Journalists reveal petrol adulteration operations in Vietnam

An undercover investigation carried out by journalists in Vietnam revealed that many major private and state-owned petrol stations are selling low quality gasoline. The secret world of adulterated petrol adulteration was exposed by the journalists, who found out that trucks transporting the fuel do not go directly to petrol stations to distribute the fuel. Instead, they stop to have the fuel adulterated in designated stop-off points that are located in thinly populated areas in Ho Chi Minh City. Pure gasoline is unloaded from the trucks and then chemicals are added to the remaining fuel, to reach the previous level. Journalists witnessed groups of people with empty plastic cans and buckets collect the fuel deposited by the trucks, which are then sold. Some of the trucks seen depositing fuels in the stop-off points belong to major oil companies such as Vietnam National Petroleum Corp. (Petrolimex). (January 10, 2012)