Well the list above has neither Pakistan nor Thailand, both are relevant for us:

So now there is this new news from Feb 2023 “Thailand approves delay on imposing Euro 5 emission standard on new vehicles” link: https://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202302/22/WS63f5b9c9a31057c47ebb0361.html and link: https://www.pattayamail.com/thailandnews/thailand-approves-delay-on-imposing-euro-5-emission-standard-on-new-vehicles-425033, which basically means the new deadline for automakers for Thai Domestic Models is 01 Jan 2024 for now. And the typical resistance of oil refineries can be felt by a random of mention of “Additionally, the Ministry of Energy also made an announcement on gasoline quality equivalent to the Euro 5 standard. (TNA)” without going into any details of what the announcement holds: dates, deadlines, updates etc.

As discussed here: https://tribune.com.pk/story/2278973/automakers-may-suffer-due-to-euro-5-switch previously (this external article also linked in this comment: https://carspiritpk.com/blame-where-the-blame-is-due/#comment-7829

Basically the ET article posits that since Pakistani auto-assemblers take their tech and parts from Thailand, they will have to switch to e.g. Japan as a direct source or wait for Thai factories to get up to the mark. We have to keep in mind that Thailand is a major exporter of vehicles & automotive technology (link: https://carspiritpk.com/is-pakistan-a-200000-vehicles-per-year-market/) so if the Thai auto-assemblers are struggling to bring their domestic models to Euro 5/6d, then export models are a far-fetched thought.

Thailand already adopted Euro 4 in 2012 (link: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en/market-insights/latest-news/oil/010212-thailand-switches-to-euro-iv-standard-for-gasoil-gasoline,a time when Pakistan was adopting Euro 2), at that time, major automakers already were selling Euro 4 vehicles long before the deadline, 5 out of the 6 oil refineries were also producing Euro 4 fuel much before the deadline. We must also remember that Pakistani auto-assemblers upgraded their models to Euro 2 in 2012 but the oil refineries took their sweet time and only began doling out Euro 2 compatible fuels in 2017 (link: https://carspiritpk.com/euro-2-in-pakistan-a-decade/#comment-9498)!

Then the MMT fiasco is still hanging. Pakistan belatedly achieved leadfree in July 2002. But ever since 2008 (link: https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/291534-petrol-sold-in-pakistan-as-per-notified-specifications-ocac), refineries have been using MMT, another heavy metal additive. The fiasco blew out of proportion in 2017 just because the government mandated a higher octane level in December 2016, the refineries responded by increasing the dosage of MMT to extreme levels. Now the MMT has been banned since 1st May 2019 (link: https://www.pakwheels.com/forums/t/mmt-harmful-fuel-octane-booster-still-being-used-in-pakistan/1975724), but there is no indication of refineries backing down.

Basically it comes down to the fact that in Thailand, automakers as well as the refineries converged to Euro 4 at the same time. Another example is India achieving BS6 where the automakers and fuel-makers matched each other’s timeline (well this timeline was a government-mandated deadline as well) link: https://carspiritpk.com/india-to-enforce-bs-vi-emission-standards-by-2020/ (there can be other links as well but it is an established fact that in India, refineries were ready with BS6 fuel before the automakers were ready with BS6 vehicles). But in Pakistan, refineries are a much stronger mafia than the automobile mafia, it is most important that refineries upgrade themselves from their current status of “hydro skimming refinery” to the advanced status of “deep conversion refinery” to enable low-sulphur, low NOx, low-HC and low-PM clean fuel, one which completely avoids any heavy-metal-based additives.

The purpose of writing this long comment is to request that CSPK should also publish a pioneering article on the subject that refineries are let loose whereas automakers get all the flack. It has also been said before https://carspiritpk.com/euro-7-and-our-effection-for-euro-2/#comment-8054 that compliant fuel is necessary (https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Automobiles/Thailand-s-rush-to-cut-emissions-leaves-automakers-in-the-dust) before compliant vehicles.

As the latest news from Jan and Feb 2023 is that Refinery Policy 2021 is now finalised as the Oil Refinery Policy 2023, link: https://tribune.com.pk/story/2397793/much-awaited-refinery-policy-finalised and link: https://www.nation.com.pk/26-Feb-2023/oil-refinery-policy-draft-presented-to-cabinet-body.

Byco had already begun work on it (later stopped and then continued but I can’t find the news item on it). Pakistan Refinery also selected their supplier https://www.offshore-technology.com/news/pakistan-refinery-wood/ & https://www.woodplc.com/news/latest-press-releases/2022/wood-to-strengthen-energy-security-through-prl-refinery-expansion-and-upgrade-project an year ago. No news about Attock, Parco and NRL.

So, good things are happening on the fuelmakers side and there are some laggards as well. Why not provide consolidated update in an article?

I think it also has to do something with the ‘seriousness’ of the governments. For example in India they leaped to Euro 6 (Bharat 6) bypassing Euro 5 when it was hardly 2 years since Euro 4 was implemented in the country, despite all the hoo haa by the carmakers. Over here we are yet to say goodbye to Euro2 when the standards are more than 22 years old already

That’s nice. It does mean that they include “major vehicle markets” only regardless of the impact. Pakistan has over 7000 glaciers which are melting and causing too much flooding and affecting way too many people because Pakistan is already a high population region. But they didn’t include it. Guess the fuel quality, air quality, environmental emissions and public health of Pakistanis is not on the agenda for ICCT either!

PS: One most relevant link missing from the above “Further reading” links: https://carspiritpk.com/two-years-and-still-no-euro-5-cars/, on 01 July ’23 it will be 3 years! Only 3.5 months remaining.

It’s from ICCT (International Council on Clean Transportation):
https://theicct.org/publication/chinas-stage-vi-emissions-standard-for-heavy-duty-vehicles-final-rule/

https://carspiritpk.com/wp-content/uploads/China_VI_Fig2.png.webp

and where is Pakistan in it?

About Pakistan: Pakistan adopted Euro 2 in 2009 [SRO 72(KE) 16 May 2009] with a deadline for auto-assemblers as well as oil refineries for July 2012. The Auto-assemblers met the requirement, however the refineries took their time till 2016 to meet the standard.

Later on the government mandated that all the imported petrol from 1 August 2020 will be Euro 5, and the imported diesel will be Euro 5 beginning 1 Jan 2021, however nothing was mentioned about bringing the local refineries to Euro 5, hence it seems they keep serving Euro 2 fuel for so long. About the vehicle assemblers, they asked for 2 years from the government which ended on 1 July 2022, although some assemblers were already offering Euro 4, 5 and 6 vehicles even before 2020 (Honda, Changan, Foton), the remaining laggard assemblers have not yet upgraded their offerings even in March 2023 (Suzuki, Toyota, all the motorcycle producers).

The issue of local refineries using extraordinary doses of MMT (a chemical banned in rest of the world. Pakistan also forbade its use from deadline 1st May 2019) to artificially increase the octane number of petrol is still hanging in the air.

Further reading:

https://carspiritpk.com/auto-industry-wants-2-years-euro-5/

https://environment.gov.pk/SiteImage/Misc/files/Rules/SRO72KE2009vehicle.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_emission_standards

https://autodeals.pk/blog/is-this-the-end-of-euro-2-and-start-of-euro-5-in-pakistan/

https://blog.siasat.pk/pakistan-switches-to-euro-5-standards/

https://carspiritpk.com/euro-2-in-pakistan-a-decade/

https://carspiritpk.com/8-years-of-euro-2-in-pakistan/

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2278973/automakers-may-suffer-due-to-euro-5-switch

The PAAPAM has been sounding the alarm since a some time.
https://carspiritpk.com/automobile-demand-next-to-nil/
https://carspiritpk.com/auto-sector-of-pakistan-fears-massive-layoffs/
It doesn’t seem like a case of ignorance as much as a case of stubbornness.

I think our local “geniuses” slept through this lesson…🤔