Prosecution

Report Says BLM Oil Shale Leasing Favored Shell

An investigation by the Interior Department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) revealed that Royal Dutch Shell benefited during the awarding of oil shale leases by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in 2005-2006, but it did not find any evidence that the producer committed any criminal violations, according to a new report by the OIG.

December 15, 2010

EnCana Offering Reward for Saboteur’s Capture

EnCana Corp. is offering up to C$500,000 for information directly leading to the arrest and prosecution of the party responsible for recent bombings at company facilities in the Tomslake area near Dawson Creek, BC.

January 19, 2009

EnCana Offering $500K for BC Bomber Capture

EnCana Corp. is offering up to $500,000 for information directly leading to the arrest and prosecution of the party responsible for recent bombings at company facilities in the Tomslake area near Dawson Creek, BC.

January 14, 2009

Industry Briefs

Ceding to requests by both the prosecution and the defense, the trial of three former El Paso Corp. natural gas traders accused of reporting false pricing information to industry publications has been delayed for six months. U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon approved a joint motion by government prosecutors and the defense teams that will allow the defendants more time to prepare for their trial. A grand jury issued a superseding indictment against James Brooks, Wesley Walton and James Phillips in September. They were to go to trial in November. However, Harmon moved it to May 14. Brooks, a former managing director of El Paso Merchant Energy, was charged in 2005, and former gas traders Walton and Phillips were charged in 2004 with trying to manipulate published indexes by submitting bogus price information to NGI and Inside FERC’s Gas Market Report between 1999 and 2002 (see NGI, Nov. 7, 2005; Dec. 6, 2004). The superseding indictment in September charged each man with one count of conspiracy, 24 counts of false reporting and 24 counts of wire fraud under the Commodity Exchange Act.

October 30, 2006

Gas Traders’ Trial Delayed Six Months

Ceding to requests by both the prosecution and the defense, the trial of three former El Paso Corp. natural gas traders accused of reporting false pricing information to industry publications was delayed for six months.

October 24, 2006

Enron Prosecution Witness Sentenced to Prison

David Delainey, a former Enron Corp. executive who testified for the prosecution in the trial of former Enron chiefs Jeffrey Skilling and the late Kenneth Lay earlier this year, was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison on Monday.

September 19, 2006