GS Caltex, Nippon Oil sign deal on joint venture

By Nam Kwang-sik
SEOUL, Jan. 16 (Yonhap) -- GS Caltex Co., South Korea's second-largest refiner,
said Friday it has signed a formal deal with Nippon Oil Corp., Japan's top oil
company, to establish a joint venture to produce carbon materials for high-end
energy storage devices.
Under the deal, the two companies will invest 50-50 a combined US$10 million to
build a plant in Gumi, 260 kilometers southeast of Seoul. They will begin
commercial production in April next year, GS Caltex said in a statement.
The joint venture is to be named Power Carbon Technology, the refiner said.
The plant will produce annually 300 tons of carbon materials and expand its
annual production capacity to 900 tons by 2015, GS Caltex said.
The energy storage devices, Electric Double Layer Capacitors (EDLC), are mainly
used in hybrid electric vehicles.
ksnam@yna.co.kr
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