Mumbai, Nov 7 (IANS): Refining major Essar Oil Friday reported its second quarter net profit at Rs.226 crore from a loss of Rs.71 crore incurred during the corresponding period of last year.

However, the country's second largest private refiner's gross revenues was down 12 percent in the period under review at Rs.24,194 crore from Rs.27,392 crore.

The company said that the dip in revenues is mainly due to lower crude oil price during the quarter.

The company's current price gross refining margin (CP GRM) for second quarter was $7.03 per barrel as compared to $6.93 per bbl in Q2FY14.

The EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) during the quarter stood at Rs.1,025 crore, against Rs.1,033 crore in Q2FY14.

"Financials for the quarter were impacted on account of decline in cracks of key products and weakness in oil prices which is partly offset by operational efficiency and reduction in interest and financial charges due to part dollarization of our debt," said Suresh Jain, chief financial officer, Essar Oil.

"We expect to complete our balance dollarization programme by end of FY15 to further reduce our overall cost of debt."

During the quarter, the company realised 52 percent of its revenues from the domestic market against 44 percenmt in Q2FY14.

Essar Oil has over 1,400 retail outlets across the nation, with about 300 in various stages of commissioning.

The company added that with the government announcing deregulation of diesel prices, Essar Oil has begun retail sales of diesel through its outlets.