Coming on the heals of highly publicised raids on the offices of Caltex, Shell and Mobil five weeks ago, Caltex Australia chairman, Dick Warburton has written to the ACCC chairman, Allan Fels, wanting further details of its allegations against the company.
"We want to understand the things we have supposedly done wrong," Mr Warburton said. "Caltex's reputation has been damaged by the publicity surrounding this investigation. We want the ACCC to tell us what it is we have done wrong."
Mr Warburton accused the regulator of 'trial by media' in the price-collusion case, and said Caltex's lawyers have gone through all material taken from its premises and found no evidence of wrongdoing.
In other ACCC news, the National Electricity Code Administrator (NECA) has called on the regulator to take urgent action to stop electricity generators artificially boosting electricity prices.
NECA managing director, Stephen Kelly, said he was concerned that activities by generators to withhold capacity at times of high demand would ultimately have an impact on retail prices.
Mr Kelly said although the practice of withholding capacity to lift wholesale prices is not illegal, it was not what was envisaged when the electricity market was reformed in the 1990s.
