The Spanish Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC) has released a report on the wholesale market for road fuels in Spain. The report proposes the adoption of regulatory measures to improve effective competition in the sector and enhance consumer welfare in Spain. The report analyses the main factors limiting effective competition in the automotive road fuel market in Spain. In particular, the report focuses on the wholesale market, which has not been object of a recent in-depth analysis from a competition perspective, and where the lack of dynamism could limit both competition between retail operators downstream and the effect of any regulatory measure introduced at the retail level.

The analysis has revealed the persistence of numerous barriers to entry and expansion in the wholesale market, which limits the effective competition on the market and results in high prices for consumers. These barriers mainly derived from the high concentration of the market and the vertical integration of the three operators with refining capacity in Spain. The analysis also suggests that imports do not generate a significant competitive constraint on the market. To remedy this situation, the CNMC makes a series of recommendations whose objective is to offset the significant market power held by the operators with refining capacity in Spain and to achieve a greater degree of effective competition in the market.

Please, find the link to the English version of the report here.