A petition calling for a full investigation into possible price fixing in the UK road fuels market has generated over 32,000 signatures.
The petition, set up by fuel price campaign group Fair Fuel UK (FFUK) in mid-May in the wake of a series of raids by EU regulators on firms involved with the oil sector across Europe including Shell, BP, Statoil and Platts, calls on UK regulators to open up their investigations into allegations of price fixing and the impact any manipulation has had on families, businesses and the UK economy.
FFUK co-founder Howard Cox said the campaign group was pleased with the level of support so far and would like to get the figure to 50,000 before putting it in front of government and the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).
Earlier this year, the OFT decided not to carry out a full investigation, suggesting that at national level, competition was “working well” in the UK road fuel sector.
Cox also confirmed FFUK’s support for PetrolPromise.com campaign founder and Harlow MP Robert Halfon’s recent letter to the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), asking it if there was any scope for the SFO to initiate its own investigation.
A spokesman for the SFO told Motortransport.co.uk it was reviewing the position but said it could not predict when a decision would be reached. That decision would depend on whether it felt the issues involved were potentially a criminal offence and whether the SFO was the right body to take the matter forward, he said. “The SFO is conscious of public concern, which is why the review is underway,” he added.
A spokesman for the OFT, which has so far declined to comment on fresh calls for it to reopen its enquiries into the UK fuel market, said it was “not at this stage” considering any further review of the situation.
Halfon and FFUK leaders are due to meet on 3 June to discuss how to take the push for a fresh investigation forward, said Cox.
