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Japan's Eneos to buy Chevron's fuel, lube subsidiaries

  • : Biofuels, Oil products
  • 26/05/14

Japanese refiner Eneos plans to buy Chevron's downstream fuel and lubricant subsidiaries in Australia and southeast Asia, the company said today, aiming to tap growing overseas oil product demand while tackling shrinking domestic consumption.

Eneos signed a share purchase agreement with Chevron to acquire a all of the shares in each of Chevron's subsidiaries — Chevron Singapore, Chevron Malaysia, Chevron Philippines, Chevron Australia Downstream and Chevron Oil Products Indonesia — for $2.17bn. Eneos and Chevron aim to complete the transactions in 2027.

The purchase also includes Chevron's 50pc share in the largely export-based Singapore Refining Company's (SRC) 290,000 b/d refinery. SRC is also part-owned by the Singapore Petroleum Company, a fully owned subsidiary of Petrochina.

The move comes against the backdrop of expectations of further oil product demand growth in these countries, compared with that of Japan.

Eneos has attempted to improve the competitiveness of its refineries. The company set a goal to raise the operating rates of its refineries to 90pc by the April 2027-March 2028 fiscal year. It also decided to permanently shut one of its ethylene crackers at the Kawasaki refinery by the end of 2027-28 to optimise its petrochemical business. The cracker has an output capacity of 448,000 t/yr.

Biofuels

The acquisition of significant blending and storage infrastructure in Singapore will also allow Eneos to expand its biofuels trading book, including for marine biodiesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

Chevron has been one of the key suppliers of marine biodiesel in Singapore in recent years, buying used cooking oil methyl ester (Ucome) volumes from China for blending and bunkering in Singapore. Bunkering of biofuel blends in the port hit a yearly high of 1.3mn t in 2025, up by 25pc on the year.

Eneos could also be positioned to blend and supply SAF to Changi airport to meet Singapore's 1pc blending target in jet fuel, which will now start in 2027, having been pushed back from its original 2026 start date due to the war in the Middle East. The Singapore Sustainable Aviation Fuel Company (SAFCo), a non-profit company wholly owned by Singapore's civil aviation authority, will centrally procure SAF in the country. Sellers must be able to show ability to deliver fuel into Changi — either through membership of the Changi Airport Fuel Hydrant Installation (Cahfi), or by working with a member. Chevron is currently a Cahfi member.

Regional storage assets would also enable Eneos to aggregate biofuel and feedstock supplies from throughout Asia before shipping to other regions to meet demand — an important logistical advantage when dealing with dispersed supplies of valuable waste feedstocks like used cooking oil and palm oil mill effluent.

This could help cost-effectively source feedstock for Eneos' own biorefinery in Hawaii with Par Pacific and Mitsubishi, which started up in April, or their upcoming biorefinery conversion at former Wakayama refinery — again with Mitsubishi.


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