Ministry of Industry and Trade rejects proposal to "revive" A92 gasoline

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has just issued a document responding to Saigon Petro Company Limited regarding its proposal on a number of issues related to environmental protection tax and petroleum development policy.

In a written response, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said that according to reports from key petroleum trading enterprises, the amount of E5 gasoline consumed domestically in the first two months of 2018 reached more than 593 cubic meters, accounting for about 41.5% of the total amount of gasoline of all kinds, an increase of about 32.5 - 33.5% compared to 2017 (in 2017, E5 RON 92 gasoline only consumed about 8 - 9% of the total amount of gasoline).

"The above growth rate is a positive signal for E5 gasoline consumption," the Ministry of Industry and Trade assessed.

Regarding the mechanism and policy for E5 gasoline, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said it will continue to coordinate with the Ministry of Finance to advise and propose to competent authorities to issue policies and mechanisms to encourage consumers to use more E5 gasoline.

Regarding the Petroleum Price Stabilization Fund, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Finance have been operating and using the fund in accordance with the regulations and directions of the Government.

Therefore, the Ministry of Industry and Trade requested Saigon Petro to continue to "maintain its pioneering role in biofuel development", properly implement the Prime Minister's instructions, and avoid causing negative public opinion about the State's goals and policies on biofuels in general and E5 RON 92 gasoline in particular.

Previously, SaigonPetro sent an official dispatch requesting to resell A92 gasoline due to the low consumption of E5 gasoline in the market.

Saigon Petro requested the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Finance to compile data on E5 gasoline consumption and take necessary measures to encourage consumers to use more of this type of gasoline.

For example, it is necessary to reduce the environmental protection tax on E5 gasoline by 500 VND/liter or not calculate this tax on E5 gasoline according to the current ethanol ratio, instead calculating the tax on the absolute value of each type of gasoline.

In case of applying these measures but E5 gasoline consumption is still low, according to SaigonPetro, A92 gasoline should be used again.

The reason is that the E5 RON92 gasoline output consumed in the first two months of 2018 accounted for a very low proportion (less than 30% of the total gasoline output consumed), the rest was RON 95 gasoline (accounting for 70%) while previously A92 gasoline accounted for more than 65%.