The addition of Harburg to Nynas supply system is an important step forward in Nynas growth strategy, said Staffan Lennstrom, CEO of Nynas. We will increase volumes of all products in our current range of naphthenic specialty oils. With the new capacity, we can reinforce our delivery performance and quickly meet the growing demand from our customers around the world. The company has opened sales offices and distribution terminals in fast-growing markets such as China, South Korea, India, Russia and several countries in Latin America.

With the takeover, approximately 90 Shell employees are now employed by Nynas, and the number will grow to 220 after two years.

In preparation for the next step, a third party supplier will build and operate a hydrogen production plant, and Nynas will convert existing plants for further specialty oil production in the refinerys northern part. After the conversion project, Nynas will take over all operations of the new stand-alone specialty oils refinery.

In January 2011, Shell announced plans to cease refining at the Harburg facility, and convert it into a storage terminal while negotiating a sale of its base oil plant. Nynas and Shell originally announced the plant sale in December 2011, while Shell retained ownership of the main part of the refinery. The European Commission approved Nynas proposal to acquire the refinerys base oil production units in September 2013.