The colour of Australian unleaded petrol is changing

The Australian Institute of Petroleum (AIP) in conjunction with petrol manufacturing and importing member companies have decided to remove dye from unleaded petrol and E10 (regular unleaded petrol with 10% ethanol added). This change will not have any impact on the fuel’s performance or on compliance with federal and state quality standards or other legislation. The reason for the change is to align with international practices (e.g. Europe, USA, Asia), whereby petrol is not dyed. Removing dye from unleaded petrol and E10 will assist AIP member companies, and other suppliers who import fuels, with the purchase of petrol cargoes from international refineries. Currently around 20% of Australia’s petrol supplies are imported and this proportion is expected to increase in future. The change to undyed unleaded petrol and E10 will commence from 1 October 2015. We anticipate that the transition will take up to 12 months. During this period both dyed and undyed unleaded petrol and E10 may be seen in the market. Unleaded petrol and E10 are currently dyed a red/orange colour. With the removal of dye, unleaded petrol and E10 will appear a pale yellow/yellow colour. This will be similar to premium unleaded fuels and diesel, which are also undyed.