Tagruato's annual investor conference, held this year at the Palace Hotel in Tokyo, highlighted the importance of integrating environmentally friendly technologies into some of today's most outdated practices, like the drilling and transportation of crude oil. Tagruato's Head of Investor Relations reported that their deep-sea drilling venture will invest in an almost completely new tanker fleet, with hopes of completion in early 2011. The Tokyo Market Journal covers this in the following article.

TOKYO, JAPAN - Tagruato announced last week that they will replace 12 of their 14 single-hull tankers over the next 4 years with new ships equipped with more environmentally compatible double-hulls. The decision comes after ecological criticism and the implementation of strict standards perpetuated by the Marine Habitat Protection Committee (MHPC) in response to growing environmental concerns and bad record of oil spills among single-hull tankers. Double-hulls, now considered a standard within the oil shipping industry, provide greater protection against oil spills, which usually stem from human error and collision and cause immeasurable damage to marine and beach habitats. The second hull functions as an additional shell that distances the oil storage compartments from the dangers of the sea by a few feet, should the tanker run aground or strike a reef or iceberg. "We have placed our order and await completion anxiously," head of Tagruato investor relations, Kano Yasuri said enthusiastically Friday, while speaking to a full house at an investors' convention for the company. "Tagruato is the future and the future lies within the environment. We will gladly do our share to make this planet a better, cleaner place." The ships will be constructed both at Watatsumi Shipbuilding Co,. LTD in Sakai, Japan and at Utsuwa Industrial LTD. in Osaka, each costing roughly 23 billion Yen ($200 million). Expected completion is projected in February of 2011.