The Italian Competition Authority – Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM) has announced that it has fined six major fuel distributors in Italy a total of over EUR 936 million for anti-competitive agreement relating to the value of the mandatory bio-component factored into motor fuel prices.
The AGCM investigation into Eni, Esso, Ip, Iplom, Q8, Saras, and Tamoil (for the latter, also in relation to the conduct of Repsol, which it has now acquired), the main operators in Italy, was prompted by a whistleblower’s complaint.
Now completed, the AGCM investigation findings revealed that all companies, except Iplom and Repsol, coordinated to fix the value of the bio-component factored into fuel prices, thereby restricting competition in the sale of motor fuel.
According to AGCM, the companies implemented parallel price increases – largely coinciding – which were driven by direct or indirect information exchanges among them.
The cartel was further aided by the disclosure of the exact value of the bio-component in numerous articles published in “Staffetta Quotidiana”, a well-known industry daily, also as a result of information sent directly to the newspaper by Eni.
AGCM found that the pricing cartel began on January 1, 2020, and continued until June 30, 2023. The value of this bio-component increased from approximately EUR 20/m³ in 2019 to around EUR 60/m³ in 2023.
As a consequence, the offending companies were fined a total of EUR 936,659,087. The Authority imposed a fine of EUR 336,214,660 on Eni, EUR 129,363,561 on Esso, EUR 163,669,804 on Ip, EUR 172,592,363 on Q8, EUR 43,788,944 on Saras, and EUR 91,029,755 on Tamoil.
