* FTC closed probe into BP with no charges or fines
* Other regulators still investigating (Adds comment from Platts in 8th paragraph)
By Ron Bousso and Barbara Lewis
LONDON/BRUSSELS, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Oil majors BP and Statoil said the U.S. Federal TradeCommission (FTC) was closing a probe into anticompetitivepractices in oil price reporting, while a European Unioninvestigation continued.
European officials in May 2013 raided the offices of oilmajors BP, Shell and Statoil as part of aninvestigation of suspected manipulation of oil and biofuelprices.
A BP spokesman said the FTC decided to close itsinvestigation against the British oil major with no charges orfines.
"On 1 October 2014, BP was informed by the FTC that it wasclosing its investigation. The other investigations remain open,and there is no deadline for the completion of the inquiries,"BP said a release that included its third-quarter earningsresults.
BP said it has received inquiries and requests forinformation from the Japanese Fair Trade Commission, the KoreanFair Trade Commission, and the U.S. Commodity Futures TradingCommission.
A Statoil spokesman said the firm had received the sameinformation as BP. Shell declined to comment.
The investigation involves price submissions by the oilcompanies to Platts, the world's leading oil pricing agency thatis part of McGraw Hill Financials Inc. Its priceassessment process is used to close deals worth billions ofdollars.
A Platts spokeswoman said on Tuesday the company has notbeen notified by the FTC that the energy price-fixing probe wasclosed nor was it aware of any of the findings. Platts has notreceived the results of any other pending inquiries, thespokeswoman said in an email.
On Tuesday, Antoine Colombani, spokesman for the EuropeanCompetition Commissioner, said he could not comment on the FTC'sdecision but added that the European Commission's investigationcontinued.
Earlier this month, the commission, which acts as thecompetition watchdog in the 28-member bloc, raided ethanolcompanies in two EU countries as part of the probe.
"Our investigation focuses on the prices provided to Plattsfor a number of oil and biofuel products. The importance of thebenchmarks established by Price Reporting Agencies, such asPlatts, and the non-regulated nature of the process may leavescope for anti-competitive behaviour leading to pricedistortions," Colombani said.
"Even small distortions may therefore have a considerableimpact," he added. (Additional reporting by Gwladys Fouche in Norway and JessicaResnick-Ault in New York; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise,Jane Baird and Jeffrey Benkoe)