Below is a news article regarding Energy Transfer from a couple of years back. I have not heard what came out of the allegations. If anyone has please leave a comment.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners under federal investigation
By Pegasus News wire
DALLAS — The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said Thursday it has taken action against Energy Transfer Partners, a Dallas-based owner of pipeline assets. The company has 30 days to show that it did not violate commission rules by manipulating the wholesale natural gas market at the Houston Ship Channel hub on certain dates in 2003, 2004 and 2005. The agency has proposed more than $167 million in total penalties and disgorgement of unjust profits.
"We are not taking final action today," FERC Chairman Joseph Kelliher said at a press conference Thursday morning. "We're not making a final decision on guilt."
In a separate development, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Thursday that it also was taking action against Energy Transfer Partners and three of its subsidiaries for the same allegation: attempting to manipulate physical natural gas prices at the Houston Ship Channel delivery hub, in September and November 2005.
The CFTC also said it believes Energy Transfer Partners and its subsidiaries attempted to manipulate Houston Ship Channel monthly index prices of natural gas published by McGraw Hill Cos. unit Platts. The index appears in a publication called "Inside FERC's Gas Market Report."
The CFTC is seeking a permanent injunction against the defendants, as well as an award of civil penalties and "other remedial and ancillary relief as necessary," the agency said in a statement.
“We believe that our business transactions during the times covered by these proceedings were conducted in a lawful and responsible manner and that no laws or regulations were violated during the course of our business,” said former FERC Commissioner Jerry J. Langdon, now Chief Administrative and Compliance Officer for Energy Transfer Partners. “We will vigorously defend our position as the legal proceedings go forward.”
“Following what has been called ‘the storm of the century,’ Energy Transfer and all other market participants were confronted with uncertain market conditions,” said Langdon. “We believe these charges are misguided. The FERC asserts, despite record high prices at the time, that we should have achieved even higher prices in the wake of the hurricanes’ devastation and the significant disruptions in the natural gas market that followed. We believe that the FERC’s hindsight review of what prices should have been ignores the difficult market conditions buyers and sellers were dealing with at the time.”
Source: ETP, FERC
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I recall seeing a news article about six months ago (in the weining hours of the Bush administration) that they wiggled out of this situation. They probably bought somebody off. Check me out.
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