LPG and City Gas Sales Business
LPG is an indispensable source of energy in our lives. It has been adopted widely for various uses, including as a fuel for cooking, water heating and room heating in households and all manner of public facilities, as an automobile fuel for taxies and other vehicles, and as an industrial-use fuel.
The ITOCHU ENEX Group operates its LPG and city gas businesses in close contact with local communities, primarily through its Group companies across Japan, delivering LPG and city gas to residential (approximately 1,500,000 households) and corporate customers.
In April 2009, we established the Japan Gas Energy Corporation, in association with Japan Energy Corporation (now ENEOS Corporation) and Nissho Petroleum Gas Corporation, as a joint venture integrating both LPG distribution and wholesale functions. In addition to aiming to build an LPG business group with comprehensive competitiveness, the three companies are also seeking to integrate and centralize business domains from procurement to wholesale business, to enhance capabilities and competitiveness by improving logistical efficiency.
We also operate a city gas business in Nakatsu City, Oita Prefecture, delivering city gas to both residential and corporate customers.
- Wholesale Supply of LPG for Retailers
- Retail Sales of LPG for Residential Use
- Retail Sales of LPG for Corporate (Business/Industrial) Use
- City Gas Sales
Wholesale Supply of LPG for Retailers
We operate a wholesale business dealing with around 2,600 retailers across Japan. We also engage in business operations tied closely to local communities together with retailers, delivering LPG to residential and corporate customers nationwide. We also engage in business partnerships for distribution, etc., with other companies operating similar LPG wholesale businesses in order to streamline logistics and reduce costs. In this way, we are contributing to the development of the LPG industry in these areas, and seeking to enhance our capabilities and competitiveness.
Retail Sales of LPG for Residential Use
We deliver LPG to approximately 570,000 households nationwide. In addition to simply supplying LPG, we also deliver comprehensive solutions for residential customers with business operations linked intimately to customer’s home lifestyles. These services range from carrying our kitchen and bathroom refurbishments to proposing new energy solutions such as residential-use fuel cells and solar power generation to support the reduction of household CO2 emissions. We make proposals for customers to enjoy life at home in greater comfort.
Retail Sales of LPG for Corporate (Business/Industrial) Use
LPG is environmentally friendly and has a high calorific value. It is used as a fuel for cooking, water heating and room heating not only in households but also eating and drinking establishments, hospitals, hotels and other urban facilities. It has also been widely adopted for use as an industrial-use fuel in factory boilers, and in application such as food processing and paint drying. The ENEX Group has numerous locations nationwide, delivering LPG to these corporate customers.
City Gas Sales
Through our city gas business, we manufacture city gas from natural gas and other raw materials and supply it to customers via gas pipelines. ITOCHU ENEX’s supply area is part of Kyushu and Kanto areas, and we supply city gas to both residential customers and corporate customers operating factories and other businesses in the area.
Natural gas (which is the main ingredient in city gas) produces relatively small amounts of carbon dioxide, NOX and SOX in comparison with other fossil fuels when burned. For this reason, LPG is also regarded as an important, environmentally-friendly source of energy in the Japanese government’s basic energy planning.
