Manipulation

A half-decade of litigation over reserves revisions, allegations of wash trading and charges of market manipulation against El Paso Corp. drew closer to closure Tuesday when a federal judge in Houston gave preliminary approval to a proposed settlement and set a final hearing date in the class action suit against the company.

Ending a half-decade of litigation over reserves revisions, allegations of wash trading and charges of market manipulation, El Paso Corp. announced Wednesday that it will pay about $48 million and its insurers will cover the remaining $242 million to settle multiple shareholder class action lawsuits and several other derivative lawsuits filed against the company between 2000 and 2004.

Another former Enron Corp. official reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors in Houston last week, a sign that the Enron Task Force is continuing its two-year investigation of the failed energy merchant and its management team.

Another former Enron Corp. official reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors in Houston this week, a sign that the Enron Task Force is continuing its two-year investigation of the failed energy merchant and its management team.

El Paso Corp. said it paid out $570 million in cash on June 11 under a master agreement to settle charges that its subsidiaries manipulated natural gas and power prices in California and other western states during a span of more than six years.

El Paso Corp. said it paid out $570 million in cash Friday under a master agreement to settle charges that its subsidiaries manipulated natural gas and power prices in California and other western states during a span of more than six years.

Against the backdrop of a recent decision by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal to investigate the actions of power suppliers during this month’s bone-chilling freeze that covered much of the Northeast, FERC Chairman Pat Wood last Wednesday told reporters that he has seen no indications that the power market in New England was manipulated.

FERC last Wednesday approved a combined settlement between El Paso Electric Co., the California attorney general, the California Electricity Oversight Board (CEOB) and FERC trial staff aimed at resolving allegations that the utility colluded with Enron during California’s energy crisis to manipulate the wholesale market and artificially inflate prices.

Without admitting any wrongdoing, Houston-based BP Energy Co. on Friday entered into a stipulation and consent deal with FERC staff to resolve charges that the energy company manipulated prices for electricity destined for the California market.