France’s top competition watchdog on Monday leveled nearly €187.5 million ($217.4 million) in fines against the owners of Corsica’s only two fuel depots—including energy heavyweight TotalEnergies—accusing the companies of locking up the island’s fuel supply to shut out rivals.
Watchdog Says Firms Rigged Access to Island’s Only Fuel Depots
The Autorité de la concurrence announced sanctions against TotalEnergies Marketing France, EG Retail, and two subsidiaries of Rubis—Rubis Terminal and Rubis Énergie—for coordinating an anticompetitive agreement that effectively forced competing distributors to purchase road fuel from the very companies that controlled the depots.
All four sanctioned companies are shareholders of Dépôts Pétroliers de la Corse (DPLC), which oversees Corsica’s fuel supply, storage and distribution. According to regulators, the companies used their collective control to squeeze out non-shareholder competitors by restricting access and dictating purchasing terms.
“This situation harmed their competitiveness and was ultimately detrimental to consumers, as it led to higher fuel prices at the pump,” the authority said, warning that the scheme hit households already heavily reliant on cars due to the island’s geography.
