On 14 May, authorities raided the offices of BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Statoil and industry service provider Platts as part of a broader inquiry by the European Commission into potential price manipulation. Italy’s ENI, which had not been named as one of the companies raided, later on 14 May said the commission had asked it for information.
The companies involved said they are co-operating with authorities.
“The Commission has concerns that the companies may have colluded in reporting distorted prices to a Price Reporting Agency to manipulate the published prices for a number of oil and biofuel products. Furthermore, the Commission has concerns that the companies may have prevented others from participating in the price assessment process, with a view to distorting published prices,” the European Commission said in a statement on 14 May.
The “unannounced inspections” are a preliminary step to investigate the alleged price fixing, but it does not mean the companies are guilty, the commission added. There’s no deadline to complete the probe. “Even small distortions of assessed prices may have a huge impact” on the market for crude, refined products, and biofuels, “potentially harming final consumers,” the Commission said.
