Overturn

A federal appeals court in Washington, DC, Friday granted the plea of a former natural gas trader for failed hedge fund Amaranth Advisors LLC to overturn an agency order imposing a $30 million penalty for allegedly manipulating natural gas futures.

A federal appeals court in Washington, DC, Friday granted the plea of a former natural gas trader for failed hedge fund Amaranth Advisors LLC to overturn an FERC order imposing a $30 million penalty for allegedly manipulating natural gas futures.

D&L Energy Inc. has filed an appeal with the Ohio Oil and Gas Commission, asking it to overturn the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ (ODNR) decision to revoke six of the company’s permits, deny three permit applications and order a halt to all temporary storage operations near Youngstown, after oilfield waste was illegally dumped into waterways near Youngstown in late January.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court last week was asked to decide whether to uphold or overturn a lower court ruling in July, which declared that portions of the Act 13, which imposes an impact fee on producers, were unconstitutional see NGI, July 30). Plaintiffs argue that the law limits local zoning rules and violates municipalities’ right to substantive due process ((Robinson Township et al. v. Commonwealth et al., No. 284-MD-2012).

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments this week in a controversial mineral rights case that could have enormous implications over ownership rights in the Marcellus Shale.

A lawsuit filed by Range Resources Corp. against a Texas couple that accused the company of contaminating its drinking water may proceed, said the Texas Second District Court of Appeals in Fort Worth, which found that the lawsuit does not run afoul of a state law against litigation intended to stifle public protest.

New Mexico Environmental Law Center attorneys have gone to the state’s appeals court seeking to overturn a decision by appointees of Gov. Susana Martinez to roll back a climate change law opposed by the oil/gas industry. The law was passed two years ago in a Democratic administration before Martinez, a Republican, took office.

The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected without comment former Enron Corp. CEO Jeffrey Skilling’s appeal to overturn his 19 convictions for fraud. Two years ago the high court ruled that federal prosecutors had used an improper legal theory to convict Skilling in 2006, saying Skilling couldn’t be convicted under a federal statute outlawing fraudulent schemes to withhold “honest services” (see NGI, June 28, 2010). Although the Supreme Court invalidated the prosecution’s honest services theory, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans last year found the federal government’s evidence of conspiracy sufficient to uphold his convictions (see NGI, April 11, 2011). The Fifth Circuit said the verdict would have been the same because there was “overwhelming evidence that Skilling conspired to commit securities fraud and thus we conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the verdict would have been the same absent the alternative-theory error.”

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected without comment former Enron Corp. CEO Jeffrey Skilling’s appeal to overturn his 19 convictions for fraud.