Swedish company Nynas, focusing on producing and selling naphthenic specialty oils and bitumen, has now completed the takeover of the former Shell refinery in Hamburg , Germany.

“The addition of Harburg to the Nynas supply network is an important step forward in Nynas’ growth strategy,” says Gert Wendroth, President and CEO of Nynas AB.

The Nynas Harburg refinery will have a production capacity of specialty oils up to 330,000 tons. In addition it will offer a wide range of penetration bitumen for Nynas’ customers in Europe. A new bitumen truck loading facility planned to be operational by mid-2016 will be the final step in improving the refinery infrastructure. Currently the distillation unit in the northern part of the refinery is being converted and upgraded to start up again in spring 2016.

On December 13, 2011, Nynas AB agreed to buy Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s Harburg base-oil plant and associated refining facilities in Hamburg. No price was disclosed.

On September 2, 2013, the European Commission had approved the takeover of the facilities leading as a first step to the integration of the base oil plant with some 90 employees into Nynas in January 2014. With the completion of the acquisition another 157 employees transfer from Shell to Nynas.

Nynas is a joint venture between Neste Oil Oyj and Petroleos de Venezuela SA.