Two fires that broke out at Idemitsu Kosan Co.'s oil refinery in Hokkaido in September have cost the firm about 10 billion yen.
The firm also expects additional costs of between 4 billion yen and 5 billion yen for procurement of petroleum products from other suppliers, including imports, for the final quarter of this year, Idemitsu Kosan President Akihiko Tembo told a news conference Thursday.
Tembo again denied that he would resign to take responsibility for the fires, which broke out after the region was rocked by powerful earthquakes Sept. 26.
Idemitsu will set up two advisory panels of outside experts, lawyers and other members to discuss ways to promote the safety of operations and corporate ethics in order to regain public trust, he said.
The two fires, which hit petroleum and naphtha tanks at the refinery, were extinguished some 44 hours after the first one broke out.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.