Press Releases

INEOS Bamble AS and Puralube Nordic AS (a joint venture between Norsk Spesialolje AS (NSO) and Puralube GmbH) have today announced an agreement to locate a new environmentally friendly lubricant oil production plant on the INEOS site at Rønningen, Bamble, Norway.

The new plant, which is to be built, owned and operated by Puralube, will convert waste oils into super-clean lubricants, which can be used in cars, transportation and a broad range of industrial applications. 

Bill Reid, CEO of INEOS Polyolefins, which owns the Bamble site said, “This is a great step forward for our strategy to grow a strong and diversified industrial environment at our Bamble site. We have been able to develop this exciting opportunity with Puralube based on the combination of proximity to feedstocks, customers and a highly skilled workforce at Bamble; giving our location here a particular strategic advantage for these types of operations.” 

“Most importantly, this environmentally attractive project will create around 40 new jobs, making use of utilities and services from the Bamble site and other suppliers in the surrounding area.”

He adds: “I’m also pleased to say that Puralube Nordic AS have already agreed an option for a possible second facility here at Bamble”. 

Puralube Nordic AS plans to invest 400 million NOK in the new Bamble facility and when commissioned in 2010, the plant will be capable of producing around 75,000 tonnes per annum of high viscosity, low sulphur, water white lubricant oils. 

Puralube runs an identical and very successful operation in Zeitz, Germany. When opened in 2002 it was the world’s first refinery to operate based on HyLubeTM catalytic hydroprocessing technology. The new Bamble plant will contribute to the increasing European demand to recycle waste oils.

“INEOS has a long and successful track record of attracting businesses to co-locate their assets on our sites. With additional land and other resources available at Rønningen and our other sites in Europe, we will continue to promote our highly competitive offer for companies to locate their new plants alongside our own” concludes Bill Reid.

As a result of this investment, Norsk Spesialolje will build a tank farm at the INEOS site for the collection of oils to be used in the new Lubrication plant. 

For more information, contact:

Dr Anne-Gret Ituriaga, Communications Manager, INEOS Polyolefins
Tel. + 49 221 3555 1096
GSM: +49 171 221 2075

Mr Magnar Bakke, Site Manager, INEOS Bamble AS
Tel. +47 35 57 7570
GSM: +47 900 34 763

Notes to editor:

INEOS (www.ineos.com) is the world’s third largest chemicals company; a leading manufacturer of petrochemicals, specialty chemicals and oil products. Comprising 18 businesses, with production network spanning 70 manufacturing facilities in 14 countries, the company produces more than 40 million tonnes of petrochemicals, 20 million tons per annum of crude oil refined products (fuels). INEOS employs 16,000 people and has sales of around $44bn.

INEOS Bamble AS is part of INEOS Polyolefins, one the largest business within the INEOS group with approximately 3.6 millions tonnes of polyolefin capacity in Europe. INEOS Polyolefins holds a leading position in Europe as a top tier manufacturer and supplier to the polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) markets. It has 8 manufacturing sites throughout Europe; in the UK, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy and Norway. 

NSO (Norsk Spesial Olje AS) was established in 1986 and is headquartered in Oslo. NSO operates Norway’s largest facility for treatment of waste oil in Moss, 50 km south of Oslo. At this location NSO also has an accredited laboratory for oil analysis, specialised in environmental analysis related to waste oil and is approved by the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority.

Puralube GmbH, which was founded in 1997, is a German subsidiary of Puralube Inc. (Wayne, USA). The company produces high performance base oils based on UOP-HyLube™ process technology. Puralube GmbH started their first refinery in Zeitz, Germany in 2004. A second refinery is currently under construction at the same location.

In 1995 Puralube Inc. acquired exclusive rights on the HyLubeTM technology from Uop, the leading international supplier and licensor in the mineral oils and petrochemicals sector.