Japan-based and offshore transactions and trading of crude oil, middle distillates and heavy oil; administrative and supervisory management of our group of subsidiaries in the petroleum trade and associated retail companies in Japan.

The Petroleum Supply & Marketing Unit is the key liaison for Mitsubishi Corporation's petroleum trade operations. We engage in the import to Japan, the export from Japan as well as offshore trading of crude oil and petroleum products. Our involvement with crude oil dates back to the 1950s, when Japanese petroleum refining companies began operations. We have helped to ensure the stable supply of crude oil to Japan in many different ways ever since, primarily based on our long-term contracts with oil-producing countries. In addition, our global network has for many years enabled us to develop trading relationships with petroleum customers in Asia and elsewhere, as well as with the major international oil companies. We now handle the business equivalent of 400 thousand barrels of crude oil per day. At the same time, crude oil from the concessions we have acquired through our investments in Australia, Indonesia, West Africa and the North Sea is marketed to petroleum companies in Japan and to international markets.

During the 1960s and 1970s, sharp increase in demand for petroleum brought about a shortage of petroleum products in Japan. Since that time, our petroleum products business evolved from an import business aimed at ensuring long-term and stable supply, to one which uses our import and export functions to correct imbalances in domestic supply and demand. We have also used our international network to expand into offshore trading in markets outside Japan. We currently trade in middle distillates (gas oil, kerosene, aircraft fuel) and heavy oil in Asia, the Middle East, the U.S. and elsewhere. Including subsidiaries and affiliates, the volume of product we trade annually exceeds 7 million metric tons.

In addition to the above, the business unit is expanding business in the areas of retail sales of gasoline and other petroleum products, and automobile accessories through its business investments, which include Mitsubishi Shoji Sekiyu Co., Ltd. and Dia-Shoseki Corporation (a joint-venture between MC and Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K.). It also supervises the value chain for the petroleum sales business.