OFT rejects renewed calls for oil pricing inquiry

The Office of Fair Trading has said it will not launch a further investigation at present into the issue of UK oil pricing, despite being handed a petition signed by over 32,000 people – leading to renewed criticism from trade associations and campaign bodies.

Road Haulage Association chief executive Geoff Dunning said: “This petition was the culmination of a tremendous amount of hard work and was signed by over 32,000 people, all united in their aim of putting pressure on the OFT to carry out a full, frank and transparent inquiry into oil pricing.

“We were notified within an hour of delivering the petition that, as far as the OFT was concerned, the request for an investigation would be refused. In what was obviously a pre-prepared statement they stated that while accepting that the price of petrol and diesel is a ‘subject of significant public concern’, they still claim not to have received any claims of price manipulation.”

The OFT’s decision comes despite raids on oil company offices by the European Commission in May, which prompted prime minister David Cameron to warn of “major consequences” should price-fixing allegations be found to be true.

Quentin Willson of campaign group FairFuelUK, which organised the petition, said: “I can’t understand why a UK regulator can’t take information and evidence from US Senate and European Commission investigations and conduct their own. If the OFT processes are getting in the way of a full oil price market investigation in this country, then maybe its time to change the processes. Its time for a Parliamentary inquiry into the damage oil price speculation does to the UK economy.’”