Singapore, which has some of the fastest growing oil demand in Asia, will make ultra-low sulphur diesel mandatory in the city-state from this December, the National Environment Agency said on its website.

The new requirement lowers the sulphur content in diesel to just 0.005 per cent (50 parts per million), down from the current 0.05 per cent (500 ppm) requirement, as of December 1, it said in a statement posted June 16.
Singapore, a major blending and trading centre for Asia's oil markets, is making the move ahead of enforcing Euro IV emissions standards in diesel-powered vehicles from October 2006.
It had been expected to move to the Euro IV standard, which was adopted this year in Europe, in 2006, at the same time as Australia and South Korea.
“Today's announcement will give everyone affected ample time to adapt, in particular, oil companies who will have to replace Euro II diesel with ULSD at all service stations,” the NEA's director-general for environmental protection Loh Ah Tuan said.
Oil consumption in Singapore rose 12.4 per cent to about 750,000 barrels per day last year, according to oil major BP’s statistical review.
While Singapore has a population of only about 4 million people, its oil demand is on par with other medium-size regional nations such as Taiwan, Australia and Thailand thanks to a booming petrochemicals industry and oil-fired power generation.