Repsol Hit With €20.5 Million Fine as Spain Finds Diesel Pricing Squeezed Out Low-Cost Rivals

Key Takeaways

• Abusive Pricing Strategy: The CNMC found that Repsol raised wholesale diesel prices while discounting fuel at its own stations, squeezing rivals’ margins.
• Crisis Context: The conduct took place during the 2022 fuel price surge triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
• Independent Stations Hit Hardest: Low-cost and independent operators, particularly in border regions and transport corridors, lost sales and competitiveness.
• Significant Sanctions: The ruling includes a €20.5 million fine and a six-month ban from certain public diesel supply contracts.

Deep Dive

Spain’s competition watchdog has come down hard on the Repsol Group, handing out €20.5 million in fines and temporarily shutting several of its companies out of public fuel contracts after finding that they squeezed rivals out of the diesel market during the most volatile months of 2022.

In a decision published on February 3, 2026, the Spanish National Markets and Competition Commission said Repsol Comercial de Productos Petrolíferos, Solred, and Campsa Estaciones de Servicio abused Repsol’s dominant position in the wholesale supply of automotive fuels. Their parent companies, Repsol Customer Centric and Repsol, were held jointly and severally liable.

A Pricing Strategy Under Pressure

The case turns on what competition authorities describe as margin squeezing, a practice where a dominant supplier raises prices upstream while cutting prices downstream, leaving competitors with too little room to compete. According to the CNMC, that is exactly what happened between April and December 2022, as fuel markets were being shaken by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

During that period, Repsol generally increased the wholesale price of diesel A (Gasóleo A, or GOA) sold to independent service stations. At the same time, it rolled out additional discount campaigns at its own stations for professional customers, particularly transport companies. These discounts went beyond government-backed measures that were already in place to cushion the impact of soaring fuel prices.

The authority concluded that the combination of higher wholesale prices and aggressive retail discounts left independent stations, many of them low-cost operators, unable to compete on price.

Winners and Losers In The Diesel Market

The effects, the CNMC said, were far from theoretical. Several independent service stations saw their diesel sales to professional customers fall sharply, while Repsol increased both its volumes and its market share.

The conduct was deemed especially serious because it hit low-cost stations operating in border regions and along strategic transport corridors, areas where price competition plays a critical role for hauliers and cross-border traffic.

Timing also mattered. For six months in 2022, the price of GOA rose above gasoline prices in Spain for the first time, adding further strain on transport companies at a moment when competitive pressure in the market was already being squeezed.

How The Case Took Shape

The investigation began after numerous complaints from industry associations, prompting inspections of hydrocarbon operators’ premises at the end of 2022. Formal sanction proceedings followed in December 2023, after the CNMC concluded there were sufficient indications of a possible abuse of dominance.

Under Spanish and EU competition rules, companies in a dominant position are expected to exercise particular care not to restrict competition. Margin squeezing is explicitly prohibited under Article 2 of the Spanish Competition Act and Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. In this case, the CNMC determined that Repsol’s conduct crossed that legal threshold.

For what it classified as a very serious infringement, the CNMC imposed €20.5 million in fines. Beyond the financial penalty, Repsol Comercial de Productos Petrolíferos, Campsa, and Solred have been barred from participating in public tenders for the supply of diesel fuel (Gasóleo A) for six months.

The decision is not necessarily the final word. Repsol has two months to appeal the ruling directly to Spain’s National Court.

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