Tory MP asks SFO and police to consider petrol price rigging Just five months ago, the Office of Fair Trading found the petrol market is "working well" and reported it had received no "credible" evidence of manipulation of the oil price. However, the European Commission this week raided the offices of BP and Shell in London, and Statoil, in Norway, over suspicions of anti-competitive behaviour. It is investigating whether false reporting of prices could have been going on for more than a decade. Since 2002, the cost of petrol has risen by more than 80 per cent to around 135p per litre and experienced periods of sharp swings in price. Ed Davey, the Energy Secretary, yesterday told MPs in the House of Commons that "heavy fines" would be imposed on any company found by the European Commission to have falsely reported price. However, Mr Halfon has now written to the SFO and police to make sure British authorities are also vigiliant about the allegations of market abuse. "The Prime Minister has said through his spokesman and the Energy and Climate Change Secretary has confirmed in Parliament that the Government expects the firms involved to comply with the investigation and if found guilty, they should face the full force of the law," he wrote to the SFO head David Green. Action by the European Commission may be helpful, but it is no subsitute for domestic action by Britain's authorities. Does the Serious Fraud Office have scope to investigate allegations of market abuse and price-fixing by oil companies? All the companies whose offices have been raided have confirmed the European Commission investigation but declined to comment further while the inquiry is going on.