Law360, New York (October 01, 2009) -- On Sept. 17, 2009, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas dismissed a 26 count indictment brought by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and U.S. Department of Justice against four former BP employees for allegedly attempting to manipulate the Texas Eastern Transmission Corporation ("TET") propane market in 2004. The opinion may materially impact the government's ability to bring future actions under prevailing federal commodities laws.
The indictment alleges that in the first quarter of 2004, BP traders and others attempted to corner the TET propane market by acquiring a dominant long position in forward TET...
