Ex-Duke trader fined $55,000 in natgas scam

06 March 2008 21:55  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--A former trader at Duke Energy has agreed to pay a $55,000 (€35,750) penalty to settle accusations of attempting to manipulate natural gas prices, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said on Thursday.

A consent order from the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas also bars Michael Whitney from operating in markets for four years, the regulator said.

The CFTC had alleged that between June 2001 and August 2002, Whitney submitted false reports of natural gas transactions directly to at least two natural gas publications - Gas Daily and Enerdata - in an effort to attempt to manipulate published price indexes.

Natural gas manipulation has been a long-standing complaint of the US chemical industry, which is heavily dependent on gas as a feedstock and has sought trading controls.

In the last four years, the CFTC has received more than $300m to settle energy market manipulation cases, mostly involving natural gas.

In February, the regulator formed a public panel to advise it on energy markets.

($1 = €0.65)

By: Stephen Burns
+1 713 525 2653

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