JX Holdings (5020.TO) is off 16% at Y496 and Cosmo Oil (5007.TO) is down
26% at Y209 after fires broke out at JX Holding's refinery in quake-hit
Sendai
in
Japan
's
northeast and at Cosmo Oil's
Chiba
refinery north of
Tokyo
. The
companies are expected to incur costs associated with maintaining supply and
restoring damaged facilities, analysts at Citigroup Global Markets Japan say in
a research note.
With the shutdowns of the nuclear power plants damaged by
Friday's massive earthquake in northern Japan, they add operating rates for
oil-fired thermal power as a substitute energy source are likely to rise. "We
think measures to cope with higher demand for oil as a fuel will be
needed," they write.