2023-12-26 10:53:27
The National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) has opened a sanctioning file against Repsol for “taking advantage of their dominant position” to increase the price it charges its competitors for purchasing fuel on the wholesale market, while offered ‘aggressive’ discounts to customers of its service stations. This file unitary It comes after the CNMC registered the headquarters of the company itself a little over a year ago. Repsolas well as Cepsa and BP, after a lawsuit filed by the National Association of Automatic Service Stations (AESAE) and the Association of Independent Hydrocarbon Marketers. The CNMC has not commented on the outcome of the investigation into Cepsa and BP.
The events occurred from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in March 2022, when the Government launched a bonus of 20 cents per liter of fuel. This discount was applied directly when refueling at any service station, but in the case of large operators such as Repsol, Cepsa and BP It was greater when they added an additional discount to the public bonus as long as customers used their loyalty cards or applications. In this way, the large groups achieved a Minimum reduction of 30 cents per liter of fuel (10 cents from the oil companies were added to the 20 cents from the Government) in its network of gas stations.
The CEO of Repsol, Joshua Jon Imazused to qualify this discount – which as of December 2022 was limited to carriers – as an “investment” rather than an “expense” for the company at the time. loyalty to clients through their Waylet app. The number of users of this application increased from 2 million before the start of the war To over 7 million today. In addition to this competitive advantage in sales through its service stations, having production capacity In its refineries, the company sold to its competitors at higher prices. This ‘pincer effect’ between the high price at which independent companies They bought the fuel supplied by Repsol and the difficulties they had in making offers that resembled those of the oil company at the service stations, which ‘de facto’ expelled them from the market.
In this way, the oil company would have taken advantage of its position to gain retail market share to the detriment of independent service stations, always according to Competition. “Given Repsol’s position in the wholesale market, the conduct would have represented a exclusionary strategy against third-party competitors—independent service stations. Furthermore, they would have had the ability to erode business margins of said competitors and limit competition in retail distribution,” explains the body that directs Cani Fernández.
Related news
The oil company who presides Antoni Brufau “flatly” rejects the file by defending that “it does not have a dominant position in the Spanish fuel market and strictly complies with competition regulations.” “Repsol has made a enormous effort to help your clients through discounts and thus face the price increases derived from the war in Ukraine, with more than 500 million euros allocated to discounts at its service stations in Spain. In short, the CNMC has opened a sanctioning file for a measure aimed at favoring consumers,” the company defends.
The file opened by the CNMC does not in any case prejudge the final result of the investigation, which will be resolved in a maximum period of two yearsaccording to the agency.
#Competition #opens #file #Repsol #making #fuel #expensive #competitors #cheaper #clients