Neste

Neste Oyj, (former name: Neste Oil Corporation) is an oil refining and marketing company located in Espoo, Finland.  It produces, refines and markets oil products and provides engineering services, as well as licensing production technologies. Neste has operations in 14 countries and employs over 5,000 people.[1] The company is the largest producer of renewable diesel in the world.[2]

For other uses, see Neste (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Nestlé.

Neste Oyj
Julkinen osakeyhtiö
Traded asNasdaq Helsinki: NESTE
ISINFI0009013296 
IndustryOil and gas industry
Founded1948 (1948)
Headquarters
Espoo
,
Finland
Key people
Peter Vanacker (President and CEO)
Matti Kähkönen (Chairman of the Board)
ProductsRefined oil products
Renewable fuels
Revenue €13.217 billion (2017)
€1.171 billion (2017)
€914 million (2017)
Total assets €7.793 billion (2017)
Total equity €4.338 billion (2017)
OwnerFinnish national institutions (46.5%)
Number of employees
5,297 (2017)
Websitewww.neste.com
Footnotes / references
[1]
Neste's logo until 1 April 2015
Neste's Porvoo refinery

Neste shares are quoted on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Stock Exchange. As of 2017, the Government of Finland is the largest shareholder with 50.1% of the shares.[1] Neste was ranked the second most sustainable company in the world on the 2018 Global 100 index ranking by Corporate Knights.[3]

The name "Neste" means "liquid" in Finnish.

History

Neste was established in 1948 as the state petrol company of Finland, to ensure the availability of refined fuels. This entailed the building of refineries and developing the necessary technology. The refineries were built using American technology, which the U.S. government was first reluctant to provide, because many American oil companies would be competitors. After lobbying by the contractor Lummus, they relented, mainly due to the threat of the contract being handed to the Soviet Union. In practice, much of the oil refined was of Soviet origin, although after the collapse of the Soviet Union, North Sea oil was used. Thanks to Neste, the oil crisis of 1973 had little effect in Finland.[4] It held a legal import monopoly until the market liberalisation in the 1990s. The oil transport infrastructure in Finland was built and is owned by Neste, and thus petrol stations usually obtain fuels from Neste, although the monopoly is no longer government-sanctioned. In the 1970s, Neste introduced petrochemical and plastics production and natural gas to Finland. In 1994, Gasum was established with Gazprom as the minor (25%) shareholder. In 1994, polyolefin production was separated into Borealis, a joint venture with the Norwegian Statoil.  In 1998, Neste's 50% stake in Borealis was sold to OMV and IPIC.[5]

In 1998, Neste Oyj merged with the power company Imatran Voima Oy to create Fortum Oyj. After the merger the chemical operations of Neste were transferred to the newly established company Neste Chemicals, which was sold to the investment firm Industri Kapital for $535 million.[6]  An engineering joint venture, Neste Jacobs Oy, was established with the American Jacobs Engineering in 2004. In 2017, Neste acquired Jacobs Engineering's 40% stake in Neste Jacobs and gained full control of the company. Correspondingly, Neste Jacobs was renamed Neste Engineering Solutions Oy.[7]

In 2005, Fortum demerged; the oil division of Fortum was transferred to the re-established Neste Oil. At this point, the Neste headquarters building (Raaden hammas) was kept by Fortum. The State of Finland maintains controlling interest (50.1%) in the company. The official name was Neste Oil after the Fortum demerger, but in 2015 it was changed back to Neste to emphasize the renewable energy business.[8]

Two renewable diesel plants located at the Porvoo refinery were brought on stream in 2007 and 2009. In 2007, the entire bus fleet of Helsinki Region Transport switched fully to NEXBTL. Experiments by Neste, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and Proventia showed that local emissions were decreased significantly, with particle emissions decreased by 30% and nitrogen oxide emissions by 10%, with excellent winter performance and no problems with catalytic converters.[9][10]  In 2010, Neste opened the world largest biodiesel plant in Singapore.[11] A fourth plant was brought on stream in Rotterdam in 2011.[12]  In February 2014, Talouselämä magazine named Neste's NEXBTL renewable diesel as the most groundbreaking Finnish business innovation of the new millennium.[13]

The self-service station chain in Poland was sold to Royal Dutch Shell in April 2013.[14][15]

Operations

Neste has conventional oil refineries, at Porvoo and Naantali in Finland, and two renewable diesel refineries, in Singapore and in Rotterdam, Netherlands.  Two renewable diesel plants have also located at the Porvoo refinery. Together, these produce 0.525 million tons annually, which is approximately one fifth of the diesel consumption in Finland.[16][17][18] Neste's production facility in Singapore is the largest renewable diesel refinery in the world, boasting a capacity of 1.1 million metric tonnes per annum.[19] A planned new production line is expected to increase its capacity by one million tonnes by 2022.[19] In addition to its own refineries, Neste has stakes in a base oil plant in Bahrain and in Nynas AB, which produces naphthenic oil and bitumen.[20]

Neste owns a chain of service stations, which is the largest chain in Finland.[21] It has about 800 service stations in Finland, and about 240 stations in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Northwest Russia.[22]  Neste was ranked Finland's most respected service station brand in a survey of Finnish brands carried out by Taloustutkimus and Markkinointi & Mainonta in summer 2013.[23]

Neste's renewable fuels based on NEXBTL technology and includes Neste Renewable Diesel and Neste Renewable Jet Fuel, and Neste Renewable Naphtha, Neste Renewable Propane, and Neste Renewable Isoalkane as a feedstock for the chemical industry.[24] Neste Renewable Diesel is a hydrodeoxygenated (HDO) paraffinic fuel instead of a traditional transesterified biodiesel, and can be used in conventional diesel engines in any blending ratio without engine modifications. Neste Renewable Diesel can be produced from over ten different raw materials. In 2013, waste and residues accounted for over half of renewable raw material input,[25] a fraction that increased to 80% in 2016. Renewable fuels have a good margin and contribute significantly to profits.[26]

Neste and Stora Enso ran a joint venture to research production of renewable diesel oil from wood biomass with biomass gasification and the Fischer-Tropsch process in Varkaus, Finland. However, coming second in a bid for European Investment Bank startup funding led to cancellation of this project.[27]

The engineering division of Neste, Neste Engineering Solutions Oy, owns several important patents. A technology for MTBE is one. Another one is the NExOCTANE technology, which allows retrofitting MTBE plants to produce iso-octane; Neste licenses this to Halliburton.

Environmental and social issues

Palm oil

Neste uses 1–2% of the world's palm oil production. In 2015, 31% of renewable raw materials used by Neste consisted of crude palm oil.[28]  Since 2013, Neste uses only certified palm oil.[29]  In November 2013, Neste became the world's first company to be awarded an RSPO-RED Supply Chain certificate under the RSPO's new, more demanding certification system.[30] All palm oil used by the company is certified in accordance with the ISCC, RSPO, or RSPO-RED systems.[31]  In April 2013, Neste began a programme of close cooperation with The Forest Trust (TFT), a non-profit organisation focused on preventing deforestation.[32]

The use of any palm oil as a feedstock has been protested by Greenpeace[33] and Neste has been a target of sustained attacks, including publicity campaigns.[34] In January 2011, Neste won the Public Eye Awards.[35] Neste also attempted to shut down a parody website launched by Greenpeace;[36][37] however, the World Intellectual Property Organization rejected the trademark-based complaint, since page is noncommercial, gives no economical benefit, is not misleading and the companies have to accept critics as part of the freedom of speech.[38]

In 2010, Neste (among others) bought palm oil from IOI Group, company allegedly responsible for illegal deforestation.[39] In January 2019 Neste said it is still buying palm oil Asian Agri, an Indonesian company that has been caught in illegal rainforest harvests, most recently in 2017.[40][41][42][43] Neste said they made that decision because Asian Agri is no longer obtaining raw materials from Tesso Nilo National Park and has started collaborating with WWF. Environmental groups have said that "more investigations would be needed to know if the Asian Agri Group mills are currently breaking the law, or not."[43]

In 2018 Biofuelwatch stated in their report that Neste meets EU sustainability standards for biofuels by sourcing palm oil from older plantations, commonly ones for which rainforest was destroyed before 2008. However, investigations show that Neste cannot even guarantee that all its crude palm oil is free from more recent or ongoing deforestation."[44] Greenpeace has issued[45] similar concerns about Neste's palm oil usage, after an investigation by MapHubs showing that Neste's supply chain for palm oil includes Indonesian palm mills with the most orangutan habitat loss.[46][47]

Sponsorship

Neste is the title sponsor of the Finnish World Rally Championship rally, Neste Rally Finland.

Neste has hired Prince EA to host YouTube videos concerning education and the environment.[48]

gollark: It is inevitable.
gollark: OR DOES IT?
gollark: WHYYY and also WHAT TIME IS IT AT I WANT A PAPER
gollark: Luckily, my website URLs are short enough to put directly in dragon names.
gollark: Nobody is going to go through four layers of annoying clicking.

See also

References
  1. "Neste Corporation Financial Statements Release 2017" (PDF). Neste Corporation. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  2. "Neste 70 years: from a Finnish oil refiner to the world's largest producer of renewable diesel". Neste Corporation. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  3. "The World's Most Sustainable Companies, 2018". Forbes. 23 January 2018. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  4. Öljyn pyörteissä – Nesteen tarina, MTV3.doc su 27.9.2015 klo 14.00. Franck Media. Retrieved on 9 July 2016.
  5. "Neste to complete Borealis sale by end Feb". ICIS. 9 January 1998. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
  6. Alvarado, Vladimir (1999). "Neste Chemicals will go it alone". Chem. Eng. News. American Chemical Society. 42 (77): 15. doi:10.1021/cen-v077n042.p015.
  7. Page Bailey, Mary (30 November 2017). "Neste Jacobs to be renamed Neste Engineering Solutions". Chemical Engineering. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  8. Leppänen, Timo. Merkilliset nimet - Tarinoita yritysten ja tuotteiden nimistä. SKS 2016.
  9. Biofuel reduces local emissions efficiently. hsl.fi (2011)
  10. "Neste Oil – working for better urban air quality". cleantechfinland.com. Archived from the original on 12 December 2010. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
  11. "Neste Oil Biodiesel Plant". Chemicals Technology. 8 March 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  12. "Neste Oil starts up Europe's largest renewable diesel plant in Rotterdam". nesteoil.com. 20 September 2011. Archived from the original on 20 June 2013. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  13. Talouselämä valitsi! 2000-luvun mullistavin bisnesinnovaatio on... – Talouselämä. Talouselama.fi. Retrieved on 9 July 2016.
  14. "Wyborcza.pl". Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  15. "Neste Oil's sale of its Polish retail stations to Shell closed". nesteoil.com. 2 April 2013. Archived from the original on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  16. "Corporate info". nesteoil.com. 25 February 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  17. "Päivän lehti – Helsingin Sanomat". Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  18. "Neste Oil's second renewable diesel plant commissioned at Porvoo". nesteoil.com. 29 July 2009. Archived from the original on 27 November 2010. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  19. "Singapore wins race to house new renewable diesel plant of energy giant Neste". businesstimes.com.sg. 14 December 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  20. "Production - Joint Ventures". Neste Corporation. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  21. "4.1 Service stations – Finnish Petroleum and Biofuels Association". Archived from the original on 25 June 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  22. "Station network". Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  23. Neste Oil kiilasi ABC:n ohi – Markkinointi & Mainonta. Marmai.fi. Retrieved on 9 July 2016.
  24. "Renewable products". 27 May 2015. Archived from the original on 14 March 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  25. "Renewable raw material procurement". Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  26. http://yle.fi/uutiset/3-9250077
  27. "Neste Oil and Stora Enso to end their biodiesel project and continue cooperation on other bio products". nesteoil.com. 17 August 2012. Archived from the original on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  28. "Emission reductions from renewable fuel of Neste corresponds to greenhouse gas emissions of about 1.3 million cars". neste.com. 8 March 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  29. "Neste Oil achieves its palm oil certification target two years early". nesteoil.com. 17 December 2013. Archived from the original on 26 April 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  30. "Neste Oil awarded the world's first RSPO-RED certificate". nesteoil.com. 27 November 2013. Archived from the original on 1 May 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  31. "Certified feedstocks and production plants". nesteoil.com. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  32. "Neste Oil to work closer with its stakeholders to protect the world's rainforests". nesteoil.com. 4 April 2013. Archived from the original on 7 June 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  33. Neste Oil's plans for global leadership in palm oil diesel will drive massive rainforest destruction and climate change | Greenpeace International Archived 4 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Greenpeace.org (12 May 2009). Retrieved on 2016-07-09.
  34. "Tribune de Genève, l'actualité en direct, en photos et vidéos : politique, sports, people, culture, économie, média". tdg.ch. 13 April 2011.
  35. Neste Oil wins a less than flattering award in Davos. hs.fi January 2011
  36. Greenpeace parodiasivu suututti Neste Oilin, Nesteen mielestä Nestespoil-sivu loukkaa sen tavaramerkkiä, Greenpeace taas pitää sivun sulkemisyrityksiä sensuurina HS 22 May 2012 B10
  37. Neste ei siedä kritiikkisivustoa, Greenpeacen Nestespoil.com yritetään sulkea Archived 25 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine Tietokone 22 May 2012
  38. Greenpeace saa käyttää Nestespoil-verkkotunnusta HS 7 August 2012 C1 (in Finnish)
  39. "NEW REPORT: Europe's demand for palm oil driving deforestation and land-grabbing" (Press release). foeeurope.org. 15 March 2010.
  40. "Palming Off a National Park: Tracking Illegal Oil Palm Fruit in Riau, Sumatra" (PDF). World Wide Fund for Nature. 26 June 2013. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 August 2018. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  41. "Eyes on the Forest: No One is Safe" (PDF). World Wide Fund for Nature. 13 April 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 June 2017. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  42. "Investigative report reveals palm oil from major traders compromises deforestation-free commitments of major global brands". World Wide Fund for Nature (Press release). 19 July 2018. Archived from the original on 20 September 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  43. Mac Dougall, David; Huuhtanen, Elias (21 January 2019). "Investigation: Neste still buying palm oil from mills caught in illegal rainforest harvests". News Now Finland. Archived from the original on 9 August 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  44. "Neste: The Finnish company preparing to put palm oil in aircraft fuel tanks" (PDF). Biofuelwatch. 9 January 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 September 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  45. "It might be called #biofuel but it still contains #deforestation . Despite of all the nice #sustainability and #csr claims, Finnish Neste is one of the largest palmoil buyers, contributing to habitat loss and climate change". Greenpeace. 2 September 2019. Archived from the original on 11 September 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  46. Bell, Loren (17 July 2019). "Orangutan habitats being cleared in areas near palm oil mills, report finds". Mongabay. Archived from the original on 26 July 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  47. "Orangutan Habitat Loss and Palm Mills in Indonesia: Our first Intelligence Report". MapHubs. 18 June 2019. Archived from the original on 18 June 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  48. http://www.sustainablebrands.com/news_and_views/chemistry_materials/sustainable_brands/prince_ea_neste_unleash_powerful_indictment_us
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