TOKYO : Japan's second-biggest oil refiner Idemitsu Kosan Co on Tuesday raised its annual profit forecast by 70 per cent after reporting record first-quarter earnings, buoyed by higher prices of oil and thermal coal.
Oil prices have hovered above $100 per barrel in the April to June quarter on tight supplies following Western sanctions on Russia, a major producer, and as energy consumption returned to near pre-pandemic levels. "Surging prices of oil and coal and a weaker yen contributed to strong first-quarter results and an upgrade of our full-year forecast," Yoshitaka Onuma, general manager of the finance department, told a news conference."Robust petroleum product margins in Singapore also led to higher earnings in exports," Onuma said, adding Idemitsu's export volume is expected to increase 53.5 per cent this year from a year earlier, also helped by higher operation rates at its refineries.