BP Plc , Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Morgan Stanley and other companies urged a U.S. judge to dismiss nationwide litigation claiming they conspired for 12 years to fix prices of Brent crude oil, a benchmark for the cost of gasoline and heating oil. In papers filed on Monday night in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the defendants said there was no evidence they colluded to manipulate spot prices or intended to do so, in violation of U.S. commodity and antitrust laws.They also said that because the alleged manipulation took place outside the United States and was governed by foreign law, U.S. courts had no authority to handle the case to begin with."Threadbare" and "conclusory" allegations made by the plaintiffs are "wholly untethered to any defendant's conduct," the defendants said. "The complaint thus fails to adequately allege price artificiality in any market."The plaintiffs include futures and derivatives traders and firms who allege the manipulation resulted in unfavorable prices on the oil they traded.
BP p.l.c. (BP) is an integrated oil and gas company. Shares of BP fell by 2.72% or $-1.375/share to $49.26. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $40.51 and as high as $53.48. On average, 3693630 shares of BP exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 4009626.
Morgan Stanley is a global financial services company that, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, provides its products and services to a range of clients and customers, including corporations, governments, financial institutions and individuals. Shares of MS fell by 0.91% or $-0.3/share to $32.67. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $25.25 and as high as $33.60. On average, 9547940 shares of MS exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 2821101.
Shares of RDS-B traded higher by 0.37% or $0.32/share to $86.05. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $65.92 and as high as $88.13. On average, 568564 shares of RDS-B exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 116897.
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