Essar Oil Limited, which has declared commercial production of its 10.5 mmtpa refinery w.e.f. 1st May 2008, has reported a gross sale of Rs. 10,132 Crore during the first two months of its commercial operations. The company reported an earnings before Interest, Depreciation, Tax, Amortisation and Provisions of Rs. 664 Crore and a cash profit of Rs. 434 Crore for the quarter ending June 30, 2008.

Speaking on these results, Mr Naresh Nayyar, Managing Director, Essar Oil Limited said that operations at its refinery were at 115 % of the installed capacity and the performance was very gratifying. He added that Essar Oil Limited is strategically positioned and equipped to leverage the opportunities that are being created by a strong demand-driven market in this sector.

The above results were taken on record at the meeting of the Board of Directors held on July 31, 2008.

The company is in the process of expanding the existing refinery capacity from 10.5 mmtpa to 34 mmtpa at an investment of US$ 6 billion. The expansion to 16 mmtpa is under Essar Oil Limited whereas a new 18 mmtpa facility is being implemented under Essar Oil Vadinar Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Essar Oil Limited. He expressed satisfaction at the physical progress of the expansion and also the tie-up of the finances for the expansion.

Essar Energy Holdings Limited (EEHL), drives EGL’s Energy business. It operates a fully integrated oil company of international size and scale in India. Its assets include Exploration and Production blocks in India, Vietnam, Madagascar and Africa. It operates a 10.5 mmtpa refinery in the west coast of India and over 1,200 oil retail stations across India. Plans are under way to increase its exploration acreage in various parts of the globe, expand its refinery capacity to
34 mmtpa.

Essar Global Limited (EGL) is a diversified business group operating in the sectors of Steel, Energy, Power, Communication, Shipping Ports & Logistics, Mining & Minerals, and Construction. EGL has a firm value of over USD 50 billion and employs 38,000 people worldwide. The company has operations and investments in India, Canada, USA, Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean and South East Asia.

Standalone Unaudited Financial Results for the Quarter ended on 30th June, 2008

For more information, please contact
Sharad Goel, Group Head-Media Relations, Essar, Mumbai, India, goels@essar.com
Mohan Nair, General Manager, Corporate Communications, Essar, Mumbai,India at +91 98339 45779, m_nair@essar.com
Parikshit Kaul, Dy. General Manager, Corporate Communications, Essar, New Delhi, at +91 98735 70816, pkaul@essar.com
William Clutterbuck, Maitland, United Kingdom at +44 20 7379 5151, wclutterbuck@maitland.co.uk