Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was down 4.83 points, or 0.03%, to 17,498.88.

On BSE, 92,000 shares were traded in the counter as against an average daily volume of 1.21 lakh shares in the past one quarter.

The stock hit a high of Rs 65.50 and a low of Rs 61.30 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 84.75 on 26 July 2011. The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs 50 on 29 December 2011.

The large-cap company has an equity capital of Rs 1752.60 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.

Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL)'s managing director Uttam Kumar Basu told the media that the company was operating the plant at one-third of the capacity since 13 April 2012. The continuing water shortage forced the firm for a complete shutdown of the refinery now, he added.

MRPL has reportedly approached the Karnataka High Court seeking direction to local authorities for immediately releasing 2.5 million gallons of water per day from the neighbouring Nethravathi river.

MRPL, a subsidiary of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), received around 5.5 million gallons of water daily from Nethravathi river. Water availability in the Nethravathi river and its downstream dams started depleting from the end of March 2012 and the refinery is not getting any supplies currently, Basu was quoted by media as saying.

MRPL has reportedly declared "force majeaure" at the refinery and all shipments except those to Mauritius, which relies on India for meeting its fuel needs, will be affected.

Reports suggest that MRPL has three crude units -- Phase I of 4.68 million tonnes, Phase II of 7.14 million tonnes and Phase III of 3 million tonnes -- and supplies oil products in southern states. From 13 April 2012, it had shutdown Phase-II and III and now it has closed even Phase-I. The shutdown would lead to shortage of supply of products to MRPL fed locations.

MRPL's net profit fell 65% to Rs 109.75 crore on 25.3% growth in net sales to Rs 12930.83 crore in Q3 December 2011 over Q3 December 2010.

MRPL, located in Mangalore city, is a grassroot refinery and is a subsidiary of state-run ONGC. ONGC holds 71.63% stake in the firm (as on 31 March 2012).