Motorists in the National Capital pay more for regular gasoline than almost anywhere else in Quebec, according to a report from the Régie de l’énergie published Wednesday. The higher price at the pump coincides with a greater concentration of the market in the hands of just five players.
Five retailers shared 84% of the gasoline trade in the Capitale-Nationale, in 2022. In the rest of Quebec, this proportion peaked at 70%, a sign of greater competition between a larger number of stakeholders. .
Not only is the market concentrated among a smaller number of players, but they reap a greater profit on the liter of gasoline sold. The estimated retail margin has increased by 10.6 cents/liter in the space of five years to reach, in 2023, 15 cents/liter.
Only three regions, namely Côte-Nord, Nord-du-Québec and Bas-Saint-Laurent, have higher margins.
Dissatisfied with this observation, the Minister of the Economy, Innovation and Energy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, summoned the five main retailers in the region to “obtain explanations”.
Couche-Tard, Pétroles Cadeko, Harnois Énergies, Costco and Sobeys will have to justify themselves to the minister. The latter also asks the Competition Bureau (BCC) to investigate the gasoline market in the National Capital.
A previous BCC investigation into gas price fixing in Quebec found 33 people and 8 companies guilty of conspiring to fix prices in the Victoriaville, Thetford Mines, Magog and Sherbrooke markets. The penalties in this case totaled more than four million dollars and 54 months in prison.
More details to come.