The US energy information administration (EIA) has claimed that preparations for the switch to low-sulphur diesel on Sunday are all in place.

The transfer is going smoothly according to officials and the move the new fuel, which is designed to reduce the amount of emissions released into the atmosphere by working with new vehicle technology, will see pumps readily available from Sunday onwards.

"We expect wide availability of [clean diesel fuel] across the country at numbers significantly higher than we had expected," Margo Oge, director for the Environmental Protection Agency's transport and air quality office, told Reuters.

Ms Oge added that US refiners currently have enough supply to produce about 2.4 million barrels per day, which will be sufficient to satisfy 90 per cent of on-road demand.

Welcoming the imminent arrival of the new fuel, Richard Kassel of the Natural Resources Defense Council commented: "Diesel has been dirty for a long, long time and it's on the way to being clean."

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