Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was down 122.09 points or 0.71% to 17,029.10.

On BSE, 5.86 lakh shares were traded in the counter as against average daily volume of 11.35 lakh shares in the past one quarter.

The stock hit a high of Rs 54 and a low of Rs 51.10 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 134.65 on 4 May 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 till 3 May 2012, falling 13.64% compared with the Sensex's 2.54% fall. The scrip had also underperformed the market in past one quarter, declining 17.51% as against Sensex's 2.58% fall.

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

The Essar Oil stock had fallen 5.14% in two trading sessions to settle at Rs 51.60 on Thursday, 3 May 2012, from a recent high of Rs 54.40 on 30 April 2012

Essar Oil after after market hours on 26 April 2012 said that it has renewed a major product sale and purchase agreement with Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL). The renewed four year agreement with BPCL, running upto 2016, is for supply of diesel, petrol, kerosene and aviation turbine fuel (ATF) to BPCL from the company's Vadinar Refinery. It also entitles Essar Oil to purchase products from BPCL and gives the two companies the option of sharing each other's distribution infrastructure.

Essar Oil said it has similar product sale and purchase agreements with two other leading oil marketing companies from the public sector, namely Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL).

Essar recently completed the phase 1 expansion project at its Vadinar refinery at a capex of Rs 8300 crore, which has increased its capacity from 14.7 million tonnes a year to 18 million tonnes, and improved complexity to 11.8. A further optimisation project, currently underway, will increase capacity further to 20 million tonnes by September 2012, the company said.

Vadinar Refinery, amongst the most complex refineries globally, has the flexibility to produce higher value, high-quality products, including Gasoline (petrol) and Gasoil (diesel) conforming to Euro IV and V norms, that have growing acceptance in both domestic and international markets, Essar Oil said in a statement.

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. The company unveils FY 2012 results on 11 May 2012.

Essar Oil 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.