"LONDON — The authorities on Tuesday raided the offices of several oil companies and an industry data provider as part of a broader inquiry by the European Commission into potential price manipulation."

"In what the commission termed 'unannounced inspections,' investigators descended on some European offices of BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Platts, a division of the McGraw-Hill Companies that specializes in providing pricing for the oil industry. The European authorities are looking into whether the companies may have 'colluded in reporting distorted prices' in an effort 'to manipulate the published prices of a number of oil and biofuel products.'

All of the companies said they were cooperating with the inquiry."

Stanley Reed reports for the New York Times May 14, 2013. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"EU Oil Manipulation Probe Shines Light on Platts Pricing Window" (Bloomberg) [3]