The refinery project was delayed several times due to environmental concerns and financial problems, including initial cost overruns and a shortfall in equity contributions.

Essar Oil announced the completion of the Rs8,300-crore expansion with the commissioning of the final Delayed Coker unit (DCU), which is amongst the world's largest.

[citation needed] The capacity expansion and complexity enhancement give the capability to process much heavier crude oil.

EOL is targeting newer markets such as Australia, New Zealand and north-west Europe, in addition to countries in the Indian subcontinent for exporting high-quality fuels.

[citation needed] The Vadinar Refinery benefits from a fully integrated infrastructure including India's only captive coal-fired power plant to provide power and process steam, a port, pipelines and tankage, with multi-modal product dispatch facilities through rail, road, and sea giving it a unique cost advantage.