I always assumed that they were manipulating the process by holding refinery constant and manipulating available supple. But it looks like they are actually cooking the books as well. Wonder why it took 11 years to catch them at it and only in Europe? Come on! Russia is nothing but one big criminal open sewer. But we shall see as the investigation unfolds.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/05/16/oil-price-fixing-scandal/2166857/
Oil price-fixing scandal heats up in Europe
The European Union’s executive arm, the Commission, confirmed it has raided the offices of a number of oil industry companies for possible price-fixing.
Here are some questions and answers on the investigation.
— Which companies were raided and why?
The EU Commission did not say which companies it is investigating. However, some firms have confirmed they are part of the probe. They include Britain’s BP, Royal Dutch Shell, which is listed in London and Amsterdam, and Norway’s Statoil. Platts, a division of McGraw-Hill Financial that compiles and provides data and news for the energy market, also said its offices in London were raided.
The three oil companies are all major producers in the international energy industry and contribute data to Platts’ Market on Close (MOC) pricing process, which every day publishes the final trading price for numerous commodities.
The EU said it has concerns that some companies may have tried to manipulate the pricing process by colluding to report distorted prices and by preventing other companies from submitting their own prices
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Go there and read. More next week.
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