The European Commission (EC) raided several energy giants, including BP PLC, Statoil, Platts, McGraw Hill Financial – which publishes benchmark price assessments for the energy industry. EC carried out the raids due to concerns that the companies might have colluded on providing distorted prices to a price-reporting agency in order to manipulate the benchmark rates for a variety of oil and biofuel products. EC is also worried that the companies might have blocked other energy companies from taking part in the price assessment process in order to distort the published rates. The probe focuses specifically on the Platts’ market-on-close price assessment process, which includes prices for crude oil, refined oil products and biofuels, according to Statoil. The EC warned that the allegations, if proven true, might end up violating both the bloc’s ban on cartels and restrictive business practices and its rules on abuse of dominance.
These raids are reminiscent of another ongoing EU antitrust probe, where the EC is investigating whether the world’s biggest banks may have colluded to rig a number of benchmark rates used in financial transactions.