German's AVISTA Oil has further increased its control in Dutch counterpart, North Refining and Trading.
AVISTA had already increased its initial 25% stake in the Netherlands-based recycling refinery to 42% earlier this year from former owenrs Holding Wubben. The company has now further increased its "participation" in North Refinery to 75%.
The acquisition further reinforces German-based AVISTA's position as a major European re-refiner of waste oil with operations in Denmark and Germany, using North Refinery's Dutch North Sea operation as a convenient way of linking its activities. It will also strengthen logistics links to its operations in Georgia, USA.
The scale of North Refinery allows the intake of waste oils to be process around 200,000 tons of recycled flux oils and a lube distillate used in the production of AVISTA's Kernsolvat®-branded base oil. Described by the company as 'upcycling' - gaining value from every aspect of waste - the operation will also take in oil-water composites from the shipping sector.
While the news may be positive for output from the re-refining industry itself, a recent report from analysts Kline states that there is much work to be done to convince the commercial auto sector that re-refined lubricants offer a viable alternative to standard lubricants.
Meanwhile, Bulgarian oil producer, Prista, has entered a $16m re-refining joint venture with Uzbek operator Uznefteprodukt to creat two new operations in Uzbekistan's Angren Specials Industrial Zone near Tashkent. The plants will process waste lubes into re-refined base oil for lubricants.
The two projects work together - the Uz-Prista Recycling plant producing the oil itself and the Uz-Ecoprotect operation collecting and storing the waste oil. The entire operation is set to produce around 43,000 tons annually.