A DOMINANT POSITION MAY TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION CERTAIN PECULIARITIES AND DIFFERENCES IN THE SITUATION OF THEIR CUSTOMERS THE DECISION STATES THAT , TO AVOID ABUSING A DOMINANT POSITION WITHIN THE MEANING OF ARTICLE 86 OF THE TREATY AN UNDERTAKING IN SUCH A POSITION MUST DISTRIBUTE ' ' FAIRLY ' ' THE QUANTITIES AVAILABLE AMONGST ALL ITS CUSTOMERS .
22FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS DISTRIBUTION IT IS STATED THAT IN THE EVENT OF A GENERALIZED SUPPLY CRISIS ALL THE INDEPENDENT COMPANIES ARE BOUND TO DEAL IN THE FIRST PLACE WITH THEIR HABITUAL SUPPLIERS AND THAT REDUCTIONS IN THE SUPPLIES TO PURCHASERS IN A PERIOD OF SHORTAGE MUST BE CARRIED OUT ON THE BASIS OF A REFERENCE PERIOD FIXED IN THE YEAR BEFORE THE CRISIS .
23THE DECISION CONCLUDES THAT HAVING REGARD TO ALL THESE FACTORS BP DISCRIMINATED AGAINST ABG , AND THE ADVANCES ON CRUDE OIL MADE WITH MOTOR SPIRIT AGREED BY BP WITH ABG DID NOT JUSTIFY IN THIS CASE A ' ' DIFFERENT ' ' TREATMENT OF ABG IN COMPARISON WITH OTHER CUSTOMERS .
24IT IS COMMON GROUND THAT ON 21 NOVEMBER 1972 BP TERMINATED THE AGREEMENT WHICH HAD BEEN IN EXISTENCE SINCE 1968 WITH ABG AND THUS PUT AN END TO ITS COMMERCIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THAT COMPANY AS REGARDS ITS SUPPLY OF MOTOR SPIRIT .
25FOLLOWING THE TERMINATION OF THAT AGREEMENT WHICH WAS CONFIRMED BY AN EXCHANGE OF LETTERS BETWEEN BP AND ABG ON 17 JANUARY 1973 , THE LATTER COMPANY SOUGHT , ON THE ADVICE IN PARTICULAR OF THE NETHERLANDS GOVERNMENT , TO BUY CRUDE OIL ON THE INTERNATIONAL MARKET AND HAVE IT REFINED .
26IT WAS FURTHERMORE AGREED BETWEEN BP AND ABG THAT THE LATTER MIGHT USE THE REFINING CAPACITIES OF BP TO OBTAIN MOTOR SPIRIT FROM ITS OWN CRUDE OIL .
27HAVING REGARD TO THAT AGREEMENT AND SINCE ABG HAD BEEN EXPERIENCING , EVEN BEFORE THE CRISIS , DIFFICULTIES IN SUPPLYING ITSELF WITH CRUDE OIL , BP AGREED TO MAKE IT ADVANCES OF PETROL UP TO A LEVEL OF 250 000 CUBIC METRES OF CRUDE OIL BELONGING TO IT , WHICH ABG WAS TO RETURN BEFORE 1 JANUARY 1974 .
28IT EMERGES FROM THE CONTESTED DECISION THAT THE FACT THAT BP IN NOVEMBER 1972 TERMINATED ITS COMMERCIAL RELATIONS WITH ABG WAS CONNECTED WITH THE REGROUPING OF BP ' S OPERATIONAL ACTIVITIES WHICH WAS MADE NECESSARY BY THE NATIONALIZATION OF A LARGE PART OF THAT COMPANY ' S INTERESTS IN THE PRODUCTION SECTOR AND BY THE PARTICIPATION OF THE PRODUCER COUNTRIES IN ITS EXTRACTING ACTIVITIES AND IS THUS EXPLAINED BY CONSIDERATIONS WHICH HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH ITS RELATIONS WITH ABG .
29IT THEREFORE FOLLOWS THAT AT THE TIME OF THE CRISIS AND EVEN FROM NOVEMBER 1972 , ABG ' S POSITION IN RELATION TO BP WAS NO LONGER , AS REGARDS THE SUPPLY OF MOTOR SPIRIT , THAT OF A CONTRACTUAL CUSTOMER BUT THAT OF AN OCCASIONAL CUSTOMER .
30THE PRINCIPLE LAID DOWN BY THE CONTESTED DECISION THAT REDUCTIONS IN SUPPLIES OUGHT TO HAVE BEEN