Vietnam bans production, sale of RON 83 gasoline from 2014

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved a proposal by the Ministry of Industry and Trade to ban the production and sale of RON 83 gasoline from January 1, 2014, the government said in a statement.
The decision was taken after a number of filling stations deceived customers by mixing RON 83 gasoline with higher-octane grades and selling the mixture at the price of the more expensive, higher-octane grades, according to the statement.
Most of Vietnam’s RON 83 is produced by state-owned PetroVietnam Oil (PV Oil) and Saigon Petro, an industry expert said.
However, local producers have been cutting RON 83 output since last year when some ministries proposed the ban, the expert said.
This year, PV Oil aims to sell 150,000 cubic meters (39.6 million gal) of RON 83, almost half the amount it sold in 2012, the expert said, adding that Saigon Petro did not plan to market any RON 83 in 2013 after selling 50,000 cu m last year.
“The impact of the ban on the local oil-product market will be extremely minimal because most local producers of the fuel have been aware of the ban, and RON 83 is now only used by old vehicles in rural areas of the south,” the expert added.
Vietnamese sales of RON 83 in 2011 were 540,000 cu m, accounting for 8.64% of total gasoline sales. The statement did not provide data for 2012.