In a major move towards the commissioning of its $2.2 billion refinery at Vadinar in Gujarat, Essar Oil has imported the first consignment of crude for starting the refinery by end-October or early November.Essar imported one million barrel of Saharan blend sweet crude from Algeria at the Vadinar port yesterday, industry sources said. It has contracted another one million barrel Dubai light crude from Vitol for delivery on September 26-27.The refinery would initially produce seven million tonne of petrol and diesel, mainly for exports, as domestic marketing margins are considered unattractive. The 10.5 million tonne refinery would reach its full capacity in March-April 2007.
