Restart of reactors to pull down Japan's oil demand by 3.9%

Japan's total oil product sales are expected to fall 3.9 percent starting April if the nation's nuclear plants are allowed to resume operations from next summer.

The decline would follow an estimated 0.1 percent fall for the current financial year ending in March.

Consumption of natural gas for power generation will likely drop 13.4 percent in 2012/13, after a projected 30.2 percent rise in 2010/11, the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan said in its annual outlook.

But natural gas consumption could rise by about 10 percent if the reactors are not restarted.

No reactors taken offline for routine maintenance have been restarted due to public safety fears since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami triggered reactor meltdowns and radiation leaks at Tokyo Electric Power Co's Fukushima Daiichi power station northeast of Tokyo.

The IEEJ however expects the nation's demand for oil, gas and thermal coal for power generation to rise sharply in 2012/13 if no reactors shut for maintenance are allowed to restart.

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