Essar Energy PLC : ARU at Vadinar Refinery commissioned

Essar Energy commissions Amine Regeneration Unit (ARU) at Vadinar Refinery

January 9, 2012:Essar Energy plc LSE, the India-focused integrated energy company, today announced that Essar Oil Ltd has successfully commissioned the Amine Regeneration Unit (ARU), which is a part of the Phase I expansion at its Vadinar Refinery.

When completed, the Phase I expansion will increase the Vadinar Refinery's capacity from 14 MMTPA (300,000 bpd) currently to 18 MMTPA (375,000 bpd), as well as increase its complexity from 6.1 to 11.8. The project is nearing completion and increased throughput of 18 MMTPA will commence by March 2012.

An optimisation project is also under execution at the refinery to further increase the capacity to 20 MMTPA (405,000 bpd) by September 2012. The capacity expansion, complexity enhancement and subsequent optimisation will give the Vadinar refinery the capability to process nearly 87% ultra-heavy crudes, which are lower cost than light crudes. In terms of product yield, the expanded Vadinar Refinery will have the flexibility to produce higher value products, including pet coke.

Lalit Gupta, MD & CEO-Essar Oil, said, "After the commissioning of the Isomerization Unit last month, the refinery team is working towards ensuring the commissioning of all the remaining units that form a part of our Phase I expansion. The ARU commissioning is one more step in that direction and will be followed by all the balance expansion units being commissioned in the current quarter."

The Amine Regeneration Unit (ARU) is a UOP-designed unit, with 8 MMTPA (million metric tonnes per annum) design capacity. The ARU at the Vadinar Refinery is one of the largest such units in the world. The operational readiness of the ARU is essential to ensure smooth operations of the DHDT (Diesel Hydrotreater) and VGO-HT (Vacuum Gasoil Hydrotreater) units.

The hydrogen sulphide (H2S) generated from the removal of sulphur from diesel and vacuum gasoil is absorbed in a special amine solution in the DHDT and VGO-HT units, respectively. It is then desorbed out of the amine solution in the ARU unit, rendering the amine usable again in the DHDT and VGO-HT units.

Essar is the first refinery in India that will use UCARSOL in the ARU. UCARSOL is a specially formulated amine from Dow Chemicals that helps achieve better efficiency in gas treating and reduces energy consumption.

Notes to editors:

1. Essar Oil Limited is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India and is a subsidiary of Essar Energy, which owns 87.1 per cent of the shares.

For further information on Essar Energy, please visit www.essarenergy.com

For further information on the Essar Group, please visit www.essar.com

Alternatively, please contact:

Essar Energy

Mark Lidiard, Director of Investor Relations & Communications [phone] or [phone]

Andrew Turpin, Head of Media Relations [phone] or [phone]

Capital MS&L

Richard Campbell [phone] or [phone]

Nicholas Bastin [phone] or [phone]

About Essar Energy

Essar Energy, through its subsidiaries, owns one of India's largest private power producers with 1,600MW of installed capacity and projects under construction to expand its capacity to 9,670MW.

Essar Energy, through its subsidiaries, owns one of India's fastest growing private sector oil and gas companies with a diverse portfolio of exploration and production assets. The Vadinar refinery, located in Gujarat, is India's second largest private sector oil refinery with throughput capacity currently being expanded from 14.7 million metric tonnes per annum to 18mmtpa by March 2012, and with further plans to expand to 20mmtpa by September 2012.

About Essar Group

The Essar Group (the "Group") is a multinational conglomerate and a leading player in the sectors of Steel, Oil, Gas, Power, Communications, Shipping, Ports, Logistics, Construction and Minerals. With operations in more than 25 countries across five continents, the Group employs over 70,000 people, with annual revenues of US$17 billion.

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