Shell Cleared To Acquire Mobil Assets
The Commerce Commission has cleared Shell New Zealand Limited to acquire Mobil Oil New Zealand Limited's Aerostop network assets.
Commerce Commission Chair Paula Rebstock said that the Commission was satisfied that the proposed acquisition will not have, or would not be likely to have, the effect of substantially lessening competition in any of the relevant markets.
Public versions of the written
reasons for the decision will be available as soon as
practicable on the Commission's website www.comcom.govt.nz
under Public Registers.
Background
Shell has not
sought to acquire the entire Mobil aviation fuel business.
The acquisition relates only to the supply of aviation fuel
to light aircraft and helicopters engaged in a range of
general aviation activities including agriculture, flying
schools, tourism and recreational flying. These customers
are supplied through unattended refuelling facilities (fuel
pumps which are activated with customer swipe/fuel
cards).
The supply of aviation fuel to domestic and international scheduled passenger airlines is excluded from the acquisition, as is supply to the military and other aircraft that use manned into-plane refuelling services. Also excluded from the acquisition is all infrastructure pertaining to the production, storage and transportation of aviation fuel.
Mobil's Aerostop network comprises 48 unattended refuelling facilities at 34 local and regional airfields. Shell's network comprises 32 facilities at 23 locations. The acquisition only involves aggregation at seven locations in the North Island.
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