Ruias-owned Essar Oil reported a net loss of Rs 70 crore for the quarter ended June 30 on account of a contraction in oil refining margins. The company earned $5.61 on every barrel of crude oil it turned into fuel in the April-June quarter, compared to a gross refining margin of $6.74 per barrel in the year-ago period, Essar Oil said in a statement. Essar Oil had posted a net profit of Rs 169 crore in the April-June quarter of the 2009-10 fiscal. The Essar Oil managing
director, Mr Naresh Nayyar, said “While the operational performance of the company has been excellent on most parameters, our profitability has been affected by depressed refining margins.”