Essar Oil UK announces Mark Wilson as new Chief Executive Officer

Essar Oil (UK) Ltd, the firm that owns and operates the Stanlow refinery, on Tuesday announced the appointment of Mark Wilson as its new Chief Executive Officer.

"He will be based at the Stanlow Manufacturing Complex in the UK and succeed S Thangapandian, who informed the Board of his intention to return to India after almost three years in the UK," the company said in a statement.

An experienced energy professional, Wilson was previously with BP plc of the UK where he held a number of senior leadership positions.

Prashant Ruia, Non-Executive Chairman, Essar Oil UK said: "Mark has successfully led major international businesses and I am delighted that he is joining us as our new Chief Executive Officer. Our UK operations remain central to the Essar Group's strategic plans and we will continue to invest to further our growth ambitions here."

Wilson said Essar Oil UK has adapted extremely well to a fast-changing market since taking over the Stanlow Refinery in 2011.

"I am looking forward to leading the highly capable team in the next stage of the company's development to ensure that we secure our future as a key supplier of the energy and petrochemicals products the UK needs," he said.

Stanlow produces 16 per cent of UK road transport fuels, including 3 billion litres of petrol, 4.4 billion litres of diesel and 2.1 billion litres of jet fuel per year. The refinery processes 10 million tonne of crude and feedstocks annually.

Since acquiring Stanlow in 2011, Essar has invested USD 1 billion in the Essar Oil UK business, including the USD 258 million spent in 2017-18 to deliver a major margin booster project, together with the site's largest-ever turnaround.

"The successful delivery of this project increased annual throughput capacity from 68 million to 75 million barrels, as well as improving yields and driving revenues," the statement said.

Over the last three years, Essar Oil UK has broadened its downstream integration, with an entry into the fuel retail market. It already has 73 petrol pumps across England and Wales and has plans to grow the retail network within the UK market to 400 sites over the next five years.

The company is also a major player in the wholesale supply of Jet A-1 to a number of major UK airports.