National Markets and Competition Commission He filed a sanctions file against (CNMC) repsol for the crime of “taking advantage of their dominant position” for increase the price it demands from competitors to buy fuel from the wholesale market Customers offered ‘aggressive’ discounts from service stations. This unitary file comes after the CNMC registered Cepsa and BP, as well as Repsol’s headquarters, just over a year ago, following a lawsuit filed by the National Association of Automated Service Stations (AESAE) and the Association of Independent Hydrocarbon Marketers. came.
The events occurred in March 2022, after Russia invaded Ukraine, when the Government launched an operation. 20 kuruş bonus per liter of fuel. This discount applied directly when refueling at any service station, but it was larger as large operators such as Repsol, Cepsa and BP added an additional discount to the public bonus as long as customers used their cards or apps. . In this way, large groups reached a conclusion. Minimum 30 cents discount per liter Fuel at a network of gas stations (10 cents from oil companies added to the government’s 20 cents).
Repsol CEO Josu Jon Imaz described this discount, which is limited to carriers as of December 2022, as follows: “investment” instead of “expense” For the company by creating customer loyalty through the Waylet application. The number of users of this application increased from 2 million before the start of the war to over 7 million today. This competitive advantage The company has sales through service stations and production capacity in its refineries. Sold competitors at higher prices. This ‘pincer effect’ between the high price at which independent companies buy fuel supplied by Repsol and the difficulties they experience in making offers at service stations that resemble those of the oil company. ‘effectively’ kicked them out of the market.
In this way, the oil company would benefit from its position. Gaining retail market share at the expense of independent service stations, always by Competition. “Given Repsol’s position in the wholesale market, this behavior would represent an exclusionary strategy against third-party competitors (independent service stations). It would also have the capacity to erode the commercial margins of those competitors and limit competition in distribution and retail,” explains Cani Fernández organization headed by.
The oil company, headed by Antoni Brufau, “categorically” rejects the file, arguing that it “does not have a dominant position in the Spanish fuel market and strictly complies with competition regulations.” “Repsol is a tremendous effort to help customers through discounts and therefore they are facing price increases resulting from the war in Ukraine, and more than 500 million euros have been allocated to discounts at service stations in Spain. In short, CNMC made an opening. Sanction file regarding measures aimed at favoring consumers”, defends the company.
In no case will the file opened by the CNMC prejudice the final outcome of the investigation. It will be resolved within two years at the latestAccording to the agency.