Wal-Mart Stores once again leads Fortune Magazine’s list of the 500 biggest US companies by revenue, as the world’s biggest retailer succeeded in posting strong growth despite a challenging economy for its shoppers.

Tighter gross margins at the company that operates the State’s only oil refinery resulted in the firm recording a pre-tax loss of $34.4m (€26.9m) last year.

Tighter gross margins at the company that operates the State’s only oil refinery resulted in the firm recording a pre-tax loss of $34.4m (€26.9m) last year.

Delta Air Lines said that it will buy a refinery near Philadelphia in the hope of slicing $300m (€226.6m) a year from its jet fuel bill.

Today marks the first day of operations of Phillips 66 oil refinery and storage facilities in Ireland.

THE Whitegate Refinery in Co Cork owned by ConocoPhillips returned to profit last year to record pre-tax profits of $17.7 million (€13.1m) after revenues topped $2.19 billion (€1.62bn).

OIL rose to the highest level in more than a week in New York, climbing with equities on optimism that the economy willexpand and a report that US consumer spending gained in July.

STATE oil group Petrovietnam and its partners may buy $1.5 billion in Vietnamese oil assets in the contentious South China Sea from ConocoPhillips, according to Petrovietnam’s chief executive.

US stocks closed slightly lower today as investors’ pessimistic view of the economy deepened.

EXECUTIVES from major oil companies turned on BP last night and defended their own drilling practices during a US congressional hearing as they sought to stave off new government regulations in the wake of BP’s oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Two US congressmen reviewing contingency plans of five major oil companies in the event of another spill say they are nearly identical – and are all unprepared.

A strengthening dollar and worries about an overheated market hit stocks today.

BP was given a shares boost today after the group announced a “giant” oil discovery in the Gulf of Mexico.

ConocoPhillips has scheduled a maintenance turnaround at the 75,000 barrel-per-day Whitegate Refinery in Cork.

Oil and gas firm BG Group today conceded defeat in its attempt to buy Australian company Origin Energy.

THE board of one the country’s biggest harbours has vowed to fight government plans to scrap it.

Two of the world’s largest oil companies have unveiled plans to jointly develop a multibillion dollar pipeline to move natural gas from Alaska’s energy-rich North Slope to US markets.

Wall Street capped a volatile week with a big advance today, rebounding from a steep sell-off as investors sought bargains and cheered a milder-than-expected drop in a regional manufacturing report.

I FULLY concur with Kevin Devitte’s letter (November 24) highlighting Toyota-based improvements to healthcare.

WHITEGATE Oil Refinery may be chosen to refine the high quality oil discovered off the south-east coast by Providence Resources.

Stocks surged higher today as another round of corporate takeovers prodded investors to continue a largely uninterrupted months-long buying streak.

Oil major BP today announced the appointment of a watchdog to monitor safety improvements at its five US refineries.

President Hugo Chavez’s government took over Venezuela’s last remaining privately run oil fields today, intensifying a decisive struggle with Big Oil over one of the world’s most lucrative deposits.

US stocks fell slightly but showed more signs of stability today as investors sifted through new economic data and found little reason to resume last week’s heavy selling pace.

US stocks finished mixed today after consumer prices showed a larger-than-expected increase in January and minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last meeting showed the central bank considered but decided against taking a more dovish tone on the threat of inflation.

Wall Street stocks jumped today, pushing up the Dow Jones industrials by more than 100 points as a report that two companies are trying to buy Alcoa Inc. stoked investors’ hopes for a pickup in takeover activity.

Wall Street extended its losses today as investors awaited a stream of key economic data this week and were left disappointed by the collapse of several closely-watched acquisition deals.

Wall Street ended a fractious session slightly higher tonight after falling oil prices hurt energy stocks and overshadowed a stronger-than-expected productivity reading.

US stocks finished moderately higher in an uneven session today as optimism about the economy helped investors overcome some of their uneasiness about the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates.

Stocks barely budged today, ending narrowly mixed after yields on the 30-year Treasury note briefly hit 5% and investors grew skittish a day ahead of the Federal Reserve's first meeting of the year.

Wall Street rebounded today, rising moderately as crude oil surged more than two dollars a barrel and triggered a rally among energy producers.

Wall Street finished an erratic session mixed today with the Dow Jones industrials reaching a third straight record close despite concerns about corporate profits and the impact of falling oil prices.

Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez declared he would nationalise electrical and telecommunication companies, taking a bold step toward increasing state control as he promised to transform Venezuela into a socialist country.

CONOCO-PHILLIPS, the international energy giant that owns the Whitegate refinery, has begun commercial production of renewable diesel fuel for the Irish market at the Cork facility.

Wall Street resumed its fourth-quarter rally today, pushing the Dow Jones industrials to its first close above 12,400 after a series of strong company earnings and a drop in unemployment claims revived investors’ confidence in the economy.

AUTHORITIES were urged last night to fill a key position in the disaster planning group for Cork and Kerry, which has been vacant for several weeks.

BORD Gáis has confirmed it hopes to have its first gas-fired power station operational by 2009, at a cost of nearly €300 million.

President Vladimir Putin, meeting with EU leaders on Friday, will seek to advance Russia’s economic interests in Europe, defend its handling of foreign investors in its major oil and gas projects and deflect criticism of its heavy-handed response in a dispute with Georgia.

BP faced fresh controversy today after shareholders filed a lawsuit against senior executives following the partial shutdown of its Prudhoe Bay oil field in Alaska.

BP says the corrosion discovered at its huge Alaskan oil field is so severe it could shut down America’s single biggest source of domestic crude for months and drive world fuel prices even higher.

THE Port of Cork recorded a €5 million pre-tax profit last year as cargo traffic reached record levels.

US stocks advanced today in light trading as Wall Street recovered from the previous session’s selloff and awaited tomorrow’s expected interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve.

Marks & Spencer set the pace for blue-chip stocks after a broker raised its price target on the rejuvenated retailer today.

The ISEQ index of Irish shares was in positive territory this afternoon, up 59.98 points to 7370.51 by 12.45pm.