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 renewabl ...
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 b ...
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 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, which merged in 1939.
A major fire occurred at the Cosmo refinery in Ichihara, as a result of the
2011 Tōhoku earthquake
Eleven or 11 may refer to:
*11 (number), the natural number following 10 and preceding 12
* one of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011, or any year ending in 11
Literature
* ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn
*''E ...
.
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, TonenGeneral Sekiyu, and
Sumitomo Corporation
is one of the largest worldwide ''sogo shosha'' general trading companies, and is a diversified corporation. The company was incorporated in 1919 and is a member company of the Sumitomo Group.
It is listed on three Japanese stock exchanges ...
, all with 25% of the ownership.
Refineries
Cosmo operates three refineries, all of which are located in Japan:
*
Ichihara, Chiba (former Maruzen refinery):
*
Yokkaichi, Mie (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 .
Gallery
See also
*
Cosmo Oil Yokkaichi F.C., former
football club, originally owned by the Daikyo refinery.
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
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