BPCL debunks viral E20 petrol claims, says ant attraction theory lacks 'scientific basis'

India's premier oil marketing company (OMC), BPCL, on Wednesday, took to its microblogging site X (formerly Twitter) to debunk viral claims regarding E20 petrol on social media and said that the claims are "baseless and are not supported by scientific evidence."

What were the claims regarding E20 petrol?

Claims were widely circulating on social media about ants aggregating around vehicle fuel filler caps associated with the E20 blend petrol. These claims were clarified as non-scientific by BPCL.

As per the OMC, these circulated claims on social media have no scientific evidence and are termed baseless by BPCL on its official X account and suggest users avoid these misleading and false allegations.

What did BPCL clarify on the viral claims?

BPCL states that the fuel-grade ethanol used for blending is produced through fermentation and distillation processes that eliminate residual sugars from the final product; following this, fuel ethanol contains denaturants, which act as repellents to insects.

After the blending process, the dominant odour of hydrocarbon of petrol prevents any other inherent odour of ethanol from taking charge.

Lower carbon emissions, sustainable, and government acceptance

BPCL states that these ethanol-blended petrol exhibits lower fuel vapour formation as compared to conventional and old blends of petrol. Various ethanol-petrol blends like E100, E85, E20 are greener, conservative and a better alternative for automobiles.

The government showed a green light for the use of E100 and other ethanol blends, as the Union minister Nitin Gadkari announced the regulations permitted for the use of E100 in vehicles.

Previous debunk by BPCL

BPCL previously debunked a circulated claim on social media regarding ethanol blends that the fuel automatically invalidates a vehicle's insurance. BPCL clarified that there is no rule that using E20 fuel scraps insurance coverage.

Misleading information and ethanol blend acceptance

As the industry takes a shift from traditional fuels to these greener ethanol blends, rising acceptance and acknowledgement towards the use of these blends is visible. The launch of hybrid and flex fuel automobiles explores a new dimension for the industry to look out for the ethanol blend-operated trend in the sector.

Claims like these circulating on social media harness the perception of consumers as well as retailers towards these blends and FFVs. Recently, Maruti Suzuki launched its first flex fuel version of its WagonR and Fronx models; also, before this, Hero MotoCorp launched its first FFV motorbikes.

Government's push towards the blends

According to the Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, the country's efforts toward ethanol blending have contributed to achieving 20 per cent ethanol blending in petrol in 2025, five years ahead of the original target.

The government has been promoting the blending of ethanol in petrol under the ethanol blending programme, where oil marketing companies (OMCs) sell ethanol blended with petrol. During FY 24-25, OMCs have achieved an average ethanol blending of 19.05 per cent as of July 31, 2025.