Was the petrol price rigged too?

[FarCenter]

Concerns are growing about the reliability of oil prices, after a report for the G20 found the market is wide open to “manipulation or distortion”.

Traders from banks, oil companies or hedge funds have an “incentive” to distort the market and are likely to try to report false prices, it said.

Politicians and fuel campaigners last night urged the Government to expand its inquiry into the Libor scandal to see whether oil prices have also been falsely pushed up.

They warned any efforts to rig the oil price would affect how much drivers pay at the pump, which soared to a record high of 137p per litre of unleaded earlier this year.

Robert Halfon, who led a group of 100 MPs calling for lower fuel prices, said the matter “needs to be looked at by the Bank of England urgently”.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/fuel/9401934/Was-the-petrol-price-rigged-too.html

Investigate Platts and Argus.

http://www.platts.com/ Another tentacle of McGraw Hill, owner of Standard and Poors.

http://www.argusmedia.com/
http://www.argusmedia.com/Petroleum

[russspeakeasy]

1. It is and has been for 30 years.

[Earth_First]

2. The whole fu*king system is rigged...

I've never been more sure of it in my life.

[elleng]

3. Naturally.

The whole system is f****d.

When I say 'naturally,' I mean that its unfortunately a consequence of 'human nature,' the worst of which has been enabled by failure REALLY to regulate, by 'bought off' regulators, apparently around the world.

[hughee99]

4. Isn't about 60% of the price of petrol in the UK taxes?

[HopeHoops]

5. It always is. The barrel price isn't at all related to pump price - politics is.