Reuters: U.S. regulators allege Total rigged natgas market for three years

U.S. federal energy regulators extended their years-long effort to crack down on a contested form of market manipulation on Tuesday, alleging that French firm Total SA and two of its traders rigged southwestern natural gas prices for years.

In a brief notification posted on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's website, Total was alleged to have made intentionally losing trades - known as "uneconomic" trading - in order to affect index prices on at least 38 occasions between June 2009 and June 2012. Those losses would be offset by larger gains on other related positions, FERC said. It did not mention any potential penalties or fines.

Total, which is a relatively small player in the U.S. gas market, said it was convinced its U.S. traders did not commit any of the manipulation alleged by FERC. A spokeswoman at Total said the company had fully cooperated with FERC. 

It is the latest case in which the regulator has focused on so-called "loss leader" or leveraged trading strategies where traders seek to lose money in one market to benefit larger positions in a benchmark or other financial index. MORE