Netherlands: Motorway Service Area Tenders Come Under Scrutiny
|
|
|
|
Tuesday, 31 March 2009 |
|
The auctioning of petrol stations on Dutch motorways has become a
fiasco, according to sector organisation Bovag. It says small oil
companies have scarcely been able to acquire any petrol stations since
the auctions began in 2002.
There are around 210 stations on the Dutch motorways, mostly belonging
to big players like Shell, BP, Texaco and Esso, which generally
maintain advisory prices. Along the secondary roads, strong competition
does exist, partly due to the unmanned stations. Petrol there is often
eight to 10 cents a litre cheaper.
The auctioning of 10 stations at a time was intended to ensure that the
power of big oil concerns was reduced by new players. "This has
scarcely happened," says Jan Bessembinders of BBT, the organisation
within Bovag that represents the interests of petrol station operators.
"The driver as a result still pays too much for his fuel on the
motorways," he reported to local media. BBT accuses the government of
standing idly by and watching how the auctioning fails.
Furthermore, the rules of the game were drawn up following consultation
between the State and the large oil companies. Competition authority
NMa said in the newspaper that "such a collaboration is not the most
obvious" and "leaves room for doubts on the transparency, impartiality
and objectivity of the State," but did not announce any measures.
The finance ministry is still awaiting the results of the evaluation of
the initial auction rounds. Until then, the ministry is declining
comment.
PetrolWorld 260309 Source: NIS Bulletin NL
|
