Europe's top antitrust authority fined 14 companies on Wednesday a total of 266.7 million euros ($338.4 million), including a 108 million-euro penalty for Shell, for fixing prices of road surface material bitumen in the Netherlands.
Four of the firms said they intended to appeal. Oil giant Shell received the biggest fine, while French peer Total was ordered to pay 20.25 million euros. Dutch firm Koninklijke Volker Wessels Stevin was fined 27.36 million euros and Kuwait Petroleum 16.63 million euros.
"The fines for Shell were the highest because it was a repeat offender and because it played a leading role in the cartel," EU competition spokesman Jonathan Todd told a briefing. BP, which blew the whistle on the Dutch cartel in 2002, received immunity from fines. The Dutch market had been under investigation by the European Commission for four years.
Bitumen, a by-product of fuel production, is mainly used to make asphalt, binding other road surfacing materials together. Eight of the companies fined are bitumen suppliers, while the other six are purchasers of the by-product.
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