Oil and energy firm thrives in balancing biz strategies

Under a medium-term management plan focused on profitability, growth and flexibility, the Japanese oil, gas and metal conglomerate JX Holdings has come out stronger amid a difficult period for the energy industry, and it is maintaining its position in the list of the top 50 worldwide energy companies based on revenue.

"We need to be both flexible and resilient," said Isao Matsushita, the company's president. "It is very important for us to balance our oil and non-oil downstream, as well as our upstream, middle-stream and business components. This makes us less susceptible to a changing economic environment while getting more involved in highly developing regions and countries such as Southeast Asia and, of course, China."

He said China tops the list of countries for companies, such as JX, seeking more growth. "As the head of our Beijing office, I was engaged in areas of lubricants and oil exploration in the mid-1990s, when we had just launched lubricant manufacturing factories in Shanxi and Tianjin," said Matsushita.

"From then on, we expanded our business in China. At this moment, we have 29 locations and sites across the country."

He stressed the importance of becoming more involved in clean and renewable energy. As a result, the group's energy company - JX Nippon Oil & Energy - recently started supplying hydrogen energy to fuel cell vehicles.

JX Nippon Oil & Energy is a Gold Partner of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Through this partnership, the company hopes to further promote and popularize the use of hydrogen-based energy for a more environmentally friendly society.

www.hd.jx-group.co.jp/english/

World Eye Reports provided the story.

(China Daily 06/18/2015 page23)