Costa Rica and China's top state oil company CNPC are hammering out the details of a planned refinery upgrade that could cost up to $1 billion, the head of Costa Rica's national oil company said.

The project, which would triple the size of the nation's only oil refinery by 2015, is likely to be approved by the two companies sometime in 2011 after further engineering studies are completed, Jose Desanti, the head of Costa Rican state oil refiner Recope, said.

“We're just a few weeks from bringing (the joint venture) to life,” Desanti told Reuters in an interview. “We think it will be 14 to 18 months to give the green light to start the project”.

Original source: MoneyControl.com