Vietnam pushes back switch over to E5 until year’s end

In Vietnam, implementation of the E5 switch over, phasing out non-ethanol blended fuel availability, has been postponed to January 1, 2018 following continued challenges, including lack of consumer confidence in the fuel. Petrol companies have been told to have blending facilities online no later than October 1 in order to ensure fuel availability for the mandate. The government will also subsidize pump prices to encourage drivers to switch over to the fuel. Most recently the government tried to implement the switch by mid-2017 but that was cancelled when infrastructure wasn’t going to be ready in time.