JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp’s refinery is pictured in Yokohama, Japan February 7, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon Japanese refiners plan to sell assets and speed structural reform and overseas expansion as fuel demand is expected to fall at a faster pace due to a prolonged impact from the COVID-19 pandemic and an accelerating global decarbonisation trend. The dual headwinds of the pandemic and stronger pressure to cut carbon dioxide have forced Japan’s top refiner Eneos Holdings (5020.T) and second-ranked Idemitsu Kosan (5019.T) to downgrade their profit goals for the three years to March 2023. “There has been a significant environmental change since 2019, with the unprecedented coronavirus crisis, green recovery and Japan’s declaration of becoming carbon neutral,” Idemitsu President Shunichi Kito told a news conference last week after the company released its earnings. “We have taken a much harder look at future scenario,” he said, pointing to the revised […]