TotalEnergies and Corsica partners fined $217 million over fuel deal

PARIS (Reuters) -France's antitrust authority has fined TotalEnergies, Rubis and EG Retail a combined 187 million euros ($217.3 million) over an anticompetitive deal that raised fuel prices in Corsica, the watchdog said on Monday.

The island, with a population of a little more than 350,000, is heavily reliant on cars for transportation, with all fuel imports distributed through depots operated by DPLC, owned jointly by Rubis, TotalEnergies and EG Retail.

Between 2016 and 2023 no other companies were allowed to use those depots, the watchdog said.

"The agreement to reserve the use of Corsican fuel depots exclusively for DPLC shareholders is anticompetitive and likely to foreclose competitors to the detriment of consumers," the watchdog said.

TotalEnergies and EG Retail did not respond immediately to a request for comment. A Rubis spokesperson said the company was evaluating the authority's decision. 

The investigation followed a complaint received in 2022 from Ferrandi, another fuel distributor on the Mediterranean island.

Outsiders such as Ferrandi were forced to purchase their fuel under conditions imposed by their rivals, leading to higher pump prices, the watchdog's statement said.

TotalEnergies was fined 115.8 million euros while Rubis was ordered to pay 64.7 million euros and smaller company EG Retail was fined 7 million euros. The companies can appeal, though the appeal process does not suspend the payment. 

($1 = 0.8627 euros)

(Reporting by Alessandro Parodi and America HernandezEditing by Inti Landauro and David Goodman)