is a Japanese

petrochemical Petrochemicals (sometimes abbreviated as petchems) are the chemical products obtained from petroleum by refining. Some chemical compounds made from petroleum are also obtained from other fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas, or renewable sou ...

company. It is Japan's third-biggest refiner by sales after

JX Holdings is a Japanese petroleum and metals conglomerate headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. In 2012 the multinational corporation consisted of 24,691 employees worldwide and, as of March 2013, JX Holdings was the forty-third largest company in the world by ...

and

Idemitsu Kosan is a Japanese petroleum company. It owns and operates oil platforms, refineries, produces and sells petroleum, oils and petrochemical products, and also operates gas stations under the brand and (until 2023) in its own ''Idemitsu'' and ''Sh ...

History

Cosmo traces its corporate roots to Maruzen Petroleum (丸善石油株式会社), a company established in 1931, although the oil business operated by Maruzen was originally established by Zenzo Matsumura in

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

in 1907. Cosmo Oil Company was formed on April 1, 1986, through the merger of Maruzen Petroleum and Daikyo Petroleum, a group of oil businesses based in

Niigata Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. Niigata Prefecture has a population of 2,227,496 (1 July 2019) and is the List of Japanese prefectures by area, fifth-largest prefecture of Japan by geographic area ...

, which merged in 1939. A major fire occurred at the Cosmo refinery in Ichihara, as a result of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake. It was extinguished after ten days, injuring six people and destroying storage tanks The ultimate cause was traced to the collapse of supports for LPG Tank 364, which had been filled with water and undergoing hydrostatic testing at the time the earthquake struck. The collapse fractured LPG pipes, releasing gas that then ignited, in turn igniting LPG in several adjacent tanks. In February 2015, the company said it will reorganize itself under a holding company to boost profitability. Also in 2015, in March, Cosmo Oil formed an LPG joint-venture, by merging its LPG business with three other company's LPG units. The new company, named Gyxis Corporation, started effective operations on April 1, 2015. Along Cosmo, the other three shareholding companies are

Showa Shell Sekiyu was a Japanese company that operated as a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell until it was acquired by Idemitsu Kosan in 2018 and integrated into the company the following year. It was formed by the merger of Showa Oil Company and Shell Sekiyu which w ...

, TonenGeneral Sekiyu, and Sumitomo Corporation, all with 25% of the ownership.

Refineries

Cosmo operates three refineries, all of which are located in Japan: *

Ichihara, Chiba is a city, located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 274,117 in 128,316 households and a population density of 240 persons per km². The total area of the city is . The city is home, together with the city of ...

(former Maruzen refinery): *

Yokkaichi, Mie is a city located in Mie Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 310,259 in 142162 households and a population density of 1500 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Yokkaichi is located in north-central ...

(former Daikyo refinery): * Sakai, Osaka (former Maruzen refinery): In August 2012, the company announced that it will close its Sakaide plant in southwest Japan. The refinery, which was closed and turned into an oil terminal in July 2013, was a former Asia Oil refinery with a capacity of .

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References

External links

* {{Authority control Oil companies of Japan Petrochemical companies Chemical companies based in Tokyo Oil companies based in Tokyo Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Retail companies established in 1986 Energy companies established in 1986 Non-renewable resource companies established in 1986 Japanese companies established in 1986 Automotive fuel retailers Japanese brands Midori-kai

History

Refineries

Gallery

See also

References

External links