If businesses are allowed to decide their own gasoline prices according to market mechanisms but the State moves to supervise instead of directly regulating prices, will competition really bring benefits to consumers or is there a need for additional control mechanisms?
According to the draft Decree on petroleum business completed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and announced for comments on July 20, 2026, this agency proposes significant changes in the method of operating the petroleum market. The most notable point is the transition from the State mechanism to announce selling prices to a mechanism for businesses to proactively determine and announce prices in accordance with the law on prices and market principles.
According to the draft content, key traders have the right to decide wholesale and retail prices in their distribution system. For distribution traders that are not part of the main trader's system, businesses also have the right to decide selling prices on the basis of actual costs and current legal regulations.
In the proposed new model, the role of the State will shift from directly determining pricesAsia builds a legal framework, requires businesses to declare and publicize prices, and at the same time conduct market inspection, examination and supervision to ensure healthy competition as well as handle violations if they arise.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade believes that changing the operating mechanism aims to increase proactiveness for businesses, help selling prices more quickly reflect developments in the domestic and international markets, and reduce administrative intervention in petroleum business activities.
Comparison table between the current mechanism and the new proposal
Content of the current mechanism Proposed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade
The right to decide prices. The State operates according to the regulatory mechanism. Enterprises decide and self-announce prices
The role of the State Price management and supervision Declaration, inspection, examination and supervision
Key traders Follow operating prices Actively decide selling prices
Distributor traders are bound by the current mechanism and can decide their own prices if they are not part of the focal system
Objective Stabilize the market Increase competition and operate according to market mechanism
If the draft is approved after the consultation process and issued in accordance with the legal process, this will be one of the biggest changes to the regulatory mechanism.dominate the Vietnamese petroleum market for many years. However, at the present time, this is still a proposal in the draft Decree, not an officially effective regulation.
