Cartel Office investigates fuel prices: No evidence of collusion

Petrol has never been as expensive as it is this year – despite the tank discount in summer and the temporarily falling price of crude oil. Is there a price agreement behind it? The Bundeskartellamt has so far not been able to find any indications of this.

The Bundeskartellamt sees no evidence of illegal price fixing by the major oil companies. The reason for the investigation was the high fuel prices at the filling stations combined with moderate crude oil prices in the weeks and months after the start of the Ukraine war.

An interim report now states that no illegal machinations have been discovered in the fuel wholesale business either. “Our investigation shows that this development cannot be attributed solely to cost increases,” said Andreas Mundt, head of the Cartel Office.

Investigations by the Cartel Office continue

Mundt emphasized that most mineral oil companies had made very high profits with their refineries. Nevertheless, according to the current legal situation, the cartel office can only intervene “if there is an initial suspicion of anti-competitive behavior”. High prices and high company profits are “not yet sufficient evidence” for this. However, the authorities’ investigations continued.

The Cartel Office had announced that it would closely monitor the development of petrol and diesel prices. The competition watchdogs also use data from the market transparency office for fuels. Consumers can also call up their data via corresponding apps. Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck had spoken out in favor of giving the Cartel Office more powers in the fight against high fuel prices.