Thanks to a rise in gross refining margins (GRM), Essar Oil announced a profit of Rs 32 crore during Oct-Dec 2012 compared to a loss of Rs 3,986 crore in the year-ago period.
During Oct-Dec, the firm reported an almost four-fold rise in the GRM to $ 9.75 per barrel compared to $2.82 per barrel in the year ago quarter. The company achieved the higher GRMs owing to its enhanced ability to process heavy crudes. The GRM is the difference between the total value of petroleum products produced by an oil refinery and the price of crude oil.
At the international market, heavy crude is available at lower prices. The expansion and optimisation projects at the refinery also helped clock higher GRMs.
The company posted an 85 per cent growth in net sales for the quarter at Rs 23,817 crore compared to Rs 12,851 crore in the year-ago period because of better throughput at the Vadinar refinery.
The output of the Vadinar refinery rose 83 per cent to 5.14 million tonne from the year-ago period. The refinery has a capacity of 20 million tonne per annum.
During the quarter under review, the share of ultra heavy crude in the refineryÂ’s input diet rose almost threefold to 67 per cent from the corresponding quarter last year.
Also, production of valuable middle (LPG and petrol) and light (kerosene and diesel) distillates improved to 85 per cent of the refineryÂ’s product mix from 69 per cent in the same period last year.
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