Office of Fair Trading

In a week when the RSN launches a new partnership service with Calor focusing on fuel poverty, this commentary tells you everything you need to know about why it is needed. I have said many times before in Hinterland that the privatised utility monopolies operate at the margins of fairness in the way they operate their pricing this piece further strengthens my case. It tells us: Robert Halfon, MP for Harlow, today urged a full UK inquiry after the offices of BP and Shell were searched by European Commission investigators over suspicions of rigging the oil price. The raids come just five months after the Office of Fair Trading said the fuel market was “working well” in January. It said there was no need to launch a full inquiry in January, despite the complaints of fuel retailers that there seemed to be no explanation for spikes and dips in the petrol price. Major oil companies are now under investigation by the European Commission over suspicions they falsely reported oil prices, which could have a “huge impact” on the market and ultimately affect the prices paid by drivers. There are fears the market could have been rigged for more than a decade, potentially costing drivers thousands of pounds. Petrol prices have risen more than 80 per cent to around 135p per litre since 2002. Mr Halfon told BBC Breakfast that the investigation was “pretty shocking” but not unexpected given his repeated warnings of “seriously murky” goings on in the petrol market.