EU Commission Clears StatoilHydro Acquisition of Jet Network

The European Commission decided that the deal "would not cause competition concern in the European Economic Area (EEA) or any substantial part of it." The European Commission's initial market investigation had raised concerns that the merger could limit competition on the motor fuel retail markets in Sweden and Norway.

To gain approval, StatoilHydro has agreed to divest all 40 Jet petrol stations in Norway and a network of 158 fuel stations in Sweden operating under the Jet, Hydro and Uno-X brands.

Independently of the competition assessment, StatoilHydro also decided to close a number of underperforming petrol stations in Sweden. "Consumers are already confronted with very high energy prices. In the absence of the strong remedies required by the commission, the planned merger would have led to a serious risk that consumers would be even worse off," EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said in a statement.

 Although Norway is not a member of the European Union, it is subject to the bloc's antitrust regulations as a member of the European Economic Area, which includes the EU's 27 members plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

The transaction, announced last September, is for 274 service stations, most of them in Sweden. Jet Scandinavia is part of ConocoPhilips  and is mainly active in the sale of motor fuel at petrol stations.

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Note: There are 115  news stories related to Statoil  in the PetrolWorld Archives going back to August 2005

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