Starting 1 April 2021, Malaysian Diesel Standards will only allow for Euro 5 grade fuel to be sold. Petrol comes next.
In a rather surprising twist, the Malaysian government has introduced new standards to both petrol and diesel sold at pumps nationwide. This is according to the updates to the Environmental Quality (Control of Petrol and Diesel Properties) Regulation 2021, which was gazetted on the 26 of March 2021. The amendments to petrol standards come later, with diesel standards coming into effect immediately.
For diesel, it looks like only Euro5 diesel can be sold effective 1 April 2021… Which is RIGHT NOW! Euro5 diesel has a maximum sulphur content of 10mg/kg. From our understanding, a lower sulphur content makes for lower chances of acid rain being formed.
For now, the lower sulphur content and specific cetane number/cetane index are the two measurable qualities that the government will be enforcing for diesel fuel. What this effectively means is that the cheaper Euro 2M diesel fuel may be taken off the market completely! Don’t quote us on that until an official statement is made by the government, but that’s what legislation seems to suggest.
As the table above suggests, other properties, such as the fuel’s density at 15 degrees Celcius, Distillation at 95% and Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons will only matter later on. We’re not sure what the density and distillation properties have to do with the fuel or its emission qualities. However, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are known to be carcinogenic to humans. They’ll be effectively reduced in 2 years time (some brands may voluntarily reduce them to this standard before the legal commencement date).
While this MAY increase the price of diesel in Malaysia (again, stay tuned for official announcements), there is a net good for the environment and human health. Enforcement ought to be carried out properly, as some smaller truck operators may still get cheaper, unregulated diesel fuel from the black market.
On Malaysian Petrol Standards
The new legislation also makes changes to petrol standards in Malaysia. These changes will not come into effect until the 1st of September 2025, with more changes coming in 2026 and 2027. Here are the new standards in full.
As you can see, the first thing that will have a new lower legal limit is the maximum sulphur and lead content.
Our Thoughts
The move towards more environmentally friendly fuel standards is to be applauded. Even if the timeline for petrol fuels seems a little slow and the timeline for diesel seems very rushed, the move is solid and in the right direction. Luckily, brands like BHPetrol have pushed hard for Euro5 availability across their network of stations.
We’re still a little shaky on the details. Few if any media outlets have reported on the matter yet. Here’s a short legal blurb we found. The regulation itself can be found here.
