Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was down 99.52 points, or 0.57%, to 17,497.90.

On BSE, 19.32 lakh shares were traded in the counter as against an average daily volume of 14.93 lakh shares in the past one quarter.

The stock hit a high of Rs 59.60 and a low of Rs 56.20 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 147.80 on 11 April 2011. The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs 44.80 on 18 January 2012.

The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month until 3 April 2012, falling 2.21% compared with the Sensex's 0.22% fall. The scrip had, however, outperformed the market in past one quarter, rising 12.31% as against 10.40% rise in the Sensex.

The mid-cap company has an equity capital of Rs 1427.59 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.

Essar Oil announced on Saturday, 31 March 2012, that its foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) will be compulsorily converted into equity shares and so on the maturity date there will not be any repayment of the bonds. Essar Oil said it had issued these FCCBs in two tranches to promoter company Essar Energy Holdings.

The bonds worth $115 million were issued on 15 June 2010, at Rs 138 per share, and the second set of bonds worth $147 million were issued on 9 July 2010, at Rs 153 per share. As per the original terms, the bonds were optionally convertible into equity shares and if this option was not exercised then the bonds would have been redeemed on the maturity date.

Essar Oil's chief executive officer, L. K. Gupta, was quoted by media as saying on 29 March 2012 that the firm expects its revenue to grow by 35% in the fiscal year ending March 2013, helped by improved refining capacity.

Essar Oil, after market hours on 29 March 2012 announced the completion of the Rs 8300-crore expansion of its Vadinar Refinery with the successful commissioning of the final Delayed Coker Unit (DCU), which is amongst the world's largest. The Vadinar Refinery is now India's second largest single-location refinery, with an annual capacity of 18 million tonnes (375,000 barrels per day) and a complexity of 11.8, which also makes it among the world's most complex refineries.

Essar Oil reported net loss of Rs 3986 crore in Q3 December 2011, compared with net profit of Rs 273 crore in Q3 December 2010. Net sales rose 5% to Rs 13119 crore in Q3 December 2011 over Q3 December 2010.

Essar Oil, a subsidiary of Essar Energy, is a fully integrated oil & gas company with strong presence across the hydrocarbon value chain from exploration & production to refining and oil retail. It has a global portfolio of onshore and offshore oil & gas blocks, with about 2.1 billion barrels of oil equivalent in reserves & resources. There are more than 1,600 Essar-branded oil retail outlets in various parts of India.