FERC to Hear TotalEnergies Alleged $214 Million NatGas Manipulation Case
(Reuters) — The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) said on Thursday an Administrative Law Judge will determine whether units and traders at French energy company Total, now TotalEnergies SE, manipulated the natural gas market in 2009-2012.
The case, which has dragged on for years, is the biggest of FERC's ongoing disputes over alleged power and gas market manipulation, some of which started over a decade ago.
Officials at TotalEnergies were not immediately available for comment.
In 2015, FERC alleged Total made intentionally losing trades - known as "uneconomic" trading - to affect index prices in the U.S. Southwest on at least 38 occasions between June 2009 and June 2012. Those losses would be offset by larger gains on other related positions, FERC said.
It was one of a series of so-called "loss leader" or leveraged trading strategies that FERC has pursued over the past decade where traders lose money in one market to benefit larger positions in a benchmark or other financial index.
Other similar cases involved units of JPMorgan Chase & Co., which paid a $285 million fine in 2013, Barclays PLC, which paid a $70 million fine in 2017, and BP PLC, which paid about $24 million this year but was still challenging the fine.
FERC issued a show cause order on April 28, 2016, directing Total Gas & Power North America to explain why it should not pay civil penalties of $213.6 million and disgorge $9.2 million in unjust profits, plus interest, resulting from the alleged manipulation.
The order also directed gas traders Aaron Hall and Therese Tran to explain why they should not pay civil penalties of $1 million and $2 million, respectively.
Total agreed to pay $3.6 million to settle similar charges of alleged manipulation by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission in 2015.
Related News
Related News
- 1,000-Mile Pipeline Exit Plan by Hope Gas Alarms West Virginia Producers
- Valero Plans to Shut California Refinery, Takes $1.1 Billion Hit
- Greenpeace Ordered to Pay $667 Million to Energy Transfer Over Dakota Access Pipeline Protests
- Three Killed, Two Injured in Accident at LNG Construction Site in Texas
- Boardwalk’s Texas Gas Launches Open Season for 2 Bcf/d Marcellus-to-Louisiana Pipeline Expansion
- New Alternatives for Noise Reduction in Gas Pipelines
- Construction Begins on Ghana's $12 Billion Petroleum Hub, But Not Without Doubts
- Missouri Loses Control Over 1.5 Million-Mile Gas Pipeline Network as Feds Step In
- Enbridge Plans $2 Billion Upgrade for North America’s Largest Crude Pipeline
- South Dakota Governor Signs Bill Banning Eminent Domain for Carbon Pipeline
Comments