Sweden-based refiner Nynas is set to finish its court-administered reorganisation after a year.
The company originally made the move to go into administration after it was hit by US sanctions because of the large stake held by Petroleos de Venezuela (PDSVA), the state-owned oil company of Venezuela.
PDSVA sold much of its stake in Nynas earlier in the year, so it no longer falls within the scope of US sanctions against Venezuela. Nynasstiftelsen, a Swedish foundation, bought much of PDVSA’s stake, leaving it with just 15%, although a Venezuelan official said it may be able to buy it back in future.
Nynas is a specialist producer of bitumen products and naphthenic base oils, many of which are used to make industrial products like cutting fluid and hydraulic oil. It is also the leading supplier of transformer oil for the UK electricity sector, so its return to business as normal is good news for the industry.
The company had also been previously using crude from Venezuela as feedstock, but it says it has switched to a different blend of crude for its feedstock over the year. It said about this:
“All necessary permits from the authorities needed for running new feedstocks have been secured. The product recipes have been adapted at record speed and Nynas has the necessary approvals from its customers.”
After five years of financing were also secured by the company, a Swedish court ruled that the company had sufficiently reorganised and could exit administration. The decision will come into effect on December 21.
