Residents in Hanoi congregated at local filling stations on Thursday night and Friday morning to buy gasoline over speculation that fuel prices in Vietnam would further increase in the upcoming session.

At a petrol station on Xuan Thuy Street in Cau Giay Street, motorbikes and cars were lining up to wait for their turn to purchase fuel on Friday morning.

Many customers even carried along plastic cans, according to the observation of Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporters.

“I have never seen so many people at a filling station,” said Vu Thuy Linh, a 20-year-old university student.

“Everyone must be rushing to buy gasoline prior to the next price increase.”

A similar situation was also recorded at another gas station on Hoang Quoc Viet Street in Cau Giay District.

At around 11:00 pm on Thursday, a station in Tay Ho District was still crowded.

Many people said they decided to fill their tanks after hearing that gasoline prices would further jump in the next adjustment session on Friday afternoon.

In the previous session on March 1, Vietnam’s gasoline prices climbed to a new peak as authorities adjusted them upward for the sixth time in a row.

The price of gasoline E5RON92 leapt VND540 to VND26,070 (US$1.14) per liter, while that of RON95-III increased VND550 to VND26,830 ($1.17) per liter.

Experts have forecast that fuel prices would continue to rise in the next session given the ongoing global shortage.

The Ministry of Finance on Thursday said it was seeking government approval to lower the environment tax on fuel by 50 percent.

Accordingly, environment tax on gasoline and on diesel fuel and lubricants would be cut by half to VND2,000 ($0.09) per liter and VND1,000 ($0.04) per liter, respectively, if the government passes the proposal.

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