European Commission approves Nynas takeover of Shell base oil plant in Germany

The European Commission has approved Nynas’ takeover of Shell’s base oil plant and associated production units at the Harburg refinery in Hamburg, Germany.
Takeover of the first part of the refinery assets is targeted for January 1.
Nynas, a joint venture between Petróleos de Venezuela and Neste Oil, produces bitumen and a range of oils, including naphthenic base oils for industrial lubricants.
The JV is purchasing only the base oil manufacturing plant that forms part of Shell Deutschland’s Harburg refinery. Shell would keep the rest of the refinery.
The new production plant will be a core site for Nynas, with annual production of specialty oils up to 350,000 tons, which represents a 40% increase in the company’s supply capability of naphthenic specialty oils.
The takeover is based on a 25-year lease agreement for the Harburg base oil manufacturing plant and some associated refining facilities. The takeover by Nynas is comprised of two phases.
In phase 1, after European Commission clearance, implementation and completion, the long-term lease agreement will come into effect. At this stage Nynas will take over operation of the base oil unit and associated refining facilities, i.e. bitumen assets, tank farms and jetties on the southern part.
In preparation for phase 2, a hydrogen production plant will be built and operated by a third-party supplier. Nynas will modify the plants for further specialty oils production. After this conversion project, Nynas will take over all the operations of the new stand-alone specialty oils refinery. Phase 2 will occur sometime in mid-2014. 
Nynas, which is based in Stockholm, signed the deal with Shell in 2011.
With the takeover of the Harburg facility, Nynas will take on approximately 90 Shell employees in the first phase. This number is expected to grow to 220 after two years.