Posts under ‘Oil Prices’

By Rob Davies: PUBLISHED 22 May 2013 Investors joined environmental protesters in giving Royal Dutch Shell a slap on the wrists, as a tenth of them failed to back the oil giant’s pay arrangements. In what is likely to be chief executive Peter Voser’s last annual meeting before he retires, some 10 per cent of [...]

It is not the first time oil companies have been in regulators’ cross hairs. In September 2006, the European Commission fined 14 firms €266.7m (£224.8m) for rigging the price of bitumen over eight years in the Netherlands. Shell received the biggest penalty. FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES Page 9, 19 May 2013 Watchdogs join oil giants [...]

The whistleblower gave Halfon a statement in which he said the price of oil was being deliberately distorted: ‘I trade the oil market on a daily basis and every day the price is manipulated,’ he said. ‘There is ample oil in the system to satisfy demand at the moment. Profiteering seems to be the only [...]

John No doubt you picked this up already.   The words of a pharisee (red is mine). And what does he really mean, allegations of manipulation are against everything we believe. So Shell does not believe in allegations? Manipulation is OK?: Extracts from Dow Jones Report THE HAGUE, The Netherlands–The European Union probe into potential [...]

John, Your readers may find the following links interesting in view of the latest allegations regarding Royal Dutch Shell, BP, StatOil, and perhaps others: Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act - Wikipedia, the … en.wikipedia.org/…/Racketeer_Influenced_and_Corrupt_Organizations_…‎ This law-related article does not cite its references or sources. You can help Wikipedia by including appropriate … Summary - RICO predicate offenses - Application of RICO laws - Famous cases [...]

By John Donovan Assessment of current situation in the price-rigging investigation partly based on an articled published today by The Lawyer today under the headline “All eyes on energy“: Royal Dutch Shell is being advised by Clifford Chance in relation to the allegations of price-fixing. Competition lawyers say that the investigation could be “bigger than [...]

FINANCIAL TIMES By Ajay Makan and Javier Blas in London: May 17, 2013 5:48 pm In simultaneous raids this week on the offices of the oil majors BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Statoil of Norway, and Platts, a leading price reporting agency that helps set energy benchmark prices, the European Commission has fired the starting [...]

Selection of Shell related article links kindly provided by a regular contributor If ‘everyone knew’ the oil market was open to rigging, why did no one …The Guardian-It is worth spelling out that manipulation of the oil market, which could … Statoil, BP and Shell are not just petrol providers – they are major gas … European probe into oil price-fixing widens to Finland: Marketplace.org-May 17, 2013: [...]

Top petrol chiefs held talks once a year: The whistleblower claimed the office was swept for bugs before the talks, lasting nearly two hours. He added: “The security around their meetings was incredible. There was lock-down. The whole floor was a no-go area for anyone else. “It was just the two of them — the [...]

  Royal Dutch Shell lobbied against proposed European rules designed to clamp down on commodity market abuse, arguing they would raise costs for consumers and increase market volatility. Shell argued strongly against elements of EC reforms to “strengthen the fight against market abuse across commodity and related derivative markets”.   By Emily Gosden: 10:00PM BST [...]

The Sun newspaper alleges Shell boss Jeroen van der Veer secretly met Lord Browne of BP once a year to discuss oil prices. Perfectly matched pair to engage in some jiggery-pokery. By John Donovan The Sun newspaper alleges Shell boss Jeroen van der Veer secretly met Lord Browne of BP once a year to discuss [...]

Oil markets fall under the suspicion of price-fixing on a global scale May 18th 2013 |From the print edition IT IS a lesson of the past five years that benchmarks in unregulated markets can fall victim to the incentives they create. Subprime mortgages bundled into securities often won high scores from ratings agencies that stood [...]

Kevin McCoy, USA TODAY4:43 p.m. EDT May 17, 2013 U.S. public concern over a European probe into possible oil price manipulation escalated Friday as the head of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources urged the Justice Department to join the investigation. The request from Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., came after European Union investigators [...]

  Published: Friday, 17 May 2013 | 3:54 AM ET European anti-trust investigators searched the offices of price agency Platts and at least one major oil company for a third day on Thursday, hunting for evidence of possible price manipulation on oil markets, witnesses said. Authorities raided the London bureau of Platts in Canary Wharf [...]