Los Angeles Times- U.S. regulators on Thursday charged defunct hedge fund Amaranth Advisors and pipeline operator Energy Transfer Partners with manipulating natural gas markets and proposed $458million in penalties.<\/p>\n
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, in its first enforcement action using new authority provided by Congress, is seeking $291 million from Amaranth and former head trader Brian Hunter and hiscolleague Matthew Donohoe.<\/p>\n
Energy Transfer Partners was hit with a possible $167-million penalty for attempting to manipulate gas markets, including at the Houston Ship Channel days after Hurricane Rita hit the Gulf Coast inSeptember 2005.<\/p>\n
The agency also demanded both companies return profits related to the trades.<\/p>\n
FERC’s charges are preliminary. The companies have 30 days to show why they should not be penalized. Both companies denied the charges.<\/p>\n
“Failure to refute these findings will confirm that their actions harmed many wholesale market participants, creating losses that ultimately hurt natural gas customers across the country,” said FERCChairman Joseph Kelliher.<\/p>\n
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission also filed similar charges on Wednesday against Amaranth, which lost $6.4 billion from bad natural gas bets before folding last year.<\/p>\n