Russian imports halted in April, Essar Oil says

Essar oil †UK) Ltd on Wednesday said it closed the first quarter ended June 30 with higher sales – both in value and volume – and closed imports from Russia from April.



The company also said it has successfully replaced any shortfall of not importing from Russia with maximizing indigenous resources diesel production and procurement of non-Russian diesel.

According to Essar Oil (UK), sales volume increased 10 percent in the first quarter of the current fiscal year to 1.72 million tons, compared to 1.57 million tons last year.

The company’s consolidated revenue for the quarter (on an IFRS basis) was $3.72 billion, compared to $2.03 billion in the comparable period of the prior year.

Deepak Maheshwari, Chief Executive Officer of Essar Oil (UK) Ltd, said sales volumes are now largely at pre-Covid levels, adding that the company has strengthened its balance sheet and operational performance.

“We accelerated our support for the UK’s transition to stop relying on Russian products and have halted everything” Russian importswhile ramping up production of UK-made diesel,” said Maheshwari.

The UK has traditionally relied on Russia to meet its diesel needs, and a key challenge for the entire industry 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 introduced by the end of this calendar year, Essar Oil (UK) has stopped importing all Russian products (including diesel) from mid-April, the company said.

All raw processed at Stanlow comes from US, West African and North Sea sources, the company statement added.

In transitioning to a low-carbon future, the company said it has formed Vertex hydrogen to build the UK’s largest hydrogen hub at Stanlow.

“Vertex Hydrogen is a critical investment for Essar to help us achieve our vision of becoming the UK’s first low-carbon refinery while providing the UK markets with the sustainable fuels of the future,” the statement said.

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

In February, Essar had announced plans to install the UK’s first 45 million pound hydrogen-powered furnace to become the country’s first low-carbon refinery.

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