Bloomberg.com
By Matthew Newman and Heather Smith
Aug. 20 (Bloomberg) — Total SA, Europes third-largest oil producer, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and UGI Corp. units received complaints from Frances antitrust agency as part of an investigation into the propane and butane industry.
The French authority sent a so-called statement of objections in July regarding antitrust practices in the liquefied petroleum gas market, Total and UGI said in separate U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Shells French unit, Butagaz, received a complaint as well, said Rainer Winzenried, a spokesman for Shell, today.
We are studying the objections, Lisa Wyler, a spokeswoman for Paris-based Total, said in a telephone interview today.
Total and its units have been fined in at least three other cartels. Antitrust fines in France can be as much as 10 percent of annual revenue and fines can be increased for repeat offenders. UGIs Antargaz unit in France holds about a quarter of the countrys butane market, according to its Web site.
Butagaz has received a statement about alleged anti- competitive practices in the LPG sector, the camping bottles, said Shells Winzenried. Butagaz has cooperated with the competition authorities throughout the process. The company will now carefully review the statement.
Previous Fines
The European Commission, the European Unions antitrust regulator, in 2005 fined Total SAs Atofina unit, now called Arkema SA, 58.5 million euros ($83.3 million) for rigging prices of monochloroacetic acid, a chemical used in detergents.
In 2006, the commission levied a 20.3 million-euro penalty against Total for fixing the price of bitumen, which is used in road construction. The EU regulator fined Total 128.1 million euros last year for fixing the price of paraffin wax, used in candles and paper cups. Total has filed appeals in all three penalties at the Luxembourg-based European Court of First Instance, which hasnt ruled yet.
A spokesman for King of Prussia, Pennsylvania-based UGIs Antargaz unit declined to comment beyond the SEC filing.
Antitrust agents raided Antargazs headquarters in June 2005 and seized documents, UGI said. The alleged violation took place between 1999 and 2004, the company said. UGI recorded a $10 million provision for a possible fine.
The French butane and propane industry trade group, another target of the probe that was also raided, has been dropped from the investigation, said Joel Pedessac, general director of the association, in a telephone interview today.
They have found no fault with us, said Pedessac. We were within the scope of the investigation, so it is very good news.
Virginie Guin, spokeswoman for the French competition authority, declined to comment.
— With assistance from Stephanie Bodoni in Brussels. Editors: Peter Chapman, Anthony Aarons.
To contact the reporters on this story: Matthew Newman at [email protected]; Heather Smith in Paris at [email protected]
Last Updated: August 20, 2009 12:59 EDT
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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.
