By Norman Bay, Paul Pantano Jr., Neal Kumar and Thomas Millar (November 27, 2017, 11:59 AM EST) -- On Nov. 14, 2017, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued an order accepting the settlement offer of, and imposing sanctions against, Statoil ASA for attempted manipulation in the propane markets.[1] The commission found that Statoil traded propane during the pricing window of the Argus Far East Index in order to benefit Statoil's financial and physical positions that settled against the Argus FEI. The order imposed a $4 million civil monetary penalty against Statoil and ordered Statoil to cease and desist from violating Section 9a(2) of the Commodity Exchange Act, as amended, but did not impose additional undertakings.[2] The order is troubling because it appears that Statoil had an argument that it had a legitimate business need to enter into the physical propane transactions to meet its pre-existing physical sale obligations. The CFTC apparently believed that problematic communications cited in the order trumped Statoil's apparent business need to purchase propane....