Moroccan courts prosecute nine oil companies, including TotalEnergies

The Moroccan justice system is investigating 9 oil companies, including TotalEnergies, for anti-competitive practices in the distribution of hydrocarbons. Suspected price fixing.

Share:

The Moroccan courts are prosecuting nine oil companies, including TotalEnergies, for anti-competitive practices in the distribution of hydrocarbons, according to the Conseil de la Concurrence.

Antitrust investigation: Moroccan courts take legal action against nine oil companies via the Competition Council

“A notification of grievances has been sent to nine companies operating in the supply, storage and distribution of diesel and gasoline, as well as to their trade associations”, states the press release from the Conseil de la Concurrence’s general rapporteur.

“The investigating departments consider that they have sufficient evidence of the existence of anti-competitive practices committed by the parties in question”, adds the Council.

The notification of grievances initiates the adversarial investigation procedure, enabling the parties to exercise their rights of defense. In a press release, TotalEnergies Marketing Maroc, a company listed on the Casablanca stock exchange, confirmed that it had received a notification of grievances from the French Competition Council.

The company, which is listed on the Casablanca stock exchange, is “cooperating fully with the Competition Council’s investigating departments and is preparing the appropriate responses”, its press release emphasizes.

Politico-economic tensions: TotalEnergies Marketing affair and alleged cartel in Morocco

The third largest distributor of petroleum products and services in the Maghreb, TotalEnergies Marketing has an estimated market share of 15%. This affair — which has caused much ink to flow in Morocco — dates back to February 2020. At the time, the French competition authority concluded that the three dominant oil companies in the market – the French giant, Afriquia and Vivo Energy, Shell’s exclusive distributor in Morocco – had colluded, and imposed financial penalties.

But the affair has taken a more political turn, since Afriquia, Morocco’s market leader in hydrocarbons, is owned by the current head of government and businessman Aziz Akhannouch. With no hydrocarbons, Morocco imports all its petroleum product needs. After subsidizing fuels for a long time, the country liberalized the sector in 2015, leaving importers free to set fuel prices at the pump.

Since then, fuel importers have considerably increased their margins. Above all, prices remain virtually unchanged from one station to the next, fuelling criticism and suspicions of price-fixing.

The expansion of the global oil and gas fishing market is accelerating on the back of offshore projects, with annual growth estimated at 5.7% according to The Insight Partners.
The Competition Bureau has required Schlumberger to divest major assets to finalise the acquisition of ChampionX, thereby reducing the risks of market concentration in Canada’s oilfield services sector. —
Saturn Oil & Gas Inc. confirms the acquisition of 1,608,182 common shares for a total amount of USD3.46mn, as part of its public buyback offer in Canada, resulting in a reduction of its free float.
OPEC slightly adjusts its production forecasts for 2025-2026 while projecting stable global demand growth, leaving OPEC+ significant room to increase supply without destabilizing global oil markets.
Talks between European Union member states stall on the adoption of the eighteenth sanctions package targeting Russian oil, due to ongoing disagreements over the proposed price ceiling.
Three new oil fields in Iraqi Kurdistan have been targeted by explosive drones, bringing the number of affected sites in this strategic region to five in one week, according to local authorities.
An explosion at 07:00 at an HKN Energy facility forced ShaMaran Petroleum to shut the Sarsang field while an inquiry determines damage and the impact on regional exports.
The Canadian producer issues USD 237 mn in senior notes at 6.875 % to repay bank debt, repurchase USD 73 mn of 2027 notes and push most of its maturity schedule to 2030.
BP revised upwards its production forecast for the second quarter of 2025, citing stronger-than-expected results from its US shale unit. However, lower oil prices and refinery maintenance shutdowns weighed on overall results.
Belgrade is engaged in complex negotiations with Washington to obtain a fifth extension of sanctions relief for the Serbian oil company NIS, which is majority-owned by Russian groups.
European Union ambassadors are close to reaching an agreement on a new sanctions package aimed at reducing the Russian oil price cap, with measures impacting several energy and financial sectors.
Backbone Infrastructure Nigeria Limited is investing $15bn to develop a 500,000-barrel-per-day oil refinery in Ondo State, a major project aimed at boosting Nigeria’s refining capacity.
The Central Energy Fund’s takeover of the Sapref refinery introduces major financial risks for South Africa, with the facility still offline and no clear restart strategy released so far.
PetroTal Corp. records production growth in the second quarter of 2025, improves its cash position and continues replacing key equipment at its main oil sites in Peru.
An explosion caused by a homemade explosive device in northeastern Colombia has forced Cenit, a subsidiary of Ecopetrol, to temporarily suspend operations on the strategic Caño Limón-Coveñas pipeline, crucial to the country's oil supply.
U.S. legislation eases access to federal lands for oil production, but fluctuations in crude prices may limit concrete impacts on investment and medium-term production, according to industry experts.
Permex Petroleum Corporation has completed a US$2mn fundraising by issuing convertible debentures, aimed at strengthening its cash position, without using intermediaries, and targeting a single institutional investor.
Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) recorded $17.52bn in export sales in 2024, benefiting from increased volumes due to U.S. licences granted to foreign partners, according to an internal document seen by Reuters.
The detection of zinc in Mars crude extracted off the coast of Louisiana forced the US government to draw on its strategic reserves to support Gulf Coast refineries.
Commissioning of a 1.2-million-ton hydrocracking unit at the TANECO site confirms the industrial expansion of the complex and its ability to diversify refined fuel production.