China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has signed an agreement with Costa Rica's Refinadora Costarricense de Petroleo (Recope) on a joint venture to upgrade a Costa Rica's oil refinery, CNPC announced on Wednesday.

The deal was signed on Tuesday (Beijing Time) in San Jose, capital of the Central American nation, during Chinese President Hu Jintao's state visit.

According to the 25-year deal, the joint venture would help modernize and expand the Moin refinery, increasing its annual oil refining capability to 3 million tonnes from the current 1.2 million tonnes.

Improvements would also raise product quality and reduce pollution, the CNPC said. It gave no further details on investments and timeline.

The two sides also agreed to launch feasibility studies on a new refinery with a proposed annual crude processing capability of 10 million tonnes.

(Xinhua News Agency November 19, 2008)