Fed: ACCC petrol investigation spreads

AAP General News (Australia)
08-23-2000
Fed: ACCC petrol investigation spreads

By James Grubel, Chief Political Correspondent

CANBERRA, Aug 23 AAP - Australia's competition watchdog today extended an investigation
into rural petrol prices to take in all four major oil companies.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) also called for petrol station
owners to dob in their suppliers if they do not pass on the government's $500 million
rural fuel rebate.

"This is a serious investigation and it is a very serious allegation that the oil companies
have been pocketing fully or partly the fuel subsidy grant," ACCC chairman Allan Fels
told reporters.

"We invite any service station proprietor who has information suggesting that the grant
has been pocketed to get in touch with us."

He said the ACCC had met with Shell to discuss the issue and was not satisfied with
the company's response.

The ACCC was also well advanced into its inquiry into Caltex.

Professor Fels said because of the sensitivity of petrol pricing, he would extend the
inquiries to take in BP and Mobil.

Both Shell and Caltex denied they had done anything wrong.

Shell spokesman Vincent Cosgrove said the government subsidy was paid directly to country
service stations, and Shell believed it had been passed on in good faith.

"Shell fully denies any allegations made against the company suggesting that it has
been clawing back money under the government's fuel grants scheme," he told AAP.

Caltex managing director Tony Blevins issued a statement and said the company had not
engaged in any unreasonable pricing.

"Caltex has not been engaged in unreasonable pricing in implementation of the GST,"

Mr Blevins said.

"In fact, Caltex has not been able to recover all of the costs associated with the
implementation of the GST."

Meanwhile, Prime Minister John Howard and Treasurer Peter Costello continued to defend
the government's excise and GST on petrol today amid growing anger at rising prices.

Mr Howard said there was nothing the government could do to counter the higher prices,
which he said were due to rising world oil prices.

"There is nothing at all that we can do to control the world price of oil," Mr Howard
told Perth radio 6PR.

He said it would cost the government $1.7 billion to cut the price of petrol by five
cents a litre.

Mr Costello ruled out a freeze on the government's excise on petrol as a way of helping
to keep prices down.

He said the last excise rise on August 1 was worth only 0.6 cents per litre.

"The movement that people are complaining about from the mid 80s (cents per litre)
up to the high 90s and over a dollar is not related to excise indexation," he told the
Nine network.

AAP jg/jnb x

KEYWORD: PETROL NIGHTLEAD

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