Action

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Monday approved amendments to its Whistleblower Rules that will, among other things, strengthen anti-retaliation protections and enhance the process for reviewing whistleblower claims.

A federal judge in Virginia agreed to certify three separate complaints against subsidiaries of EQT Corp. and Consol Energy Inc. as class action lawsuits but denied the status to two other cases that also allege the companies cheated Southwest Virginia landowners out of millions in royalties.

A new protesters encampment on private lands that resulted in the arrests Thursday of scores of people near the proposed water crossing for the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) project was criticized by the leader of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe that has led the fight against the 1,200-mile oil pipeline. The latest incident diverted attention from what the likely outcome will be given the Trump administration’s green light for the controversial project.

President Obama on Wednesday designated two national monuments in Utah and Nevada, with the one in Utah coming at odds with the sentiment of state political leaders and the oil/gas industry.

To the disappointment of West Slope producers, the Obama administration and Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper joined forces in Denver on Thursday to announce the cancellation of oil/natural gas leases in the White River National Forest, including the long-contested Thompson Divide. They said the cancellation balances resource protection and development.

BP plc agreed to pay $175 million between 2016 and 2017 to settle a class action lawsuit that sought up to $2.5 billion, which claimed the company deceived shareholders by downplaying the severity of the April 2010 Macondo well blowout. The settlement, BP said, “does not resolve other securities-related litigation in connection with the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.” In 2014 U.S. District Court Judge Keith Ellison of the Southern District in Houston approved Multidistrict Litigation case No. 2185 (see Daily GPI,May 16, 2014). Investors that bought BP American depository shares from April 26 to May 28, 2010 had been allowed to pursue claims that BP executives’ public statements “did not reflect the magnitude of the disaster facing the company.” BP officials had said in 2010 that 1,000-5,000 b/d of oil was leaking from the Macondo well, when internal estimates suggested that the figure was 10 times higher.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) has voted unanimously to order New York-based electric generation provider Hiko Energy LLC to pay customer refunds of $2 million and a $1.8 million civil penalty for deceptive marketing practices and overbilling during the brutally cold winter of 2013-2014.

Natural gas sellers could face antitrust lawsuits stemming from alleged past price manipulation in the Enron era that the U.S. Supreme Court said Monday is now open to state legal action (see Daily GPI, April 21). But the initial reaction in the industry is unclear on what action at the state level is likely to unfold.

Natural gas sellers could face antitrust lawsuits stemming from alleged past price manipulation in the Enron era that the U.S. Supreme Court said Monday is now open to state legal action (see Daily GPI, April 21). But the initial reaction in the industry is unclear on what action at the state level is likely to unfold.