But the National Petroleum Corp, better known as Petrolimex, and But Saigon Petrol will apply the new price tags from 6:30 pm and 6:00 pm respectively.

The new prices for those petroleum products will be VND23,700/VND24,200 per liter of A92/A95 gasoline and VND21,940/VND21,950 per liter of kerosene/diesel oil respectively, according to a joint committee of the ministries of finance and industry-trade.

The retail price of fuel oil will remain unchanged at VND18,950 a kilogram.

With the new price hike, gasoline has seen the fourth consecutive price adjustment within one month with a total increase of VND3,100 per liter.

Many petroleum wholesalers have simultaneously submitted their price increase plans to the Ministry of Finance since the middle of last week to ask for a VND1,200 and VND600-700 per liter increase of gasoline and oil products, saying that world oil prices are on the rise.

The joint committee of the ministries of finance and industry-trade said the new price hike is equivalent to a 50 percent increase compared to the retail price initially proposed by local petroleum companies.

It also agreed to let petroleum wholesalers deduct VND500 per every liter of gasoline sold from the national petroleum price stabilization fund, an increase of VND200 compared with the previous permit. The rate is VND300 per liter of diesel oil/kerosene sold.

The Ministry of Finance and Trade and Industry has also decided to keep the petrol import tax unchanged at 12 percent.

Many filling stations nationwide, including those in two biggest cities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh and their neighboring provinces, have stopped selling, citing many reasons, such as “power failure” and “out of stock”.