Essar Oil (UK) Limited (EOUK) confirms it has entered into a new time to pay agreement with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
Stanlow, 28th September 2021: Essar Oil (UK) Limited (EOUK) confirms it has entered into a new time to pay agreement with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). EOUK and HMRC have agreed a phased payment schedule, aligned with EOUK revenues. EOUK is therefore confident of closing the last mile financings in the coming months after having successfully raised USD$1.1 billion earlier in the year.
Throughout the pandemic, including during the period that fuel demand was at very low levels, EOUK continued to run its Stanlow refinery, instead of shutting it down, to ensure adequate fuel supply to its customers across the UK. More recently, though aviation volumes remain low, the road fuels market has started to return to more normal levels and as a result, EOUK turned EBITDA positive in early summer.
More recently, in light of the on-going supply issues, EOUK has reached out to its refinery customers and offered additional supply to ease the recent fuel constraints. EOUK has successfully increased vehicle shifts per day, from c.52 vehicle shifts per day in early August to over 70 today. This is expected to surpass 80 shifts by the end of October.
Road fuel sales volumes from EOUK’s Stanlow, Northampton and Kingsbury terminals over the last weekend (25—26 September) were up 22% against a “normal” weekend (pre-Covid). On Friday 24 September sales volumes from the three terminals were up 14% on a “normal” Friday.
Satish Vasooja, Chief Financial Officer of EOUK said:
“I would like to thank HMRC for its support. With this time to pay arrangement, we now have significant runway to stabilise our balance sheet which has been adversely impacted by the pandemic. The improved environment around margins gives us the confidence to continue to serve as one of the UK key fuel suppliers with a 16% market share. We will also progress our future energy transition programme whilst also supporting a large proportion of the UK’s much needed fuel supply.”
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Media contacts:
Ian Cotton, Head of Communications
07805 854169 ian.cotton@essaroil.co.uk
Peter Ogden, Partner, Powerscourt
07793 858211 peter.ogden@powerscourt-group.com
About Essar in the UK
Essar Oil UK is a leading UK-focused downstream energy company whose main asset is the Stanlow Manufacturing Complex, one of the most advanced refineries in Europe situated close to the major cities of Liverpool and Manchester. Stanlow has 800 employees, and is a key strategic national asset, annually producing over 16% of the UK’s road transport fuels, while playing a key role in Britain’s broader petrochemical industry. Since acquiring Stanlow in 2011, Essar has invested $1 billion in margin improvement and other efficiency initiatives to ensure the refinery remains competitive in a rapidly changing market.
The company is a major supplier in the North West and beyond with customers including most of the major retail brands operated by international oil companies and supermarkets, Manchester Airport, leading commercial airlines and the region’s trains and buses.
Essar is committed to playing a key role in the decarbonisation of the UK economy, with ambitious plans to build a green energy industrial cluster at Stanlow. These include the construction of two new low carbon hydrogen production units on site as part of the HyNet consortium, with a planned total investment of approximately £750m to deliver the hydrogen production hubs. Follow on capacity growth is planned to reach 80% of the UK Government’s new target of 5GW of low carbon hydrogen for power, transport, industry and homes by 2030.
The company is also working with Fulcrum BioEnergy on a £600 million project to create a new facility to convert several hundred thousand tonnes of non-recyclable household waste each year into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for use by airlines operating at UK airports.