UNLEADED PETROL CAN ONLY BE SOLD IF IT CONTAINS MIN. 5% ETHANOL:

STATUTORY INSTRUMENT 17/2013 – GAZETTED ON 12 FEBRUARY 2013

UNLEADED PETROL CAN ONLY BE SOLD IF IT CONTAINS MIN. 5% ETHANOL:

SI 17/2013 was gazetted on 12^th February 2013 as the Petroleum (Mandatory Blending of Anhydrous Ethanol with Unleaded Petrol) Regulations, 2013. Section 4 stipulates that licensed procurers and wholesalers of unleaded petrol must not sell it ‘unless the unleaded petrol has been blended with a minimum of 5% locally produced anhydrous ethanol, being ethanol grade E5, which is produced by a licensed ethanol blender’.

There are various safeguards. All involved must be licensed. The Standards Association of Zimbabwe has laid down standards with which both unleaded petrol and the ethanol blend must comply. Certificates, monthly returns, records and inspections by the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority are involved. Zera will also set the price of blended petrol. Will it result in a lower pump price? Time will tell

– but probably not immediately. Apparently the Chisumbanje Ethanol Project stopped producing ethanol last year, due to the slow response to the ‘E10’ blend (see below). However, Chisumbanje does have a large stockpile of ethanol.

Contraventions of the regulations by ethanol producers (annual licence fee $20 000), ethanol blenders (annual licence fee $5 000 per site) or sellers of unleaded petrol risk a Level 9 fine (currently $600).

There are apparently risks to certain vehicles in using blended petrol. In this connection, we quote from our December 2011(2) bulletin in this series. “Warning on ethanol-petrol blend SI 144/2011, gazetted 6-12-2011 (as Petroleum (Fuel Specification)(Ethanol-Petrol Blend) Regulations, 2011 introducing ‘E10’ blend), states in section 2, Every motorist who wants to use ethanol-petrol blend shall satisfy himself or herself as whether his or her vehicle meets the manufacturer or dealers fuel specifications’. In this context, ‘shall’ means the onus is placed on you to check whether any given ethanol blend is safe for your car. Check with the dealer who sold you the car, or the vehicle manufacturer. It seems that if an ethanol blend damages your car engine, you will have no come-back. Consider yourself warned.” To protect yourself against cheap assurances, we suggest you ask for any ‘guarantee’ in writing (good luck with that), so that you have some basis to proceed in law if your vehicle does suffer any damage.

Big Sky Supplies has sourced this information from BIZ Bulletin andappreciates Howard Dean’s permission to circulate this in the public interest.

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