- ROME, MAR 18 - The Italian antitrust authority on Friday
said it has asked leading oil companies for information over
soaring fuel prices that have led to big hikes for petrol and
diesel at the mpump.
"Following the extraordinary increase in fuel and gasoline
prices registered over the past few days, as well as the many
complaints received", the authority said in a statement that it
has forwarded to major oil companies a detailed request for
information, with the support of finance police.
The authority said the objective is to "look into the reasons
behind such increases and, eventually, to evaluate the existence
of areas for possible intervention only in the event of a
violation of rules regarding the abuse of a dominant position or
agreements restricting competition".
As during the first months of the COVID pandemic, the
antitrust stressed that it was "careful to monitor the
exceptional price increases that are registered sometimes during
critical phases and to verify that such phenomena are not the
outcome of behavior limiting competition".
Italian antitrust inquires into petrol price hikes
Authority asks major oil companies for information