BERLIN, March 6 (Reuters) - Germany's antitrust watchdog

said it was investigating the impact of price information

services provided by Argus Media and S&P Global on the oil

wholesale market, after an initial investigation raised pricing

and competition concerns.

Price quotations are usually linked to wholesale procurement

contracts and can indirectly influence retail prices.

They are provided by price-reporting agencies such as S&P

Global Commodity Insights (Platts) and Argus Media, based on

reported transactions.

Last month, the Federal Cartel Office (FCO) said an

examination into oil market price quotations showed pricing

based on limited data which was vulnerable to manipulation, and

it urged stronger regulations.

"We see indications of such a structural disruption of

competition in the fuel wholesale trade," said Andreas Mundt,

the watchdog's president, in a statement on Thursday.

"As a global leader in energy price benchmarking, we

maintain a robust, rigorous and transparent methodology as well

as safeguards to allow us to publish assessments reflective of

market value," a spokesperson for S&P Global Commodity Insights

(Platts) said.

The company will continue to cooperate with the FCO and

other regulators, the spokesperson added.

Argus Media said the independent price and market

transparency it provides actively contributes to competition in

sometimes opaque and often illiquid energy and commodity markets

around the world.

It said the cartel office report made no specific

allegations of wrongdoing, manipulation or collusion either by

market participants or by price reporting agencies.

"Instead, it lists a number of concerns about market

structure and the effect of that structure on road fuel prices

in Germany," a spokesperson for Argus said.

The office said it would use new powers obtained in 2023 to

investigate whether there was a significant and ongoing

competition disruption in individual markets or across markets,

and address the causes if confirmed.