Japan’s crude throughput fell further to 2.29 million bpd in the week ended May 9, declining by 1.9% from the previous week, data from the Petroleum Association of Japan showed. Compared to a year earlier, crude throughput plunged 24.9% during the week. Meanwhile, refinery utilization rates dropped to just 65% of the capacity, down from 66.3% a week ago.
The declining crude throughput came despite the country’s Golden Week national holidays over late April to early May, which is typically a peak driving season. However, people prefered to stay at home amid the nationwide state of emergency measures against the coronavirus pandemic. PAJ data suggests that gasoline shipments in the country dropped 38.8% from a year earlier during the public holiday season.
