The Commerce Commission has filed High Court proceedings against Mobil New Zealand’s head office, alleging its wholesale fuel pricing methods breach transparency rules under the Fuel Industry Act 2020.
The Commission says Mobil has been using pricing methods that are not sufficiently transparent, with two alleged breaches of section 16(1)(a) — one dating back to November 2021, and another from August 2022.
“We think that the wholesale prices methods Mobil New Zealand’s head office has used to calculate what they charge petrol stations (dealers) aren’t transparent enough to meet their obligations under the Act,” Commissioner Bryan Chapple says.
“The purpose of the Act is to improve competition in the fuel market for the long-term benefit of consumers, and so we take any suspected breaches very seriously.
“A lack of transparent wholesale prices means that independent petrol stations aren’t able to see and question the rates that Mobil is charging them. The flow-on effect is that Mobil head office is able to increase prices with minimal pushback, putting pressure on retail prices set by petrol stations,” Chapple says.
Large fuel suppliers such as Mobil import fuel and sell it at wholesale to independently owned service stations, many of which operate under major brand names but set their own pump prices. The Commission says the alleged breaches relate solely to Mobil’s wholesale operations.
“A lack of pricing transparency for dealers makes it harder for them to offer the best prices for their customers,” Chapple says.
The maximum penalty under the act is $5 million per breach.
