Australia sues Exxon for falsely representing its local petrol brand

The Australian Competition Watchdog announced on Tuesday that it had taken Exxon Mobil’s local brand affiliate, which sells fuel at six of their branded petrol stations throughout Queensland, to court.

Exxon Mobil, an American oil and gas company, owns and operates the Mobil brand.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission alleges that Mobil misrepresented that "Mobil Synergy", its "Mobil Synergy", contained certain additives when it didn't.

Liza Carver, ACCC commissioner said: "Consumers cannot verify the claims about fuel that they put in their tanks and must rely on the accuracy claims made by fuel suppliers."

ACCC said that the firm also incorrectly claimed the fuel sold in these petrol stations was of a higher quality or composition than fuel sold at other locations, and had certain additional benefits.

This conduct is limited to six sites, representing less than 1 percent of the Mobil network. It was caused by a variety of operational issues, such as unanticipated delays due to the COVID-19 epidemic and supply problems, as well the remote locations of the sites.

Exxon Mobil Australia said in an email that it accepted the ACCC proceedings, and had fully cooperated with the regulator throughout its investigation.

The company said that it will take steps to prevent similar behavior in the future. (Reporting and editing by Alan Barona in Bengaluru, and Vijay Kishore; reporting by Rishav chatterjee from Bengaluru)

(source: Reuters)