We would like to offer our sincere apologies for all the trouble and distress caused by the fire that broke out in our Chiba oil refinery around 5:40 a.m. on April 16, 2006.
The circumstances at 7:00 p.m. on April 20 are as follows.
| Circumstances on April 20 | We cleaned up the accident site at the Chiba oil refinery and the City Fire Department continued its on-site investigation. |
|---|---|
| Facilities shut down for safety | The vacuum gas oil desulfurization unit and the hydrogen production unit No.1 have been shut down by order of the Fire Department since immediately after the accident. We also took the autonomous decision to shut down the topping unit No.2, vacuum distillation unit No. 2, and hydrogenerated desulfurization unit No.4. |
| Next step | The third-party academic experts and officers from relevant authorities who comprise the "Chiba Oil Refinery Accident Investigation Committee for the Vacuum Gas Oil Desulfurization Unit and the Hydrogen Production Unit No. 1" inspected the site on April 19. The first meeting of the Committee will be held next week. |
* We will continuously and fully cooperate with the relevant authorities and make our utmost efforts to identify the cause of the fire and to take measures against future reoccurrence.
