Singapore will adopt the environmentally cleaner Euro 6 fuel emission standards from late 2017 for vehicles powered by petrol, a government agency said.

The country, which is currently on Euro 4 for gasoline-powered vehicles, will adopt the new standards from Sept 1, 2017, the National Environment Agency said.

Euro 6 is the latest engine emission standard set by the European Union (EU), which imposes strict rules on tailpipe gas emissions of new vehicles sold in EU member states.

Euro 6 fuel has a maximum sulphur content of 5 parts per million (ppm) while Euro 4 has a maximum sulphur content of 50 ppm.

It was not immediately clear if Singapore refineries are able to produce gasoline meeting Euro 6 standards.

The city state’s refineries might have to upgrade existing units to produce the lower sulphur oil product which could be costly, a South Korean refining source said.

The new regulation will also reduce nitrogen oxides and fine particulate emissions, the environment agency said.

- Reuters