History

Earliest days

From the establishment of Aoki Sekiyu, the antecedent company, until the establishment of Taiyo Oil

1908Meiji 41

September

The late Shigekichi Aoki, the founder, established Aoki Sekiyu in Takaoka Town, Kochi Prefecture (currently Tosa city).

1915Taisho 4

February

Relocated to Yawatahama City in Ehime Prefecture

1918Taisho 7

Kerosene production was started from the materials supplied by Rising Sun's Kyushu-Saitozaki Oil Refinery.

1923Taisho 12

August

Started to refine oil in a Hickman Distillation (Method) Unit.

1930Showa 5

May

Renamed as Aoki Sekiyu Co., Ltd.
Capital of JPY 20 thousand.

1938Showa 13

October

The factory was relocated to Kameoka Village in Ochi-gun, Ehime Prefecture (the current site of Shikoku Operations).

1941Showa 16

February

The refinery sections of Aoki Sekiyu, Mikado Seiyu, and Matsuoka Sekiyu were integrated into Taiyo Oil Co., Ltd. The head office was established in Mita-toyooka, Shiba-ku, Tokyo.
Capital of JPY 1 million.

1943Showa 18

July

The head office was relocated to Yawatahama City in Ehime prefecture. The capital increased to JPY 4 million.

Postwar recovery period

Full-scale independent production activities began during this period.

1949Showa 24

December

GHQ allowed reopening of refineries on the Pacific Coast. Construction of facilities for crude oil distillation was started.

1951Showa 26

February

Permission was granted to refine petroleum. An order from Shell Sekiyu was received, and a refinery with an output of 500 barrels/day was started.

1953Showa 28

July

The capital increased to JPY 48 million. Taiyo Oil started to operate its own refinery.

1958Showa 33

October

Soviet crude oil was imported to Japan for the first time.

1964Showa 39

June

The late Ryosaku Aoki became the second president.
The capital increased to JPY 52 million.

September

Rumanian crude oil was imported to Japan for the first time.

November

The capacity of the crude distillation unit was confirmed to be 59,000 barrels/day.

Growth period

The sophistication of refining operations on a full-scale basis began during this period.

1965Showa 40

September

The late Shigeyoshi Aoki became the third president.

1967Showa 42

July

The capital increased to JPY 100 million.

1969Showa 44

April

Taiyo Oil became a member of the Petroleum Association of Japan.

1970Showa 45

December

The capital increased to JPY 400 million.

1974Showa 49

September

The capacity of the crude distillation unit was augmented to 69,000 barrels/day.

1975Showa 50

July

The Kikuma Refinery (currently Shikoku Operations) received JIS (Japanese Industrial Standards) accreditation.

1976Showa 51

July

Established a 90-day petroleum stockpiling system.

1977Showa 52

January

Taiyo Oil became the first Japanese corporation to conduct DD crude oil trading with the Malaysian national petroleum corporation (PETRONAS).

1981Showa 56

November

The head office was relocated to the current location (2-2-3 Uchisaiwai-cho).

1982Showa 57

March

An underground oil stockpiling demonstration plant was completed on the premises of Taiyo's Kikuma Refinery. Taiyo Oil took charge of demonstration operations.

1983Showa 58

September

Reduced the capacity of the crude distillation unit by 4,000 barrels/day to 65,000 barrels/day.

1986Showa 61

March

Made investments in the oil development project in Angola's offshore oil fields.

November

Joined the oil development project in Malaysia's offshore oil fields.

1991Heisei 3

June

The crude oil tanker "Taiyoh I" (88,543 DWT) was put into service.
With the completion of the BTX production facilities and the launch of the operation thereat, Taiyo Oil forayed into petrochemicals.

December

The petroleum product tanker "Taiyoh II" (58,950 DWT) was put into service.

Period of development

Expansion of operations with the abolition of the Provisional Measures Law on the Importation of Specific Petroleum Refined Products

1996Heisei 8

July

With partial transfer of the functions of the head office, Kikuma Refinery was renamed Shikoku Operations.

1998Heisei 10

October

Participated in the Tokyo Commodity Exchange as a primary member of the oil futures market.

December

Shikoku Operations received ISO 9002 certification.

1999Heisei 11

October

Kunishi Kawai became the fourth president.

2002Heisei 14

March

Shikoku Operations received ISO 14001 certification.

2003Heisei 15

August

The capacity of the crude distillation unit was augmented to 120,000 barrels/day.

October

Taiyo Petrochemical Co., Ltd. was established.

December

Acquired from Mitsui Chemicals, Inc., a styrene monomer plant in Yamaguchi.

2006Heisei 18

June

Yutaka Oka became the fifth president.

2004Heisei 16

January

Opened Yamaguchi Operations.

December

Established Taiyo Oil Sales Co., Ltd. by merging our subsidiaries.

2008Heisei 20

March

A new office and new onshore shipping facilities on the premises of Shikoku Operations were completed.

September

100th Anniversary of the company's foundation
A new brand "SOLATO" and a new company's logo were introduced. Every item sold or installed at SS was redesigne.

2009Heisei 21

March

The capital increased to JPY 900 million.

September

The capital increased to JPY 2.65 billion.

December

The capital increased to JPY 4.65 billion.

2010Heisei 22

March

The capital increased to JPY 5.6 billion.

November

Completion of the construction and startup of Resid Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit with a capacity of 25,000 barrels/day

残油流動接触分解装置

2014Heisei 26

March

Merged with Taiyo Petrochemical Co., Ltd.

March

Reduced the capacity of the crude distillation unit to 118,000 barrels/day.

August

The capacity of the Resid Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit was augmented to 29,000 barrels/day.

November

Completion of the construction and startup of Trans alkylation unit with a capacity of 10,000 barrels/day.

2016Heisei 28

December

All shares of Nansei Sekiyu K.K. acquired.

2017Heisei 29

March

The capacity of the crude distillation unit was augmented to 138,000 barrels/day.

March

The capacity of the Resid Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit was augmented to 32,000 barrels/day.

2018Heisei 30

September

Deep hydrodesulfurization unit was augmented to 33,000 barrels/day.

2019Heisei 31

March

The capital reduction to JPY 400 million.

2022Reiwa 4

December

Decided to discontinuation of styrene monomer production at Yamaguchi Operations.

2023Reiwa 5

October

Opened Matsuyama Office(Matsuyama City in Ehime Prefecture).

2024Reiwa 6

April

Takahiro Yamamoto became the sixth president.