Essar Oil UK sales up 10%


PTI | New Delhi | Updated: 06-07-2022 17:56 IST | Created: 06-07-2022 17:37 IST
Essar Oil UK sales up 10%
Representative Image Image Credit: Twitter(@Essar)
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Essar Oil (UK) Ltd on Wednesday said sales volume in the UK in the June quarter rose to a new high since Covid and it is now focused on raising production to meet Britain's shortages after a ban on Russian imports.

Essar, which in 2011 acquired Stanlow oil refinery, has stopped importing diesel from Russia, the company said in a statement.

''Domestic sales volumes continued to rise to a new high since Covid. Volumes of 1.72 million tonnes (in April-June), up 10 percent from the same quarter last year (Q1 2021: 1.57 million tonnes),'' it said.

Volumes were up 8 percent in the first half of the calendar year 2022 to 3.2 million tonnes against 2.96 million tonnes in the same period last year.

Consolidated revenues during the quarter rose to USD 3.72 billion from USD 2.03 billion in the year-ago period.

''The UK has historically been reliant on Russia to meet its diesel needs, and a key industry-wide challenge is to source these barrels from alternative domestic or non-Russian sources.

''In support of the UK government's announced ban on Russian imports to be implemented by the end of this calendar year, Essar ceased importing all Russian products (including diesel) from mid-April,'' the statement said.

The company said it has replaced any shortfall from this strategy by maximizing indigenous diesel production as well as sourcing non-Russian diesel.

''Our objective continues to be to support the UK's longer-term fuel security and resilience, and do what we can to meet the needs of our customers in the face of tighter levels of supply,'' it said. ''All crude processed at Stanlow comes from US, West African and North Sea sources.'' Stronger financial performance in the quarter has enabled Essar to improve its capital structure and strengthen its balance sheet.

''Essar's overall debt levels for the current fiscal year are significantly less than 1x expected EBITDA, in line with our low leverage approach to capital structure,'' it said.

The company said it has paid all historic Covid-related deferred tax payments in full.

On energy transition, it said it had in January announced the formation of Vertex Hydrogen to build the UK's largest hydrogen hub at Stanlow.

''Vertex Hydrogen is a critical investment for Essar in helping us achieve our vision of becoming the UK's first low carbon refinery while supplying UK markets with the sustainable fuels of the future.

''The £1 billion investment, which will sit at the heart of the HyNet low carbon cluster, will produce a total of 1 GW per year of hydrogen from 2026, equivalent to the domestic heating energy used by a major British city region,'' the statement said.

Deepak Maheshwari, Chief Executive Officer of Essar Oil UK, said, ''after a very challenging 18 months, we have made huge progress on all fronts in the first quarter of 2022/23.'' 

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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