Top Japanese refiner Nippon Oil said it will boost its crude oil refining volume in February, revising up its earlier forecast for the month and increasing its January run after strong heating demand in December led to a drawdown of kerosene from storage tanks.

Nippon oil will raise its February crude run by 4 per cent to 5.1 million kilolitres (1.15 million barrels per day) from the same month in 2005, executive vice president Naokazu Tsuda said.
Earlier in January, Nippon Oil had said it was likely to keep its February crude run steady from a year earlier.
The planned February crude run is also higher than January's crude refining volume on a barrels-per-day basis.
January refining volume is estimated at 5.5 million kl (1.15 million bpd), or 7 per cent higher than a year earlier.
The estimated January volume is also revised up from its original plan to process 5.4 million kl. The Nippon Oil group, including affiliates such as Nihonkai Oil, has a refining capacity of 1.217 million bpd.