant amount of nuclear capacity will remain offline .

The main trends and developments we highlight for Japan's oil and gas sector are:

- Japan's refining capacity fell by 400,000 barrels per day (b/d) following the introduction of a law on heavy residue cracking. This will cut Japan's refining capacity to 3.94mn b/d, down over 1mn b/d from the early 2000s.

- Due to the reduction in refining capacity, Japanese refiners have already begun reducing volumes on annual crude import contracts.

- Large refining companies are increasingly looking to foreign markets for growth opportunities with a poor outlook for refined fuel demand in Japan.

- Japan's theoretical oil import requirement is forecast to...

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The Japan Oil & Gas Report has been researched at source and features Business Monitor International (BMI)'s independent forecasts for Japan including major indicators for oil, gas and LNG, covering all major indicators including reserves, production, consumption, refining capacity, prices, export volumes and values. The report includes full analysis of industry trends and prospects, national and multinational companies and changes in the regulatory environment.

BMI's Japan Oil & Gas Report provides professionals, consultancies, government departments, regulatory bodies and researchers with independent forecasts and competitive intelligence on the Japanese oil and gas industry.

Key Benefits:

- Benchmark BMI's independent oil and gas industry forecasts for Japan to test consensus views - a key input for successful budgeting and strategic business planning in the Japanese oil and gas market.

- Target business opportunities and risks in the Japanese oil and gas sector through reviews of latest industry trends, regulatory changes and major deals, projects and investments in Japan.

- Assess the activities, strategy and market position of your competitors, partners and clients via our Company Profiles (inc. SWOTs, KPIs and latest activity) and Competitive Landscape Tables.

Coverage:

Executive Summary:

Summary of BMI's key forecasts and industry analysis, covering oil and gas reserves, supply, demand and refining, plus analysis of landmark company developments and key changes in the regulatory environment.

Regional Overview:

Regional perspective on size and value of industry sector; comparative rankings by production, refining, imports and exports of oil, gas and LNG.

Business Environment Ratings:

BMI's Oil and Gas Business Environment Ratings provide a country-comparative Risk-Reward Ratings index aimed at investors (independents, NOCs, IOCs and oil services companies) in the upstream and downstream markets.

The ratings methodology makes sophisticated use of more than 40 industry, economic and demographic data points and is part of BMI's integrated Country Risk-Industry Ratings products.

Oil Market Outlook and Oil Products Outlook:

Based on our country coverage of over 99% of global oil and gas production and consumption, BMI provides demand, supply and price forecasts to end-2017 for oil, gas and oil products

BMI Industry Forecasts:

Historic data series and forecasts to end-2017 for all key industry indicators (see list below), supported by explicit assumptions, plus analysis of key downside risks to the main forecast, including:

Pricing: Oil price (US$/bbl, WTI, Brent, OPEC basket, Urals); Oil products prices (unleaded gasoline, gasoil/diesel, jet/kerosene - US$/bbl) at global hubs

Production, Consumption, Capacity and Reserves: Proven oil reserves (bn barrels), production, consumption, refinery capacity and throughputs (`000b/d); Proven gas reserves (tcm), production and consumption (bcm)

Imports and Exports: Oil exports/imports (`000b/d), value of oil exports/imports (US$mn - BMI base case); Value of oil exports at constant US$50/bbl and constant US$100/bbl (US$mn); Gas exports/imports (bcm), Value of gas exports/imports (US$mn); Value of gas exports/imports at constant US$50/bbl and US$100/bbl (US$mn); Value of petroleum exports/imports (US$mn); Value of petroleum exports/imports at constant US$50/bbl and US$100/bbl (US$mn)

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