Drivers have been paying over the odds for petrol after traders manipulated oil prices in a Libor-style fix, it is claimed.
An official report for the G20 group of world leaders casts doubt on the reliability of oil prices and warns that the market is wide open to manipulation.
The oil market relies on firms to submit accurate figures on a daily basis – just like the Libor interest rate which Barclays bank were found to have rigged.
The report says market players like banks, oil companies and hedge funds have an incentive to distort the market with false prices to boost their trade.
SNP transport spokesman Angus MacNeil MP said: “Fuel prices impact on everyone and it would be unforgivable if motorists had been victim to price-rigging. “We need an urgent investigation into these allegations and action to regulate fuel prices so that people know that they are not being ripped off.” This means motorists may have been ripped off by artificially high prices at the forecourt.
US regulators have also warned that the banking rate-rigging scandals could also spread to the oil market.
Note EU-Digest: Its not a question of spreading its been going on for a long time.
Read more: Oil firms are manipulating the price of petrol, report claims - The Daily Record
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