Oklahoma sues two companies over alleged natural gas price manipulation
April 11 (Reuters) - Oklahoma has sued two energy companies, accusing them of manipulating natural gas prices during Winter Storm Uri in 2021, according to a press release from the state attorney general's office on Wednesday.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond filed the lawsuit against ET Gathering & Processing, which it refers to in the suit as Enable entities, and Symmetry Energy Solutions.
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Uri roared through Oklahoma in mid-February of 2021 and caused hundreds of deaths and more than $200 billion in damages throughout the southern part of the country, spurring demand for additional natural gas.
"According to the lawsuits, Enable and Symmetry had counted on higher demand with the arrival of Winter Storm Uri and schemed to artificially reduce supply," the release from the attorney general's office said.
Symmetry said it was reviewing the lawsuit but denied the allegations. "Symmetry, like many others, suffered the adverse effects of Winter Storm Uri and adamantly denies the unfounded allegations in the lawsuit, which it will vigorously defend," a Symmetry spokesperson said.
Enable did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The companies employed "a variety of tactics to drive up the index prices, including reduction of supply and submitting trades at unconscionable price levels" to charge Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA) - the state’s largest public power utility - exorbitant fees "dictated by the artificially inflated index prices," according to the litigation.
Drummond also said in the release that his office will pursue additional litigation against other companies that engaged in market manipulation.
(Reporting by Anushree Mukherjee and Rahul Paswan in Bengaluru; Editing by Bill Berkrot)