At its meeting on 28 October, the Competition Council took a decision in a case concerning the illegal collusion of the oil companies Keri hf (the Oil Company), Olíuverzlun Íslands hf. (Olís) and Skeljungur hf. The decision also addresses the unlawful price-fixing by Bensínorkan ehf. (Orkan) with the other oil companies.
In the Competition Council's decision, the oil companies are fined for a continuous breach of competition law which lasted for at least almost nine years. The penalties imposed by the Competition Council on the companies for their illegal collusion are administrative fines amounting to 1,100 million krónur for each of the three companies, or a total of 3.3 billion krónur. Orkunn is required to pay 40 million krónur into the state treasury. The heavy penalties reflect, among other things, the benefit the oil companies gained from their illegal collusion, which the Competition Council conservatively estimates to be at least 6.5 billion króna during the period covered by the competition authorities' investigation. The investigation period is from the date the competition law came into force on 1 March 1993 until 18 December 2001, when the Competition Authority carried out searches at the companies' premises. In determining the fine, regard is also had to the extent of the collusion, the degree of wrongdoing of the oil companies, the macroeconomic importance of the product in question, and the position of the oil companies in the market for liquid fuels.
Due to co-operation with the Competition Authority in order to disclose the oil companies' infringement, which constituted a significant addition to the evidence in the case, the competition board has decided to reduce the administrative fine for the Oil Companies to 605 million króna and the fine for Olís to 880 million króna. The Competition Council has determined that Skeljungur did not meet the conditions for a discount and has ordered the company to pay 1,100 million króna to the state treasury.
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