Senators Carl Levin and Dianne Feinstein intend to close the "London loophole" by empowering the CFTC to impose speculative limits on US traders who use London exchanges. The move is aimed at helping to prevent price manipulation and excessive speculation in the oil market.
Price Manipulation
US Senators seek curbs on London trading in oil futures
FSA joins western watchdogs in search for oil price rigging
Oil prices ended a volatile week almost $10 below their record $135 levels as the Financial Services Authority joined a worldwide investigation into the price manipulation of crude.
U.S. Probes Crude Oil Trading for Price Manipulation (Update3)
May 30 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S.Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the watchdog for commodity transactions, is investigating U.S. crude oil trading to determine whether the surge to record prices is the result of manipulation or fraud.
Regulators Step Up Probes Of Trading in Oil Markets
The move Thursday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, including its unusual announcement of an investigation in progress, comes after crude-oil prices topped $130 a barrel last week and tested all-time highs.
Royal Dutch/Shell appeared in a Swedish court again over a 1999 price-fixing cartel
The Times: Need to Know: Royal Dutch/Shell… appeared in a Swedish court again over a 1999 price-fixing cartel”
24 August 04
Royal Dutch/Shell, Statoil, Norsk Hydro, OK-Q8 and Preem appeared in a Swedish court again over a 1999 price-fixing cartel, as the Swedish competition agency, Konkurrensverket, demanded the five’s SwKr 52 million (£3.8 million) fine be raised sevenfold.
Five oil companies back in court over Swedish price-fixing cartel
ChannelNewsAsia: Five oil companies back in court over Swedish price-fixing cartel
“competition authority… asked that the fines for Statoil, OK-Q8, Norsk Hydro, Preem and Shell be raised to a total of 369 million kronor (40.2 million euros, 49.3 million dollars)
Posted 24 August 04
STOCKHOLM : Five oil companies were back in court in Sweden over a 1999 price-fixing cartel, with the Swedish competition authority demanding in appeal that the quintet’s fine be increased seven-fold.
In the first day of hearings at the Swedish Market Court, the competition authority, Konkurrensverket, asked that the fines for Statoil, OK-Q8, Norsk Hydro, Preem and Shell be raised to a total of 369 million kronor (40.2 million euros, 49.3 million dollars).
The five companies were found guilty by a Stockholm district court in April of violating Swedish competition laws in 1999 when they reached a number of agreements to implement simultaneous price cuts and promotional deals.