Ineos Bamble AS and Puralube Nordic AS (a joint venture between Norsk Spesialolje AS (NSO) and Puralube GmbH) have announced an agreement to locate a new environmentally friendly lubricant oil production plant on the Ineos site at Ronningen, 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. In his oppinion 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. - I`m also pleased to say that Puralube Nordic AS have already agreed an option for a possible second facility here at Bamble - he added.
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 R?nningen 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.
