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                EU Inspects Four Firms in Oil Price-Fixing Probe

   The European Union has launched an antitrust investigation into
   possible price manipulations for oil and biofuel products.
   Authorities made unannounced inspections Tuesday at three oil companies
   -- BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Statoil -- as well as Platts, a company
   that collects oil price data.
   The European Commission said in a statement it is concerned that the
   companies may have worked together to report false prices and prevent
   others "from participating in the price assessment process." It said
   even small changes can hugely impact oil prices and harm consumers.
   Statoil said the suspected violations could date back to 2002, and were
   related to the way Platts reports prices for crude oil, refined oil
   products and biofuels.
   All of the companies said they are cooperating with investigators.
   The EU said the inspections are a preliminary step in its
   investigation, and do not mean any of the companies are guilty.
   The potential for oil price manipulation is not a new concern.
   The International Organization of Securities Commissions carried out a
   two-year investigation at the request of the G20, which resulted last
   year in a series of recommendations to address potential problems and
   make oil price assessments more reliable.
   Those recommendations included making clear the methodology for
   arriving at prices, adopting quality control measures for the market
   data being used, and instituting policies to help avoid conflicts of
   interest within firms.
   Price reporting agencies, like Platts, have agreed to implement the
   principles.
   Britain`s Daily Telegraph quoted officials in London as saying the
   alleged oil price fixing could have cost individual motorists thousands
   of dollars over the past ten years.
   The European Union has also previously fined Shell as part of a 2006
   price-fixing case involving bitumen, an oil byproduct used in road
   construction.
   The EU said in that case, Shell and 13 other companies fixed the price
   of bitumen in the Netherlands. It penalized Shell with the largest fine
   of the group, saying the company was both a leader of the plan and a
   repeat offender.
   The investigation into the possible price manipulation follows
   allegations that major banks falsely reported borrowing costs to
   influence a key interbank loan interest rate.
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   xing-probe/1661253.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/eu-inspects-four-firms-in-oil-pricefixing-probe/1661253.html