Background: Since the Middle East conflict began in late February, global oil prices have jumped more than 65%. This spike has flowed into higher petrol prices in the short term and expected to flow into higher prices of goods over time.

What happened: Now, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is investigating potential anti-competitive behaviour in the diesel market, particularly in regional Australia. The companies in the firing line include Ampol, BP Australia, Mobil Oil Australia and Viva Energy Australia.    

What else: The ACCC is investigating whether suppliers are restricting diesel access to smaller regional stations, making it harder to compete. And this is pretty unusual for the ACCC because they have gone public with this investigation early. The reason? With rising fuel prices and high market concentration, they're putting the suppliers on notice.

What's the key learning?

💡Market concentration describes how much of a market is controlled by a small number of companies. In Australia, four major fuel players supply about 88% of petrol.

💡Fewer players means higher risk of reduced competition. Even without explicit collusion, dominant firms can influence supply and pricing in essential markets like fuel.

💡 That’s why the ACCC is more proactive when a few companies hold significant power over critical supply chains.