Masana Petroleum to pay R13m price-fixing fine

The Competition Tribunal will on Wednesday, 23 June 2010, hear an application to confirm a negotiated settlement agreement between the Competition Commission and the black economic empowerment company, Masana Petroleum Solutions, in terms of which the latter has agreed to pay an administrative penalty of R13 million for alleged price-fixing.

The settlement agreement relates to cartel conduct that involved practices that were intended to directly or indirectly fix the purchase or selling price of bitumen and bituminous products in South Africa.

In its investigation the Commission found that Chevron, Engen, Shell, Total, Masana, Sasol and Tosas (the respondents) engaged in collusive conduct from around 2000 until at least December 2009. Masana is a joint venture between BP SA, the Mineworkers Investment Company and the Women's Development Business Investment Holdings.

The respondents collectively determined and agreed on pricing principles, including a starting reference price and a monthly price adjustment mechanism.

Masana, which is a marketer, producer and supplier of petroleum products, has admitted that it has contravened the Competition Act by:

Meeting with its competitors and sharing competitively sensitive information relating to the pricing of bitumen and associated products;
Making use of a common platform to transparently share and exchange pricing information;
Making use of and implementing the agreed pricing formulae.