OREANDA-NEWS. March 23, 2012. Cosmo Oil Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Minato-ku, Tokyo / Paid in Capital: 107.2 bn JPY / President: Yaichi Kimura) express our sincere apologies on the concerns and inconveniences caused to the local residents and to all those whom have been affected by the fire/explosion at Chiba Refinery on March 11, 2011.

This is to report that, as of today, we have began to make preparations for the start-up of the #2 Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) (Distillation Capacity: 120,000 barrels/day) following the receipt of the "Safety Inspection Certificate" issued by Chiba Prefecture enforced under the High Pressure Gas Safety Act.

Preparations for the start-up of other units including the #1 Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) (Distillation Capacity: 100,000 barrels/day) will begin as the safety measures and inspections become complete.