Chennai, Jul 6 (IANS): Essar Oil (UK) Ltd said on Wednesday that it closed the first quarter ended June 30 with higher sales - both in value and volume - and ceased imports from Russia from April onwards.

The company also said that it has successfully replaced any shortfall from not importing from Russia by maximising indigenous diesel production as well as sourcing non-Russian diesel.

According to Essar Oil (UK), during the first quarter of the current fiscal, its sales volume increased by 10 per cent to 1.72 million tonne as compared to 1.57 million tonne the previous year.

The company's consolidated revenue during the quarter under review (on an IFRS basis) was $3.72 billion as against $2.03 billion during the comparable period of the previous year.

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

"We accelerated our support of the UK's transition away from relying on Russian products and have ceased all Russian imports, while ramping up production of UK-made diesel," Maheshwari said.

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 Oil (UK) ceased importing all Russian products (including diesel) from mid-April, the company said.

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

On 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 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 statement said.

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