After the nearly 18-day shutdown at its its Vadinar refinery in Gujarat's Jamnagar district, Essar Oil Ltd has managed a 12 percent increase in its capacity to turn crude oil into fuel.

The 10.5 million tonne per annum (mtpa) petroleum refinery, which was commissioned in May last year, now boasts of an expanded capacity of 14 mtpa. The operations at the refinery were re-started on May 3, after the shutdown.

During the initial three-quarter period, Essar operated its refinery at 120 percent utilization level, processing 9.6 million tonne crude oil. However, in the fourth quarter, it processed 3.3 million tonne crude oil, marking more than 125 percent capacity utilization.

In its statement about the expanded capacity and re-starting of operations, the Mumbai-based Essar said that its "Jamnagar refinery has re-commenced operations after its scheduled shutdown, which began on April 16. All the works relating to maintenance, reliability improvements and jobs relating refinery expansion have been successfully completed. It is now possible to run the refinery up to a capacity of 14 million tonnes per annum."

The company further intends to swell the Jamnagar refinery's capacity to 34 mtpa by 2010-end. An improved capacity to that extent would help the refinery upgrade its ability of processing heavy and sour crude oils, as well as producing superior quality fuels.