LONDON - A rogue trader is suspected of causing US$10 mil-lion ($14.5 million) of losses at the London office of PVM Oil Associates, the world's biggest broker of over-the-counter oil derivatives.

The trades may have caused London oil prices to jump almost US$2 a barrel to an eight-month high of US$73 in the early hours of June 30, according to exchange data.

Prices leapt by more than US$1.50 a barrel in under half an hour at around 2am. Ten times the usual volume of futures contracts changed hands in just one hour.

"There was a big spike in volume and a lot of volatility in price" around 2am in London that morning, said oil trader Stephen Schork. "That price movement had all the fingerprints of someone getting caught in the market."

PVA Oil became suspicious after its computer systems alerted the company to "unusual trading patterns". It immediately notified the Financial Services Authority and began unwinding the "unauthorised" positions it found.

The company is now investigating past trading.

Oil traders are under increased scrutiny from regulators worldwide after companies including China Aviation Oil (Singapore), SemGroup Energy and hedge-fund manager Amaranth Advisors were sunk by wrong-way energy bets. AGENCIES

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