The Government tightens the noose on Repsol, Moeve and BP to monitor their prices
It asks the CNMC to monitor prices of the big oil companies until the end of the year. The affected companies are those with gas stations and refining capacity in Spain.
The Government is going to extend the obligation for wholesale operators of petroleum products with refining capacity in Spain to report weekly to the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) on their acquisition costs of petroleum products and the sales prices of fuels to service stations.
The affected companies are Repsol, Moeve (formerly Cepsa) and BP. According to government sources, this was communicated by the third vice-president and Minister for Ecological Transition, Sara Aagesen, to the sector operators in the meeting held yesterday, in which the Minister of Economy, Trade and Business, Carlos Cuerpo, also participated.
This obligation was included in the royal decree-law with measures to deal with the impact of the Iran war, published in March. Among other measures, the decree reduced the taxation of fuels.
The obligation to indicate prices and margins affected all gas station companies and was initially planned for three months, until June. But the Council of Ministers will agree today to maintain it until the end of the year for groups with refining capacity and gas stations.
No problem so far
Since the decree was published, some low-cost gas stations have accused the big oil companies of playing with prices to drive them out of the market.
A few weeks ago, the CNMC issued a report stating that it has not detected manipulation or widespread anomalies in fuel prices, but it has identified minor specific breaches (in 86 gas stations out of more than 12,000 throughout Spain).
The CNMC fined Repsol this year with more than 20 million euros for engaging in 'dumping' to strangle low-cost gas stations.
