Petrol company agrees to take back tainted fuel it sold Vietnam

Deutsche Presse Agentur
Published: Monday September 11, 2006

Hanoi- After an unusual number of cars and motorbikes started stalling in several Vietnamese cities, Glencore Petroleum of Singapore has agreed to take back the tainted unsold stocks, an official with a local gas firm said Monday. "They agreed to exchange the fuel," said Bui Ngoc Bao, the vice president of Petrolimex, a subsidiary of Vietnam's state-owned oil company, PetroVietnam. "We will send the gasoline back as soon as there's a ship, hopefully by September 15."

Last month, motorists across southern Vietnam began complaining of engine trouble. Subsequent laboratory analyses showed that there were high levels of acetone, a chemical solvent found in nail-polish remover, in many of the samples tested.

Petrol experts say that acetone levels below .78 milliliters per litre do no harm. But investigators found stocks that contained up to 14 percent of the chemical. At those levels, valves expand beyond normal levels, damaging an engine.

There has been no public explanation from Glencore Singapore, a unit of Switzerland's Glencore International AG, why the petrol contained such high levels of acetone.

How much tainted fuel made its way into Vietnam's supply chain is also unknown. But according to Petrolimex, 11,500 tons will be sent back to Singapore.

Ironically, Vietnam exported 6.82 million tons of petroleum products in the first seven months of this year. But because the country lacks refining facilities, it must import petrol.

© 2006 DPA - Deutsche Presse-Agenteur