Blow to Woolies, BP deal

COMPETITION tsar Rod Sims says petrol prices would have risen by 1c to 2c a litre had he given BP the green light to buy Woolworths’ network of petrol stations.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission yesterday said it was opposing BP’s $1.8 billion bid to buy Woolworths’ 531 petrol stations, saying the deal would result in higher fuel prices.

“We felt that a 1c to 2c price increase for Australian motorists really does matter,” its chairman Mr Sims said.

BP already supplies fuel to about 1400 BP-branded service stations throughout Australia and sets the fuel prices at about 350 of them. BP said it would seek legal advice on the ACCC’s decision.

Shares in rival Caltex Australia jumped almost 4 per cent after the announcement.