(Bloomberg) -- Japan’s Idemitsu Kosan Co. will shut an oil refinery that’s been running for more than half a century in the country’s west, as domestic demand for fuel continues to decline and a global push to decarbonize intensifies.   

The company will halt processing at its Yamaguchi plant by the end of March 2024, it said in a statement on Tuesday. Idemitsu will consider new uses for the site, while continuing to store oil as well as generate solar power there. 

“There will be surplus refining capacity by 2030 that can be cut down,” Susumu Nibuya, executive vice president for the company, said in a press conference on Tuesday. “We plan to consolidate our capacity beyond 2030 as demand for oil products continue to decline.”

The refinery, first opened in 1969, has the capacity to process 120,000 barrels of crude a day. The Nikkei newspaper reported the announcement earlier. 

Idemitsu will make Seibu Oil Co. -- which operates the Yamaguchi refinery -- a wholly owned subsidiary by acquiring stakes held by shareholders UBE Corp., Chugoku Electric Power Co. and others. The refiner plans to increase its stake in Seibu Oil to 66.9% from 38%. The firm plans to keep about 450 jobs at the site. 

Japanese oil refiners are consolidating their operations due to falling domestic demand, rising international competition and a shift away from fossil fuels. Eneos Holdings Inc. announced in January that it would close one of its oil refineries in Wakayama prefecture near Osaka next year.

(Updates story throughout with details from announcement)

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