21.   The idea of a merger was born, Raymond said in an interview Tuesday, in lower-level talks earlier this year about combining refining operations in Japan.

22.   The strong quarter was led by the fibers segment, which makes Lycra and Dacron polyester, and the refining operations at Conoco.

23.   The sales come amid a slump in oil prices and a growing belief that profit margins at petroleum refining operations have probably peaked for the year.

24.   The same would be true for some refining operations.

25.   Their refining operations and gasoline marketing, for example, continue to prosper.

26.   Tosco, which is based in Stamford, Connecticut, said it declines to comment on daily refining operations.

27.   BP Amoco aims to trim its refining operations by about a third, due to an increase in global capacity.

28.   Initial reports said oil refining operations were unaffected.

29.   Nearly half of that total will go toward exploration and production, with the rest for refining operations, shipping terminals, research and other needs.

30.   The Belize sugar factory was a subsidiary of the Petrojam oil refining operation in Jamaica that the government had attempted to sell previously.