2007/1/15 Platts 　　　

Japan's PAJ approves creation of ETBE-importing joint venture

The Petroleum Association of Japan formally approved Monday the launch of a joint venture on January 26 for the specific purpose of importing ETBE, the president of the domestic refiners association, Fumiaki Watari, said Monday.
The JV, named Japan Biofuels Supply, will be in charge of procuring ETBE or ethyl tertiary butyl ether for the PAJ's plans to start selling ETBE-blended gasoline from April this year.
Japanese refiners will start selling ETBE-blended regular gasoline at 50 retail stations in Tokyo and adjacent prefectures by April 27 as a pilot project ahead of plans to adopt ethanol-blended gasoline in 2010-2011.
All of the imported ETBE will be blended with regular gasoline at Nippon Oil's Negishi refinery during the pilot project stage. Nippon Oil's 340,000 b/d Negishi refinery is located at Yokohama, 30 km east of Tokyo.
"We have secured most of 50 pump stations in the region (for the pilot project)," Watari told a press conference. "ETBE-blended gasoline will be priced same as regular gasoline," Watari added.
The JV plans to lift 7,000 kl (44,030 barrels) of ETBE at Nippon Oil's 340,000 b/d Negishi refinery in eastern Japan at the end of March after importing the additive from France, Watari told reporters.
The Japanese refiners are considering importing ETBE from Europe until they are equipped to produce the oxygenate on their own. France began using ETBE as a gasoline-blending component in 1994, followed by Spain in 2000 and Germany in 2004.