Starting from 1 January 2018, the currently used RON 92 petrol will be completely replaced by E5 bio-fuel which is a blend of RON 92 (95%) and bio-fuel ethanol (5%). Hence, the sale of only RON 95 and E5 bio-fuel will be allowed at filling stations nationwide.

A local customer has his car filled up with E5 bio-fuel

In Viet Nam, RON 92, or the 92-octane gasoline A92, is currently the most popular gasoline, but over the past few years, the national government has been trying to boost consumption of E5 bio-fuel which is good for engines whilst producing fewer emissions.

Da Nang is now home to a total of 9 wholesale petrol distributors.  Amongst them are Petrolimex Da Nang, the city’s branch of the Central Region’s Petrol Vietnam Oil Corporation (PV Oil), the Hoa Khanh General Service and Trading Co Ltd, and the Military Petroleum Corporation Zone 2. 

These distributors began supplying E5 bio-fuel to local petrol agents, retail outlets and filling stations on a trial basis a few years ago. 

To implement the RON 92-to-E5 transition, the local fuel companies have invested in blending facilities specifically for the E5, which could cost a lot of money and time.  For gas stations, they have developed pumping and storage facilities to ensure the quality and the safety of E5 bio-fuel.

According to Petrolimex Da Nang, only RON 95 and E5 bio-fuel are being sold at 17 out of its total 27 filling stations.

The E5 blending station at the Khue My Petroleum Depot under the management of Petrolimex Da Nang is expected to ensure sufficient supplies of the bio-fuel to the whole central region market in the coming years as this depot is currently operating at only between 30 and 40% of its maximum capacity.  Once fully operational, this venue can provide over 10,000m³ of E5 bio-fuel for its consumer market every month.

A biofuel pump at a local gas station

Over recent years, the national and municipal governments have taken effective measures to widely publicise the benefits of E5 bio-fuel and encourage even more local residents to use it in accordance with the State's guidelines.  Thanks to this, the city is seeing a growing number of local residents using this environmentally friendly fuel.

In reality, RON95, a higher-grade type of normal gasoline, is now favoured by owners of newer vehicle models across the country, and it is more environmentally friendly than RON92. 

Presently, the price per litre of E5 is less than between 260 VND and 280 VND cheaper than that of RON 92.

In an attempt to boost the nationwide consumption of E5 bio-fuel, many fuel companies have asked for help from the national government to issue more incentives to widen that margin and make E5 more attractive to vehicle users nationwide.