Okla. AG Alleges NatGas Artificially Inflated after Uri


   
   OAKHURST, N.J. (DTN) --- Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummed has filed 
suit against Enable entities -- ET Gathering and Processing successor by merger 
to Enable Partners, Enable Oklahoma Intrastate Transmission, Enable Gas 
Transmission and Enable Resources--and Symmetry Energy Solutions LLC alleging 
artificially inflated natural gas prices in the wake of Winter Storm Uri in 
2021.

   During Winter Storm Uri, Enable and Symmetry marketed natural gas and 
operated intrastate natural gas pipeline throughout Oklahoma. Among their 
customers was the Grand River Dam Authority, the state's largest public power 
utility.

   While the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission bars interstate pipeline 
operators from owning the commodity the transport and sell, there is no such 
prohibition on intrastate pipelines. Many states have imposed restrictions on 
intrastate pipeline owners to mirror the federal rules, but Oklahoma is not 
among them, a circumstance that, according to the lawsuit, leaves the state 
ripe for market manipulation and anticompetitive behavior.

   According to the litigation, Enable and Symmetry employed "a variety of 
tactics to drive up the index pries, including reduction of supply and 
submitting trades at unconscionable prices levels" to charge GRDA exorbitant 
fees "dictated by the artificially inflated index prices."

   Drummond said his office will pursue additional litigation against other 
companies that he said engaged in market manipulation.

   The lawsuits allege Enable and Symmetry "reaped billions of dollars in extra 
profit from their wrongful conduct and the resulting surge in prices during the 
storm," seeking claims violations of the Oklahoma Antitrust Reform Act, fraud, 
and breach of contract, among others.

   In mid-February 2021, Winter Storm Uri roared through Oklahoma before it 
eventually exited the continental United States. The punishing mix of ice, 
snow, and record-breaking cold caused hundreds of deaths and more than $200 
billion in damages throughout the southern part of the country.

    




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