Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

BP, Shell and Statoil investigated over suspected oil price manipulation

The EC said it had “concerns” that several companies may have manipulated the oil price benchmark in violation of EU antitrust rules, potentially having a “huge impact” on oil and petrol prices.

Shares in the oil giants fell in early trading on Wednesday after European regulators began an investigation into whether the companies may have manipulated the price of oil for more than a decade. Shell was down 1.7pc, while BP fell 0.2pc.

The Commission said that on Tuesday it had raided the offices of “several companies active in and providing services to the crude oil, refined oil products and biofuels sectors”.

BP, Shell, Statoil and price-reporting agency Platts all confirmed they were co-operating with the EC investigation.

Statoil said the suspected violations “related to the Platts’ Market-On-Close (MOC) price assessment process” and “may have been on-going since 2002”.

In a statement, the EC said: “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.

“Any such behaviour, if established, may amount to violations of European antitrust rules that prohibit cartels and restrictive business practices and abuses of a dominant market position.”

It said that the price reported by agencies “serve as benchmarks for trade in the physical and financial derivative markets for a number of commodity products in Europe and globally”.

“Even small distortions of assessed prices may have a huge impact on the prices of crude oil, refined oil products and biofuels purchases and sales, potentially harming final consumers.”

It said the raids were a “preliminary step to investigate suspected anticompetitive practices” and “does not mean that the companies are guilty of anti-competitive behaviour nor does it prejudge the outcome of the investigation itself”.

A BP spokesman said: “BP is one of the companies that is subject to an investigation that was announced earlier today by the European Commission. We are cooperating fully with the investigation and unable to comment further at this time.”

A Shell spokesman said: “We can confirm that Shell companies are currently assisting the European Commission in an enquiry into Trading activities. We are fully cooperating with the investigation. For legal reasons we cannot make any further comment at this stage”.

Platts said it “confirms that the European Commission has undertaken a review at its premises in London this morning in relation to the Platts price assessment process. Platts is cooperating fully with the European Commission's review”.

Statoil also confirmed in a statement on its website that its Norwegian offices had been inspected.

Original Article
Source: telegraph.co.uk
Author: Emily Gosden

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