An ethanol gasoline product will be sold in five large cities in Vietnam next month, nearly two years after its sales were halted due to the lack of quality standards for biofuel, the producer said Thursday.

E5 gasoline, a blend of 5 percent ethanol and 95 percent gasoline, will be retailed at VND15,450 per liter, slightly lower than prices of the popular A92 gasoline, local news website VnExpress reported, citing PetroVietnam Oil Corporation.

Ly Hong Duc, deputy general director of PetroVietnam Oil Corporation, said the product has been tested on various kinds of vehicles and shown good results. Ethanol can replace other harmful substances and make gasoline products less polluting, he said. Ethanol is made from crops like cassava and sugarcane.

The E5 gasoline was first launched in the market in September 2008 on a trial basis, but sales were halted six days later as there was no standard system for the product at the time.

The government issued regulations on quality management of biofuel products last year.

PetroVietnam Oil Corporation is a subsidiary of state-owned gas and oil group PetroVietnam. The group plans to supply 240 million liters of E5 to local consumers in 2012 through 4,300 stations, compared to only 20 stations next month, according to VnExpress.

The group is building three new ethanol plants in Vietnam with a total investment of US$240 million, the news source said.