According to Directive 09 issued by the Prime Minister on March 19, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has been assigned to promote the use of biofuel (E10) and review conditions to implement the transition roadmap to E10 gasoline in April, targeting a 10 percent reduction in mineral gasoline consumption and energy savings.

Enterprises have reported that they are ready to distribute E10 gasoline on a large scale starting from April.

PVOIL stated that since 2025 E10 gasoline has been sold at nearly 100 of its fuel stations. E10 biofuel is accepted by the market and has not encountered any significant issues.

To date, PVOIL has been licensed for 13 blending locations nationwide, including seven points capable of continuous high-capacity blending. Accordingly, the enterprise can deploy E10 gasoline business on a large scale by mid-April, earlier than the original plan.

Saigon Petro also announced it will implement E10 gasoline sales across its entire system of directly managed stores from early April, and is ready to expand supply in May if partners have demand. The company noted that base gasoline supply is stable, while ethanol is sourced domestically with backup import options if needed.

Meanwhile, Anh Phat Petro JSC has completed basic conditions to implement E10 blending. The enterprise expects to start trading E10 gasoline across its entire system from mid-April this year.

According to the Vietnam Petroleum Association (VINPA), member companies currently have a total blending capacity of around 965,000 cubic meters per month. With this capacity, the association affirmed that businesses can fully meet nationwide demand for biofuel.

However, the transition to E10 still faces technical bottlenecks that need to be addressed.

Regarding oxygen content, domestically produced gasoline contains almost no oxygen, while imported gasoline typically has 1.3–1.5 percent. Maintaining current standards could create challenges for blending.

Estimates suggest that if only oxygen-free base gasoline is used, the price of biofuel could increase by about VND600–700 per liter. Therefore, adjustments to standards are needed to ensure flexibility and alignment with market conditions.

VINPA also noted that during storage and transport, E10 may degrade to E8. While still meeting quality standards and even being considered effective, the lack of clear guidelines could expose businesses to compliance risks.

Petrolimex added that blending 10 percent ethanol more could push total oxygen content beyond the current regulatory cap of 3.7 percent, potentially reaching 5.1–5.2 percent. Without corresponding adjustments, production and supply, especially for high-quality fuels meeting Euro 4 and Euro 5 emission standards, could face significant difficulties or fail to be implemented consistently.

Saigon Petro argued that a proposed adjustment to around 4 percent oxygen content remains insufficient for practical blending needs. The company urged authorities to promptly issue updated standards with more appropriate thresholds ahead of the transition timeline, allowing businesses to prepare proactively.

In addition, other enterprises have called for the removal of procedural obstacles related to licensing for blending systems, testing laboratories, and conformity certification.

According to industry players, if these bottlenecks are resolved in time, the transition to E10 gasoline could proceed faster across the market.

To carry out E10 gasoline blending, the demand for ethanol (E100) is 100,000-110,000 m3/month, equivalent to 1.2-1.3 million m3 per year.

Regarding the ethanol supply, Do Van Tuan, Chairman of the Vietnam Biofuel Association, stated that Vietnam currently has six ethanol production plants, but only four plants are currently in actual operation. 

The total theoretical capacity of the entire system of six ethanol production plants reaches about 41,000 m3/month. However, with the current operating status of the four plants, the actual capacity only reaches about 25,000 m3/month, equivalent to meeting about 25-27 percent of the demand.

When all six plants operate at maximum capacity, they will meet about 41 percent of the country's ethanol demand. 

Of these, the Dong Nai Ethanol Plant operates stably with a capacity of about 250 m3/day, equivalent to 7,000 m3/month, and has reached its maximum level. It has plans to increase its maximum capacity to 130 percent compared to the present.

Tam An