JAPAN CRISIS: Showa Shell resumes shipments from Keihin refinery

Tokyo (Platts)--14Mar2011/624 am EDT/1024 GMT

Japanese refiner Showa Shell resumed oil product shipments via tank trucks and tankers Sunday afternoon from its 185,000 b/d Keihin refinery in Tokyo Bay, a company official said Monday.

The shipments were suspended following the March 11 earthquake, though the refinery continued to operate normally after the quake, the official said.

Showa Shell's 210,000 b/d Yokkaichi refinery in central Japan resumed seaborne shipments Sunday afternoon, the official added.

Refinery operations at Yokkaichi and shipments for tank trucks have been normal since the earthquake.

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Meanwhile, its 120,000 b/d Yamaguchi refinery in western Japan was not affected by the earthquake, the official said.

Separately, the refiner suspended shipments from oil terminals at Aomori, Akita, Hachinohe and Shiogama in northern Japan after the earthquake.

Shipments from Aomori and Akita were restarted on Sunday, while Hachinohe and Shiogama terminals remain shut as the tanks there were covered with water by the tsunami, he said.

The capacities of the terminals were not immediately available.

--Atsuko Kawasaki, newsdesk@platts.com