Nouméa, December 3, 2025 — The New Caledonia Competition Authority (ACNC) has cleared the Siu Group’s acquisition of Mobil’s fuel assets in the territory, approving the deal subject to targeted behavioral commitments designed to prevent local market foreclosure.
Pétrocal and Sermodis NC — both controlled by the Siu group and already active in wholesale and retail fuel distribution — will take exclusive control of Mobil International Petroleum Corporation’s assets in New Caledonia. These include Mobil’s stakes in storage joint ventures, several Mobil-branded service-station businesses, real estate, and hydrocarbon stocks.
The ACNC found that the transaction creates overlaps in two local catchment areas, around the Mobil Ducos and Mobil Pont des Français stations, where the new entity’s fuel-retail shares would reach 40–50% and 70–80%, respectively. Although fuel prices are regulated, the authority identified risks in ancillary station activities — including shop sales, services, and LPG — where joint management could reduce variety, alter pricing, or affect service quality.
In off-network fuel sales, remaining competition from Total and SSP was deemed sufficient to rule out horizontal concerns.
The ACNC also examined vertical effects linked to integrating Mobil’s upstream supply activity with the Siu group’s downstream network. Mobil’s upstream share remains below 30%, and the structure of supply relationships will not materially change, leading the authority to dismiss input- or customer-foreclosure risks.
Commitments
To resolve concerns, the Siu group offered behavioral commitments preventing any operator from simultaneously managing both affected Mobil stations. These include:
— a ban on cross-shareholdings between the companies operating the two stations
— an obligation, when management contracts are renewed, not to appoint the same operator to run both stations
The ACNC stated the commitments are clear, enforceable, and sufficient to neutralize potential anticompetitive effects.
