Neste Oil Shifts Lubricant Prodution to Ashland Nederland

Neste Oil Shifts Lubricant Prodution to Ashland Nederland Finland's Neste Oil (NES1V.HE: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday Ashland Nederland B.V. (ASH.N: Quote, Profile, Research) will take over lubricant production after Neste ends its lubricant output at the firm's Laajasalo, Helsinki, plant. Neste is set to close the Laajasalo plant by the end of 2008 as it loses the lease on the land. Esa Miettinen, the Vice President of Neste's oil retail, said Ashland would provide the blending and packaging of lubricant products in the Netherlands, for which Neste will ship the base oils. Neste would not disclose the value of the deal, but Miettinen said the Finnish refiner had produced about 25 to 30 million kilograms (55 to 66 million lbs) of lubricant products annually at the Laajasalo plant. "This reflects the size of production we are moving (to Ashland)," Miettinen told Reuters.