MADRID, Dec 26 (Reuters) - Spanish oil company Repsol is under investigation by the country's antitrust watchdog over possible abuse of its dominant position in the nation's wholesale fuel market.
The company may have abused of its dominance of the wholesale market between March and December 2022 to increase its petrol station network's market share, the CNMC watchdog said in a satement on Tuesday.
The CNMC statement said that Repsol, Spain's largest oil company, may have offered additional discounts at its petrol stations while raising wholesale prices for rivals such as independent petrol stations.
The investigation was opened after complaints were filed by two associations representing independent fuel station operators.
"The regulator is investigating us for something that benefited consumers," a Repsol spokesperson said on Tuesday. "We categorically reject the terms of the file opened by CNMC."
Cepsa, Spain's second-largest oil company, Repsol and oil major BP in December 2022 said that their offices had been raided by CNMC as part of an investigation into possible anticompetitive practices in the energy market.
A spokesperson for CNMC declined to comment when asked about other companies it has previously raided.
Repsol has been fiercely critical of a potential extension of a 1.2% tax on energy companies' turnover, saying the government's proposals threaten investment in the energy sector.
The company has already frozen a hydrogen project in northern Spain.
($1 = 0.9083 euros)
Reporting by Inti Landauro and Pietro Lombardi Editing by David Goodman
Source: Reuters