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Category: News
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Published on Tuesday, 14 May 2013 21:54
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European Commission launched inquiry into price manipulation
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Fear prices have been driven up at the pumps for millions of motorists
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Commission suspects firms 'had colluded in reporting distorted prices'
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Tory MP Robert Halfon called for 'urgent action' in the UK
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The AA said it had repeatedly warned about the issue since 2005
Rob Davies
Daily Mail
May 14, 2013
BP and Shell are being investigated over allegations that they have fixed petrol prices for more than a decade.
European Commission investigators raided the offices of several major oil companies yesterday as they launched a far-reaching probe into price manipulation.
They fear prices have been driven up at the pumps for millions of motorists. The AA responded to news of the swoop by declaring: ‘The lid is about to be blown off.’
The commission said it suspected firms had ‘colluded in reporting distorted prices’ to agencies that publish the data used to set the price of oil and petrol.
Tory MP Robert Halfon, a long-time campaigner against high petrol prices, said: ‘These latest allegations underline why action is required urgently in the UK. High oil prices are crushing families across Britain. Motorists are being taken for a very expensive ride.’
Oil companies ‘must come clean and show some responsibility for what is happening to the international oil price’, he added.
Motoring organisations, who have complained about a lack of transparency in the way oil prices are set, welcomed the probe. AA spokesman Luke Bosdet said: ‘The AA has been warning since 2005 about the activity of speculation in oil and fuel markets.’
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