Civil

San Diego Gas & Electric Co. (SDG&E) has been ordered to pay an $80,000 civil penalty under an agreement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which resolves charges that the utility engaged in phony “wash” trades of natural gas futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex).

FERC last Thursday approved a stipulation and consent agreement that requires Florida Power and Light Co. (FPL) to pay a civil penalty of $25 million for an operational staff error that plunged the lower two-thirds of Florida into a blackout in February 2008.

Aaristo Commodities and Futures DMCC of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, paid a $100,000 civil penalty for engaging in illegal trading in the U.S. natural gas, oil, copper and gold markets, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said Wednesday.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has obtained a $55,000 civil monetary penalty and a permanent injunction in a consent order settling charges against Michael Whitney, a former Houston-based natural gas trader and marketing representative at Duke Energy Trading and Marketing LLC.

FERC enforcement has proposed that the agency increase the civil penalty against Energy Transfer Partners LP by $25 million to $107 million and raise the unjust profits that the company will be required to disgorge to $74.9 million in the event it is found guilty of manipulation of natural gas prices.

FERC enforcement has proposed that the agency increase the civil penalty against Energy Transfer Partners LP by $25 million to $107 million, and raise the unjust profits that the company will be required to disgorge to $74.9 million in the event it is found guilty of manipulation of natural gas prices. The increase is based on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) staff’s belief that Energy Transfer also engaged in manipulation of monthly gas prices at the Houston Ship Channel (HSC) in November 2005, during which it allegedly earned an additional $7.3 million in unjust profits that was previously unknown to the agency.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. has agreed to mitigate damage to about three acres of wetlands that were impacted and pay a $157,500 civil penalty for the destruction of wetlands near the Hams Fork River in Lincoln County, WY, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA, in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, found that during construction of two natural gas well pads and associated access roads and connecting pipelines, Anadarko subsidiaries Westport Oil and Gas Co. and Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas Onshore LP acted without a permit and placed material into the wetlands, which “adversely altered their functions and values.” The federal Clean Water Act prohibits these types of discharges unless they have been authorized by a Corps permit. As compensatory mitigation for the violations, Anadarko will be required to physically restore 0.85 acres of impacted wetlands and create an additional 4.18 acres of wetlands. Mike Risner, EPA Region 8 Legal Enforcement director, said the environmental impacts cited “could have been avoided if the company had consulted with the Corps prior to commencing its activities.”

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has ordered Marathon Petroleum Co. (MPC), a subsidiary of Ohio-based Marathon Oil Corp., to pay a $1 million civil penalty for attempting to manipulate crude oil spot prices.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has ordered Marathon Petroleum Co. (MPC), a subsidiary of Ohio-based Marathon Oil Corp., to pay a $1 million civil penalty for attempting to manipulate crude oil spot prices.