Leaders of the nation's oil industry called on the government Thursday to reduce oil-related taxes, arguing that they are unreasonably heavy.They made the request during an informal meeting with Mitsuo Horiuchi, minister for international trade and industry, a MITI official told reporters. Yuji Idemitsu, president of Idemitsu Kosan Co. and head of the Petroleum Association of Japan, was quoted as telling the minister that oil taxes should be reduced now that the budget for road construction has been scaled back.Among a series of oil-related taxes, a gasoline tax has been imposed to cover the cost of road projects. Horiuchi acknowledged the weight of the tax burden but did not mention any immediate plans to alleviate it, according to the ministry official.
