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Japan's oil use has declined sharply in recent months as an economic slowdown worldwide curbs industrial activity, adding to already weakening demand as the population ages and users shift towards greener energy sources.
Lower demand from the world's third-biggest oil consumer is expected to further dampen global energy demand, adding to pressure on crude prices.
Idemitsu and Cosmo's announcements followed that of top refiner Nippon Oil Corp, which said it was likely to process 25 percent less crude in January.
The nation's sixth-biggest oil refiner -- Japan Energy Corp -- also said on Wednesday it planned to cut its crude oil processing volumes for January-March, reducing them by 11 percent from the same period this year.
Government data due on Friday may show Japan's oil product sales in November posted a big drop, after sales in October tumbled to their lowest level in 20 years for the month.
Idemitsu, Japan's third-biggest oil refiner, said it planned to refine 8.00 million kilolitres (50.3 million barrels, or 559,000 barrels per day) of crude oil in the January to March period, down 600,000 kl from the same period this year.
Idemitsu officials had hoped that kerosene sales for heating this winter would rise from last winter, when heating fuel sales fell due to warm weather. But a steady household shift to electricity for heating may put a damper on kerosene sales.
The officials said gasoline sales had also been hit hard as drivers held back from filling up to await lower prices, though these prices have recently slipped to multi-year lows, easing the year-on-year slide in sales.
Idemitsu, which has a crude refining capacity of 640,000 bpd, has been curbing crude runs since August. It said there would be no scheduled refinery maintenance in January-March, as in the first quarter this year.
It estimated its refining volume in October-December at 7.35-7.4 million kl, in line with its revised plans.
Fourth-ranked Cosmo also said it was likely to refine less crude in January-February than it did this year.
It has cut its crude refining volumes for the current quarter to 6.7 million kilolitres (42.1 million barrels, or 458,000 bpd), down 6 percent from a year earlier. Cosmo has the capacity to refine 635,000 bpd.
In October-December, Idemitsu has exported 530,000 kl of products, including 40,000 kl of jet fuel, 40,000 kl of fuel oil and 450,000 kl of gas oil, up about 40 percent from the same period a year ago.
It said it expected to export 30,000-60,000 kl of gasoline, 40,000 kl of jet fuel and around 250,000 kl of gas oil in January-March.
Idemitsu maintained its oil export forecasts at 1.5 million kl for the year ending in March, up from 1 million kl the year before.
(Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori) Keywords: CRUDE IDEMITSU (osamu.tsukimori@thomsonreuters.com ; +813 6441 1857; Reuters Messaging: osamu.tsukimori.reuters.com@reuters.net)
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