Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) — Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Chevron Corp., and Total SA were fined 41.1 million euros ($52 million) by the French antitrust authority for fixing the price of fuel for certain Air France-KLM Group flights.
The four companies conspired in 2002 to ensure they retained their share of the market for fueling flights during stopovers on Reunion Island, the Paris-based Conseil de la Concurrence said in a statement today.
By acting jointly to restrict the volumes offered, they gave Air France no other option but to accept all four offers, the counsel said in the statement on its Internet site.
The investigation showed the practice increased refueling costs for Air France, Europes biggest airline, on the island by 30 percent in 2002 and 2003, the statement said. The probe, which entailed raids in Paris, Reunion and London, was the first instance of cooperation between the French and the British Office of Fair Trading.
Compliance with antitrust rules remains a top priority for management, said Wendel Broere, spokesman for The Hague- based Royal Dutch Shell, Europes largest oil company, which was fined 10.5 million euros. The company hasnt decided whether to appeal.
Total, Europes third-largest oil company, was fined 9.9 million euros. Elisabeth de Reals, a spokeswoman for the Paris- based company, said they hadnt yet studied the legal reasoning for the decision and so hadnt decided whether to appeal.
Exxon acted in an appropriate and legal manner in respect to supplying fuel at the Saint Denis airport on Reunion, said a statement on the Web site for subsidiary Esso SAF. The unit was fined 10.7 million euros.
A spokesman for Chevron, fined 10 million euros, didnt immediately return calls seeking comment.
To contact the reporter on this story: Heather Smith in Paris at[email protected].
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
