From its refinery close to the River Mersey Essar Oil UK supplies 16% of UK road fuels and now seeks graduate trainees to spearhead its lower carbon transition. Tony McDonough reports

Essar Oil UK (EOUK) is looking to recruit eight graduate trainees in engineering, technology and finance to play a key role in its lower carbon transition.

From its Stanlow refinery at Ellesmere Port, EOUK supplies 16% of all road fuels used in the UK. It also supplies jet fuel to a number of UK airports including Liverpool and Manchester.

However, the business is also set to play a major role in the decarbonisation of the North West industrial economy. In January the company announced the formation of Vertex Hydrogen. This will build the UK’s largest hydrogen hub at Stanlow.

The £1bn investment, which will sit at the heart of the HyNet low carbon cluster. It will produce a total of 1GW per year of hydrogen from 2026. This will be piped to factories and transport hubs across the North West. Produced using natural gas, the resultant carbon will be captured and stored beneath the Irish Sea.

In June Essar took delivery of a new £45m furnace which arrived from Thailand via the Port of Liverpool. It will replace three existing furnaces at the Ellesmere Port site. The new furnace will see a significant reduction in emissions.

Now the company is looking to recruit eight “exceptional individuals” for its three-year graduate development programme. Successful applicants will transfer between teams every 12 months to develop a breadth of skills and areas of expertise.

A report from the Institution of Engineering and Technology in 2021 found there was a shortage of around 173,000 workers in the STEM sectors. Essar aims to play its parts in plugging this gap.

READ MORE: Revenues soar 83% at Essar Oil UK

Located close to Liverpool and Manchester, Essar’s Ellesmere Port site puts it in a prime location for graduates from universities across the North West. However, the scheme is open to recent graduates from across the country.

Deepak Maheshwari, chief executive of EOUK, said: “We’re investing to lead the energy transition. This programme offers the chance to learn from our experienced and expert teams.

“The scheme promises to be popular and competitive, so I’d urge anyone thinking of applying to do so soon. We’re looking forward to welcoming our next cohort of talent and to supporting the next generation who will be crucial to delivering our goal of transforming for tomorrow.”

Deadline for applications to the scheme closes on July 31. Click here to apply.