Nynas
Encyclopedia
Nynas AB is a world-leading Swedish
manufacturer of naphthenic specialty oils and bitumen products. During its 80-year history the company has been transformed from a national oil company with a traditional range of products into a global group of companies with a focus on special products and niche markets.
Nynas has a presence in all parts of the world, with sales offices in more than thirty countries and a global distribution network. Net revenue for 2008 was over SEK
23 billion, of which the Swedish market accounts for around ten per cent. The number of employees at present is about 820.
Nynas is owned in equal parts by Finnish
company Neste Oil
and by State-owned Venezuela
n oil company PDVSA.
Until the 1970s Nynas was a traditional oil company, manufacturing and selling a large number of products, from petrol and diesel to heating oil
and lubricant
s. But the oil crises (1973
and 1979
) meant that a new strategy was required, and activity now focuses on naphthenic specialty products and bitumen products. This means that Nynas is different from most other oil companies, which primarily manufacture petrol, diesel and other fuels.
Nynas conducts extensive work on product development. This involves not least of all catalyst and hydrotreatment technology, which has resulted in, among other things, the launch of a new kind of transformer oil
. Nynas also manufactures oils that comply with the new environmental requirements that come into force in 2010, when the European Union
bans aromatic oils in car tyres
.
Efforts on the bitumen side have focused on products suitable for various conditions with regard to temperature, stone
material and traffic loads. One example is the special bitumen found in noise-dampening asphalt
, which results in the noise from traffic being almost halved. Nynas is also the leader in the field of water-based emulsion
s. These can be used in cold and semi-hot asphalt masses, which means both reduced energy consumption and lower hydrocarbon
emissions.
Manufacturing takes place at ten refineries
. Three of these, at Dundee
, Gothenburg
and Nynäshamn
, are wholly owned by Nynas, while the refinery at Eastham
is co-owned with Shell
. The others, for example Ingolstadt
in Germany
, Three Rivers
in the USA and the Isla refinery on the West Indian island of Curaçao
, are linked to the company via various partnership agreements. Nynas is investing heavily in expanded manufacturing capacity. For example, there is work underway to add 300,000 to 350,000 metric tons to the Nynäshamn refinery's current capacity of 400,000 tons per year.
Traditionally, Nynas primarily uses heavy crude oil from Venezuela
as feedstock, as it has properties that are ideal for both bitumen and naphthenic specialty oils, and it also produces relatively few residual products. In recent years the company has also started to buy feedstock from sources including the North Sea
, Australia
and Russia
in order to increase feedstock flexibility.
Nynas has sales offices in more than thirty countries, from the USA and Mexico
in the west to Australia
in the east. The company also has around sixty storage depot
, which means that products can be delivered to almost any destination in the world.
’s first refinery
built in Nynäshamn
. During World War II
, Nynas played a prominent role in supplying energy
in Sweden, as the company developed methods for manufacturing oil
products made of coal
and tar
.
The decades immediately after the Second World War were characterised by rapid expansion, and in 1956 the refinery in Gothenburg
was opened. At that time Nynas was a Swedish family firm, manufacturing a large number of oil products and also with a national network of petrol stations.
But changes in the outside world soon made it economically unviable to run a small, national oil company. The two energy crises in the 1970s resulted in Nynas suffering a serious cost crisis, as they did not have access to their own crude oil. The only way out was to specialise in a small number of products and to look beyond the borders of Sweden.
In order to grow on the bitumen side, the refinery in Antwerp was bought in 1985, and in 1992 the UK bitumen company Briggs Oil was acquired. The latter acquisition included the refineries in Dundee
and Eastham
. In parallel with this expansion in the bitumen area, hundreds of million Swedish kronor were invested in turning the Nynäshamn
refinery into a modern facility for the production of naphthenic specialty oils.
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
manufacturer of naphthenic specialty oils and bitumen products. During its 80-year history the company has been transformed from a national oil company with a traditional range of products into a global group of companies with a focus on special products and niche markets.
Nynas has a presence in all parts of the world, with sales offices in more than thirty countries and a global distribution network. Net revenue for 2008 was over SEK
Swedish krona
The krona has been the currency of Sweden since 1873. Both the ISO code "SEK" and currency sign "kr" are in common use; the former precedes or follows the value, the latter usually follows it, but especially in the past, it sometimes preceded the value...
23 billion, of which the Swedish market accounts for around ten per cent. The number of employees at present is about 820.
Nynas is owned in equal parts by Finnish
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
company Neste Oil
Neste Oil
Neste Oil is a Finnish oil refining and marketing company producing mainly transportation fuels and other refined petroleum products. Neste Oil shares are quoted on the Helsinki Stock Exchange.- History :...
and by State-owned Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
n oil company PDVSA.
Business activities
Heating oil
Heating oil, or oil heat, is a low viscosity, flammable liquid petroleum product used as a fuel for furnaces or boilers in buildings. Home heating oil is often abbreviated as HHO...
and lubricant
Lubricant
A lubricant is a substance introduced to reduce friction between moving surfaces. It may also have the function of transporting foreign particles and of distributing heat...
s. But the oil crises (1973
1973 oil crisis
The 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo. This was "in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war. It lasted until March 1974. With the...
and 1979
1979 energy crisis
The 1979 oil crisis in the United States occurred in the wake of the Iranian Revolution. Amid massive protests, the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, fled his country in early 1979 and the Ayatollah Khomeini soon became the new leader of Iran. Protests severely disrupted the Iranian oil...
) meant that a new strategy was required, and activity now focuses on naphthenic specialty products and bitumen products. This means that Nynas is different from most other oil companies, which primarily manufacture petrol, diesel and other fuels.
Naphthenic specialty oils
consist of three different kinds of products:- Insulating oils are used primarily to insulate and cool transformerTransformerA transformer is a device that transfers electrical energy from one circuit to another through inductively coupled conductors—the transformer's coils. A varying current in the first or primary winding creates a varying magnetic flux in the transformer's core and thus a varying magnetic field...
s. - Process oils are included in products such as industrial rubber, explosives, car tyresTireA tire or tyre is a ring-shaped covering that fits around a wheel rim to protect it and enable better vehicle performance by providing a flexible cushion that absorbs shock while keeping the wheel in close contact with the ground...
, graphical paints, nappies and other hygiene articles, and in thermoplasticThermoplasticThermoplastic, also known as a thermosoftening plastic, is a polymer that turns to a liquid when heated and freezes to a very glassy state when cooled sufficiently...
s for items such as tool handles. - Base oils are suitable for liquids used in metal processing, hydraulic fluidHydraulic fluidHydraulic fluids, also called hydraulic liquids, are the medium by which power is transferred in hydraulic machinery. Common hydraulic fluids are based on mineral oil or water...
s and other industrial lubricantLubricantA lubricant is a substance introduced to reduce friction between moving surfaces. It may also have the function of transporting foreign particles and of distributing heat...
s.
Bitumen products
are available in various versions depending on which properties are required:- Standard binding agents to hold together the stones in asphaltAsphaltAsphalt or , also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits, it is a substance classed as a pitch...
surfaces. - Special binding agents for demanding applications such as noise-dampening asphalt and roads with high traffic intensityTraffic intensityIn telecommunication networks, traffic intensity is a measure of the average occupancy of a server or resource during a specified period of time, normally a busy hour.It is measured in traffic units and defined as the ratio of the time during which a facility is cumulatively occupied to the time...
. - Binding agents for surface treatment, for example emulsionEmulsionAn emulsion is a mixture of two or more liquids that are normally immiscible . Emulsions are part of a more general class of two-phase systems of matter called colloids. Although the terms colloid and emulsion are sometimes used interchangeably, emulsion is used when both the dispersed and the...
s for roads with little traffic. - Binding agents for cold mix asphalt technology, which has lower energy consumptionEfficient energy useEfficient energy use, sometimes simply called energy efficiency, is the goal of efforts to reduce the amount of energy required to provide products and services. For example, insulating a home allows a building to use less heating and cooling energy to achieve and maintain a comfortable temperature...
and is also used to recycle old asphalt surfaces. - Binding agents for industrial use, primarily for roof coverings and to provide anti-corrosion protection for items such as pipesPipe (material)A pipe is a tubular section or hollow cylinder, usually but not necessarily of circular cross-section, used mainly to convey substances which can flow — liquids and gases , slurries, powders, masses of small solids...
.
Nynas conducts extensive work on product development. This involves not least of all catalyst and hydrotreatment technology, which has resulted in, among other things, the launch of a new kind of transformer oil
Transformer oil
Transformer oil or insulating oil is usually a highly-refined mineral oil that is stable at high temperatures and has excellent electrical insulating properties. It is used in oil-filled transformers, some types of high voltage capacitors, fluorescent lamp ballasts, and some types of high voltage...
. Nynas also manufactures oils that comply with the new environmental requirements that come into force in 2010, when the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
bans aromatic oils in car tyres
Tire
A tire or tyre is a ring-shaped covering that fits around a wheel rim to protect it and enable better vehicle performance by providing a flexible cushion that absorbs shock while keeping the wheel in close contact with the ground...
.
Efforts on the bitumen side have focused on products suitable for various conditions with regard to temperature, stone
Rock (geology)
In geology, rock or stone is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. In general rocks are of three types, namely, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic...
material and traffic loads. One example is the special bitumen found in noise-dampening asphalt
Asphalt
Asphalt or , also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits, it is a substance classed as a pitch...
, which results in the noise from traffic being almost halved. Nynas is also the leader in the field of water-based emulsion
Emulsion
An emulsion is a mixture of two or more liquids that are normally immiscible . Emulsions are part of a more general class of two-phase systems of matter called colloids. Although the terms colloid and emulsion are sometimes used interchangeably, emulsion is used when both the dispersed and the...
s. These can be used in cold and semi-hot asphalt masses, which means both reduced energy consumption and lower hydrocarbon
Hydrocarbon
In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons from which one hydrogen atom has been removed are functional groups, called hydrocarbyls....
emissions.
Manufacturing takes place at ten refineries
Refinery
A refinery is a production facility composed of a group of chemical engineering unit processes and unit operations refining certain materials or converting raw material into products of value.-Types of refineries:Different types of refineries are as follows:...
. Three of these, at Dundee
Dundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
, Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
and Nynäshamn
Nynäshamn
- References :...
, are wholly owned by Nynas, while the refinery at Eastham
Eastham, Merseyside
Eastham is a village and an electoral ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the Wirral Peninsula, to the south of Bromborough...
is co-owned with Shell
Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...
. The others, for example Ingolstadt
Ingolstadt
Ingolstadt is a city in the Free State of Bavaria, in the Federal Republic of Germany. It is located along the banks of the Danube River, in the center of Bavaria. As at 31 March 2011, Ingolstadt had 125.407 residents...
in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Three Rivers
Three Rivers, Texas
Three Rivers is a city in Live Oak County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,878 at the 2000 census.The city is named for its proximity to three rivers, the Atascosa River, the Frio River, and the Nueces River...
in the USA and the Isla refinery on the West Indian island of Curaçao
Curaçao
Curaçao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The Country of Curaçao , which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao , is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands...
, are linked to the company via various partnership agreements. Nynas is investing heavily in expanded manufacturing capacity. For example, there is work underway to add 300,000 to 350,000 metric tons to the Nynäshamn refinery's current capacity of 400,000 tons per year.
Traditionally, Nynas primarily uses heavy crude oil from Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
as feedstock, as it has properties that are ideal for both bitumen and naphthenic specialty oils, and it also produces relatively few residual products. In recent years the company has also started to buy feedstock from sources including the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
in order to increase feedstock flexibility.
Nynas has sales offices in more than thirty countries, from the USA and Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
in the west to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in the east. The company also has around sixty storage depot
Warehouse
A warehouse is a commercial building for storage of goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial areas of cities and towns. They usually have loading docks to load and unload...
, which means that products can be delivered to almost any destination in the world.
History
The name primarily associated with the original Nynas is Axel Axelsson Johnson. At an early stage he recognised the opportunities created by car ownership, and in 1928 he had SwedenSweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
’s first refinery
Refinery
A refinery is a production facility composed of a group of chemical engineering unit processes and unit operations refining certain materials or converting raw material into products of value.-Types of refineries:Different types of refineries are as follows:...
built in Nynäshamn
Nynäshamn
- References :...
. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Nynas played a prominent role in supplying energy
Energy
In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...
in Sweden, as the company developed methods for manufacturing oil
Oil
An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....
products made of coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
and tar
Tar
Tar is modified pitch produced primarily from the wood and roots of pine by destructive distillation under pyrolysis. Production and trade in tar was a major contributor in the economies of Northern Europe and Colonial America. Its main use was in preserving wooden vessels against rot. The largest...
.
The decades immediately after the Second World War were characterised by rapid expansion, and in 1956 the refinery in Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
was opened. At that time Nynas was a Swedish family firm, manufacturing a large number of oil products and also with a national network of petrol stations.
But changes in the outside world soon made it economically unviable to run a small, national oil company. The two energy crises in the 1970s resulted in Nynas suffering a serious cost crisis, as they did not have access to their own crude oil. The only way out was to specialise in a small number of products and to look beyond the borders of Sweden.
In order to grow on the bitumen side, the refinery in Antwerp was bought in 1985, and in 1992 the UK bitumen company Briggs Oil was acquired. The latter acquisition included the refineries in Dundee
Dundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
and Eastham
Eastham, Merseyside
Eastham is a village and an electoral ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the Wirral Peninsula, to the south of Bromborough...
. In parallel with this expansion in the bitumen area, hundreds of million Swedish kronor were invested in turning the Nynäshamn
Nynäshamn
- References :...
refinery into a modern facility for the production of naphthenic specialty oils.
Important dates
- 1928 The refinery in NynäshamnNynäshamn- References :...
is built. - 1950s Nynas builds up a national network of petrol stations.
- 1981 The petrol stations are sold to ShellRoyal Dutch ShellRoyal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...
. - 1986 Nynas buys a refinery in Antwerp, BelgiumBelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. - 1992 UK company Briggs Oil is acquired.
- 2001 The refinery in Nynäshamn undergoes an extensive modernisation process.
- 2004-2006 Partnership agreements are concluded with US oil companies Valero and Lyondell, seriously opening the door to the US market.
- 2007 The Nova Grades product range is launched, resulting in a strengthening of Nynas’ position as one of the world’s leading suppliers of transformerTransformerA transformer is a device that transfers electrical energy from one circuit to another through inductively coupled conductors—the transformer's coils. A varying current in the first or primary winding creates a varying magnetic flux in the transformer's core and thus a varying magnetic field...
oils.
Sources
- Nationalencyklopedin www.ne.se
- Annual Report 2007 download
- Annual Report 2008 http://www.nynas.se/templates/Publication____8105.aspx?epslanguage=EN
- The book "75 years old – looking back"
- Nynas homepage www.nynas.com
- Brochure: "Taking Oil Further" download
- Brochure: "Nynas in society"
- Brochure: "Welcome to a specialist oil company" download
- Advantage Environment: "Oil from Sweden is better for the environment" http://advantage-environment.com/transporter/oil-from-sweden-is-better-for-the-environment
- Lube Report: "Nynas Beefs Up as Citgo Bows Out of Pale Oils" http://www.imakenews.com/lng/e_article000641847.cfm?x=b11,0,w
- Lube report: "Nynas Ups Pale Oil Output" http://www.imakenews.com/lng/e_article001424737.cfm?x=b11,0,w