In the next five years, hybrid systems will the dominating focus for investments within the automotive manufacturing sector, according to 200 executives surveyed by advisory firm KPMG.

Of the executives surveyed worldwide, 91% said hybrid systems is where investment within the sector will shift, while 82% said investments will shift towards electric vehicles and batteries in the next five years.

Canadian refiner Irving Oil has selected Fluor Canada to perform front-end engineering design on Irving Oil’s proposed $7 billion, 300,000 b/d refinery that will be constructed in St. John, New Brunswick.

ExxonMobil has awarded to California’s Jacobs Engineering Group engineering, procurement and construction contracts for ExxonMobil’s planned ultra-low sulfur diesel projects at its refineries in Baytown, Texas, and Baton Rouge, La.

The chairman and CEO of U.S. oil giant ExxonMobil said recently that a carbon tax is a more effective way to reduce CO2 emissions than a cap-and-trade program, the method preferred by policymakers.

“A carbon tax strikes us as a more direct, transparent and effective approach,” Chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson told an audience at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., Thursday.

“It is the most efficient means of reflecting the cost of carbon in all economic decisions – from investments made by companies to fuel and product choices made by consumers.”

BP announced Jan. 6 that Lamar McKay has been appointed chairman and president of BP America, replacing Robert Malone.

State oil company Petroecuador and South Korea’s SK Engineering and Construction signed recently a contract for a revamp of Petroecuador’s Esmeraldas refinery.

The first stage of the contract is worth $83 million, Petroecuador said.

Petroecuador elaborated recently on the projects that South Korea’s SK Corp. will perform on the upgrade project at the Esmeraldas refinery in Ecuador.

California-based integrated oil company Chevron said last week that it expects its earnings for the fourth quarter 2008 to be “significantly lower” than in the prior quarter.

Most of decline is due to decreased upstream earnings, which resulted from lower crude oil and natural gas prices during the fourth quarter.

Downstream earnings “are expected to include sizeable gains from provisionally priced crudes and derivatives, resulting from sharply falling commodity prices.”

Dr. Steven Chu, U.S. President-elect Barack Obama’s nominee for energy secretary, reiterated for the U.S. Senate energy committee the incoming Administration’s position that the U.S. needs to take steps to combat climate change at his confirmation hearing Tuesday.

Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) said he doesn’t anticipate any serious opposition to Chu’s nomination and expects the committee to vote on his confirmation later this week, with the full Senate likely to vote next week following Obama’s inauguration.

Houston-based integrated oil company Marathon said yesterday it expects its fourth quarter 2008 refining and marketing wholesale gross margin to improve compared to the fourth quarter 2007 due to decreased crude prices.

The company projects the margin at about 12¢/gal, compared to 5¢/gal in the same quarter 2007.

Mumbai-based Essar Oil reportedly will delay completion of its planned $6 billion expansion project at its Vadinar refinery in Gujarat, India.

The hold pattern would reflect a trend in the refining industry amid the global economic downturn, decreased oil demand and tight credit markets.

Singapore Petroleum recently confirmed it is reviewing plans for two investment projects amid tight credit markets and decreased global oil demand.

China’s mostly upstream-oriented CNOOC intends to expand into the downstream in a big way.

This additional capacity will be brought online through the acquisition of petrochemical companies in China.

Indonesia’s state-run oil and gas company PT Pertamina said Thursday it has cancelled plans for expansions at two of its largest refineries due to the economic crisis and low oil prices.

Work at the Cilacap refinery in Central Java Province and the Balikpapan refinery in East Kalimantan Province has been called off, though Pertamina’s president and director, Ari Soemarno, left the door open to resuming expansion plans once the market stabilizes.

San Miguel Corp., a major food distributor in Southeast Asia, Friday assumed control of Petron Corp. in the Philippines after a special board meeting in which San Miguel president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang was appointed Petron’s new chairman and CEO.

Ang replaces Nicasio Alcantara, who will remain on board as a vice president. Eric Recto will retain his position as director and president.

Abu Dhabi’s government-owned International Petroleum Investment Company reportedly has put on hold its refinery project in Pakistan and is reevaluating plans for a new refinery at Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates.

Last year the board of IPIC approved plans to build a $5 billion, 250,000 b/d refinery in Pakistan.

State-run Indian Oil says it has secured more than Rs 10,000 crore debt for its Paradip refinery project. The refinery would produce 15 million tons per year and is slated for commissioning in first quarter 2012.

Indian Oil-owned Chennai Petroleum said it will invest close to $7.8 million to boost refining capacity at its Manali refinery by 2011.

BP agreed to supply PetroVietnam’s new Dung Quat refinery with up to 70,000 b/d of crude, roughly half of the refinery’s 140,000 b/d capacity.

Japan’s Nippon Oil will shut down its 60,000 b/d Toyoma refinery on the country’s west coast due to decreased domestic demand for petroleum products by the end of January.

The company had planned to shut down the plant by the end of the first quarter of this year.

Nippon said the refinery has become uncompetitive. It will be converted into an oil terminal.

Two battery makers in Japan announced plans to start mass production of lithium-ion batteries suitable for electric and hybrid vehicles.

Sinopec is planning to construct a catalytic and de-sulfur gasoline unit at its Gaoqiao refinery in Shanghai.

Switzerland-based financial services company Credit Suisse is anticipating that weakening oil demand worldwide, as well as the increasing production capacity of Asian refiners, will force some U.S. refiners to declare bankruptcy while also causing some European refiners to cease operations.

The European Union should have banned the use of metallic additives in petrol (gasoline) when the legislative body passed the Fuel Quality Directive in December, a trade association representing European automotive interests said.

“The use of metallic additives, in particular MMT, a manganese-based additive, is unacceptable” to members of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), the group said last month. “A clear message from EU legislators to ban MMT would send the right signals to those markets that still use metallic additives and where vehicles are affected.”

While ACEA said its members “welcome” the Fuel Quality Directive and the setting of mandatory targets to reduce lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, the report left some issues incomplete, which “could result in a fragmented internal market for fuels and lead to consumer confusion at the filling station.”

The Neftochim Burgas refinery in Bulgaria announced that it would cease heavy fuel exports due to a shortage of Russian natural gas supplies. Heavy fuels produced at the refinery will instead be directed to the Bulgarian market.

Swiss refiner Petroplus reported a fire last week at its Ingolstadt refinery in Germany.

“A fire occurred at the reflux pump associated with the crude oil unit,” the company said. “Refinery and local emergency response teams responded to the incident and the fire was immediately brought under control and extinguished in about an hour.”

Malaysian state oil company Petronas will meet with Sudanese officials in March to talk about resuming plans for a joint venture refinery in Sudan, Reuters reported.

Petronas decided last June to delay plans to build a 100,000-150,000 b/d refinery in Port Sudan, Sudan, due to increased construction costs.

Egypt and Libya plan to invest $5-$6 billion in downstream oil projects in Egypt, including a 250,000 b/d refinery, Egypt’s Oil Ministry announced yesterday.