U.S. independent refinery Sunoco announced plans for upgrades at its refineries in Philadelphia and Toledo, Ohio.

An idle hydrocracker at its 330,000 b/d Philadelphia refinery will be upgraded to convert up to 50,000 b/d of heating oil into ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel. The project would cost $225-$275 million and is projected to be finished in 2009.

South Korea’s Samsung Engineering announced recently it has been awarded a $180 million contract by Trinidad and Tobago state oil company Petrotrin to build a new 28,000 b/d oil refinery.

The refinery will be built adjacent to Petrotrin’s 160,000 b/d Pointe-a-Pierre refinery on Trinidad’s west coast.

Colombian state oil company Ecopetrol announced a plan to spend $1.5 billion on projects related to fuel quality during the next four years, including the planned projects at the company’s Barrancabermeja and Cartagena refineries.

More than $420 million of the $1.5 billion will be spent of the Barrancabermeja expansion.

Private Newfoundland and Labrador Refining (NLRC) announced recently that it has finished the final stage of the feasibility study for a possible new oil refinery in Placentia Bay.

The study concluded that a 300,000 b/d refinery would cost U.S.$4.6 billion, not including standard owner’s costs, and is economically feasible with an indicated base-case 15% rate of return, based on a number of inputs. The study was finished on schedule and slightly under budget, the company said.

Ecuador has once again extended the deadline for companies to make offers for an upgrade of the country’s 110,000 b/d Esmeraldas refinery, this time until Feb. 16, 2007, Latin America News Digest reported.

The deadline was extended at the request of the interested companies, the report said.

Holly Corp. announced recently that its Board of Directors has approved $225 million for refinery upgrade projects at the company’s 82,000 b/d Navajo refinery in Artesia, N.M., and its 26,000 b/d Woods Cross, Utah, refinery.

The Navajo project has a budgeted cost of $125 million and will include the installation of a 15,000 b/d hydrocracker and a 28 million standard cubic feet hydrogen plant.

State oil company Petroperu wants to reach a long-term agreement with state Petroecuador to purchase crude oil, Dow Jones reported.

Chevron announced recently plans to spend $19.6 billion next year, including $3.8 billion on its downstream operations.

ConocoPhillips announced recently it has approved a 2007 capital budget of $12.3 billion, including $11.8 billion in cash capital expenditures.

About 13% -- $1.7 billion -- of the spending will go to the company’s refining and marketing segment. About $1.1 billion of that will be spent on the company’s U.S. refining businesses.

Costa Rican state refinery Recope is set to publish a request for proposals for an engineering, procurement and construction contract for a modernization and expansion of its 25,000 b/d Limón refinery, Business News Americas reported.

Brazilian state oil company Petrobras and Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA agreed recently to an extension of several agreements, including the development of a refinery in Northeastern Brazil, Petrobras announced.

Costa Rica will join Guatemala and Panama in applying to have a planned new Central American refinery constructed in the country, Business News Americas reported, citing the president of state oil company Recope.

Countries seeking the refinery have until Dec. 11 to apply for it with PMI, the international unit of Mexican state oil company Pemex.

India’s oil refining capacity will increase 60%, to about 240 million tons by the end of 2012, based on the expansions and new refineries currently being constructed and those that are awaiting approval, the country’s petroleum minister said, Press Trust of India reported.

Iran plans a $1.2 billion expansion of its Tabriz refinery that would double its capacity to 220,000 b/d, Reuters reported, citing a National Iranian Oil (NIOC) source.

Iran aims to start the expansion in the second half of this year and would be completed in three to four years, the report said.

China has adjusted it oil pricing criteria, XFN-Asia reported.

Azerbaijan state oil company Socar aims to build an oil refinery at Turkey’s Ceyhan port, Azeri Press Agency reported.

Private Indian refiner Reliance and Yemen’s Hood Oil plan to partner to build a 100,000 b/d, $450 million refinery in Yemen, Zee News reported.

The joint refinery to be built by Chinese state oil company CNPC and Russian state oil company Rosneft will be built near Beijing by 2010, the head of Rosneft said, RIA Novosti reported.

Russian oil company Rosneft is set to announce next month the tender for the contract to triple the capacity of its Tuapse oil refinery, Novecon reported.

The project would expand the refinery’s capacity to 12 million tons per year. The project would be completed by 2010 and cost $2 billion.

ConocoPhillips announced yesterday that it has started production of renewable diesel fuel at its Whitegate refinery in Cork, Ireland.

The European Commission has approved the sale of ExxonMobil’s Ingolstadt refinery in Germany to Dutch refiner Petroplus.

The European Parliament has voted to revise the current Euro-4 standards for privately-owned motor vehicles and enact the new Euro-5 standards beginning in September 2009.

The Parliament passed a legislative report that amends the European Commission’s draft regulations. The standards include limits on nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons and particles from diesel engines.

Russian-British joint venture TNK-BP announced this week it has commissioned alkylation and isomerization units at its Ryazan oil refinery, completing a six-year upgrade project.

Russian oil company Lukoil plans to buy European retail gasoline stations from its U.S. partner ConocoPhillips, Interfax reported, citing the company’s vice president.