Greece Moves to Boost Competition in Petroleum Market
by Kosta Papadopoulos · Greek City TimesGreece’s Competition Commission has published its decision on regulatory intervention in the petroleum products sector, requiring the removal of exclusivity clauses from fuel storage agreements and proposing a series of measures to strengthen competition across the market.
In an announcement on Saturday, the commission said its plenary session unanimously adopted Decision 896/2025 on December 10, 2025, following a regulatory intervention launched in November 2022. The investigation examined competition in the markets for 95-octane unleaded petrol, diesel and heating oil across the refining, wholesale and retail stages.
Under the decision, the commission has ordered amendments to fuel storage and handling agreements involving third-party companies’ privately owned facilities. The amended contracts must no longer contain exclusivity clauses restricting the storage of fuel.
The commission has also submitted a series of recommendations to the government aimed at facilitating fuel imports, improving market operations and giving consumers better access to fuel price information.
Proposed central body for emergency fuel reserves
Read more: Mitsotakis: Greece Could Temporarily Cut Fuel Taxes if EU Allows Emergency Measures
The commission recommends establishing an Independent Central Emergency Stockholding Entity (ΚΦΔΑ), under the supervision of the Regulatory Authority for Waste, Energy and Water (RAAEY).
The proposed body would manage mandatory emergency fuel reserves on behalf of companies required to maintain them, in return for a predetermined fee. Companies would share the cost according to their total consumption in the previous year, rather than the volume of fuel they import.
The commission also proposes creating a unified register of petroleum storage facilities to record, monitor and supervise available infrastructure, identify potential capacity shortages and locate facilities that remain unused.
Changes to fuel pricing at refinery level
At the refining stage, the commission recommends changing the current rules governing the disclosure of wholesale petroleum product prices to fuel trading companies.
Under its proposal, refineries would communicate prices individually to each trading company instead of publishing them publicly, as current rules require. The commission argues that this would reduce price transparency between competing businesses and limit the risk of tacit collusion.
Digital application to inform consumers
For the retail market, the commission proposes that the competent ministry develop a digital application providing real-time fuel price information by product, petrol station and geographical area.
The application would also allow motorists to locate nearby petrol stations and compare their prices based on their current location. It would complement existing databases, including fuel.gr and the Fuel Price Observatory.
Investigation found ineffective competition
The Competition Commission launched its regulatory intervention in the petroleum sector in November 2022.
In August 2024, it published its First Opinions Report, examining market structure, competition across the three stages of the supply chain, price movements, commercial flows, profitability indicators and the phenomenon of asymmetric price transmission, commonly known as “rockets and feathers”. This describes how fuel prices tend to rise quickly when costs increase but fall more slowly when costs decline.
In July 2025, the commission published its Second Opinions Report. After considering submissions on its initial findings, it reassessed market conditions and concluded that the petroleum sector lacked effective competition.
With Decision 896/2025, the commission has completed its regulatory intervention, distinguishing between binding measures requiring the removal of exclusivity clauses and advisory recommendations to the government. These recommendations cover fuel imports, storage infrastructure, refinery pricing practices and consumer access to price information.
The full text of Decision 896/2025 is available on the Competition Commission’s website.
(Source: AMNA)
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