No scientific basis for claims of E20 petrol attracting ants, BPCL says
This story was originally published at 18:00 IST on 17 June 2026
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MUMBAI – State-run oil marketing company Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. Wednesday dismissed social media reports claiming that ants congregate around vehicle fuel filler caps because of E20 petrol. These claims have no scientific basis, are not supported by scientific evidence, and are baseless, the company said in a social media post.
"Fuel-grade ethanol used for petrol blending is produced through fermentation and distillation processes that eliminate residual sugars from the final product. Further, fuel ethanol contains denaturants, which are repellent to insects," the company said. "Upon blending, the characteristic hydrocarbon odour of petrol remains dominant over any inherent ethanol odour," it said.
Ethanol-blended petrol exhibits lower fuel vapour formation compared with conventional petrol, which means there is no identifiable attractant associated with E20 fuel which would cause ants or other insects to congregate around vehicle fuel caps, the company said.
For the March quarter, BPCL had reported net profit of INR 31.91 billion on revenues of INR 1.35 trillion. Wednesday, its shares closed 1.9% higher at INR 317.95 on the National Stock Exchange. End
Reported by Anand JC
Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury
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