Germany's cartel office said Thursday it has opened a second
probe into oil industry competition, including production and
wholesale activities, and gasoline station deliveries.
The probe will examine the refinery sector, physical transport,
the storage of crude oil and oil products, and trading activities
on the wholesale oil market, the cartel office said in a press
release.
"The first probe on fuel brought valuable insight into trade at
gasoline stations," Federal Cartel Office President Andreas Mundt
said.
"In particular, the probe uncovered price-setting patterns of
companies which reveal problematic competitive practices in our
view," he added.
Now the anti-trust authority is examining the competition among
refining and wholesale markets.
"We'll also look more specifically at how price fluctuations in
the crude oil and petroleum product markets are passed along to
automobile drivers," Mr. Mundt added.
Write to the Frankfurt Bureau at
djnews.frankfurt@dowjones.com