Starting today, all unleaded gasoline sold in Vietnam is to be blended with ethanol. However, this is not welcome news for everyone, with some consumers concerned it might damage their vehicles.
Starting today, all unleaded gasoline sold in Vietnam is to be blended with ethanol.
All major fuel retailers, including Petrolimex and PVOIL, have already completed the transition ahead of the nationwide rollout, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).
However, this is not welcome news for everyone, with some consumers concerned it might damage their vehicles.
To assuage these concerns, the ministry has said testing since August 2025 has not produced any evidence to suggest widespread engine problems and has said most modern vehicles can operate normally on the mandated 10 percent biofuel blend.
More specifically, it said late last month that E10 biofuel gasoline is compatible with more than 90 percent of petrol-powered vehicles currently operating in Vietnam. This would, however, mean roughly one in ten might have problems.
Should there be any problems, if sufficient evidence proves a vehicle fault was caused by E10 gasoline, responsibility would first rest with the fuel supplier and then with the state agency responsible for petroleum management, the ministry has said.
This could, however, add an additional operating expense to fuel retailers with profit margins already stretched thin. Note that there were roughly 330 licensed fuel distributors in Vietnam two years ago; however, that number had fallen to 250 by the start of this year.
As for biofuel suppliers, the MoIT has said Vietnam’s E100 supply reached around 84,200 cubic metres by April 2026, enough to blend roughly 910,000 cubic metres of gasoline, equivalent to about 91 percent of one month’s national demand.
However, it has also been estimated that it needs 100,000 cubic metres of E100 ethanol each month to produce enough blended fuel, but that Vietnam produces roughly 25,000 cubic metres, with the rest imported.
As a fuel security initiative, this reality would seem to dull these benefits.