UK auctions 4 mln carbon permits at 10.98 eur/t

LONDON, March 24 (Reuters) - The British government auctioned 4 million European Union carbon emissions permits on Tuesday at 10.98 euros ($14.96) a tonne, it said on Tuesday.

The auction raised 43.92 million euros for the UK Treasury <DMO/CARBON01>. The market price for permits called EU Allowances CFI2Z9 was 11.70 at 1011 GMT on Tuesday.

The UK Debt Management office, which oversaw the auction, said it was 5.76 times over-subscribed.

After auctioning an initial 4 million permits last November and a further 4 million in its second auction on Tuesday, the Department of Energy and Climate Change plans to auction another 27 million carbon permits through March 2010 [ID:nLO932657]. (Reporting by Nina Chestney; Editing by Sue Thomas)