Private refiner Essar Oil Ltd has registered a net loss of Rs 70 crore during the three month period ended June 2010 as against a net profit of Rs 169 crore in the same period of 2009.

But, the total income of the company surged to Rs 10,570 crore during the quarter under review as against Rs 6,601 crore for April-June 2009.

The company's net profit for year ended March 2010 stood at Rs 29 crore, against a net loss of Rs 514 crore for the year ended March 2009.

Essar Oil's total income during the quarter was Rs 36,716 crore for FY10, while the same stood at Rs 37,700 crore for the same period of 2009.

Essar Oil Managing Director Naresh Nayyar stated, "While the operational performance of the company has been excellent on most parameters, our profitability has been affected by depressed refining margins."

The demand for petroleum product continues to be driven by strong growth of the country's economic system and expansion in vehicles.

Revenues increased more than 52% to Rs 12,048 crore in the three month period ended June 2010.

Essar stated that its Vadinar plant in Gujarat turned a record 3.68 million tonnes of crude oil into petroleum products in the quarter under review.

Refinery throughput during the first quarter of the previous fiscal stood at 2.76 million tonnes.