(BRUSSELS) - The European Commission on Wednesday hit a group of bitumen suppliers with a 183-million-euro (259-million-dollar) fine for running an illegal cartel in Spain.

The groups Repsol, Cepsa, Nynas and Galp were fined a total of 183,651,000 euros for breaching the EU's restrictive business practices, the EU's executive arm and top competition regulator said in a statement.

British energy giant BP, while involved in the matter, escaped a fine by helping the EU authorities to break the cartel.

"BP was the first company to come forward with information about the cartel," thereby receiving immunity from fines, the Commission said in a statement.

Between 1991 and 2002, the companies involved shared the Spanish market for bitumen, used for road construction, and coordinated bitumen prices, the Commission said.

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