INEOS Bio and its joint venture partner, New Planet Energy, have received a conditional commitment for a US$75-million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) 9003 Biorefinery Assistance Program, the companies reported January 5.

In 2010, U.S. upstream oil and gas firms have moved from offshore to onshore plays as a result of the Macondo disaster and permitting slowdown in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and as a result of new horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technology applied with great success to unconventional gas fields in several areas of the country. Showing the ongoing rotation out of unconventional gas-directed capital expenditures, Hess Corporation’s newly disclosed 2011 capital expenditure plan shows over one third being directed to unconventional oil plays.

An expansion plan at China National Offshore Oil Corp.’s (CNOOC’s) Huizhou refinery in central Guangdong Province has attracted the attention of its next-door neighbor: a petrochemical plant operated by a joint venture between Royal Dutch Shell PLC and China National Offshore, a January 11 Bloomberg report citing the China Daily newspaper said.

The 10-nation Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) announced January 10 in its annual report that member-country refiners would add at least 5 million barrels per day (b/d) of refining capacity within four years.

Dutch downstream logistics giant Royal Vopak N.V. announced January 11 that it has reached and agreement with partner NIBC European Infrastructure Fund (NEIF) build and operate a new storage terminal at the port of Eemshaven in the Netherlands to expand downstream logistics flexibility for strategic reserves of oil products.

Drilling in U.S. shale basins has increased 38% from a year ago – led by 100-200% jumps in oil- and liquid-rich natural gas plays, including Niobrara in Colorado and southern Wyoming (200%), the Eagle Ford in South Texas (126%) and the Bakken in North Dakota and Montana (105%).

Duke Energy – one of a handful of North American power producers pressing ahead with integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) “clean” power production – announced January 10 that it cut an all-stock merger deal with Progress Energy, which – pending regulatory approval – would create the U.S.’s biggest electric utility.