Faced with competition from mammoth new refineries in the Middle East and soft fuel demand in key markets, Asian refiners are trying a variety of tactics to cope from investing in refineries in emerging markets to using cheaper energy sources. Less complex and older refineries in Asia, however, might be forced to cut run rates or shut, industry executives said at an energy conference. “We have to explore ways and means to survive the decline in demand and try to maintain refining capacity,” vice-president Michio Ikeda of JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp said on the sidelines of the Asia Oil and Gas Conference in Kuala Lumpur. Japan’s largest refiner is considering investments in markets such as Vietnam and Indonesia and also increasing petrochemical production. It is also using lower cost energy sources such as bitumen and petroleum coke, and alternative feedstocks such as naphtha, reformate and […]