The natural gas company sued by Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach and accused of price manipulation during the 2021 Winter Storm Uri takes issue with some of his claims.
As reported this week by OK Energy Today, the lawsuit by the state of Kansas against Macquarie described the Houston company as being a wholly owned subsidiary of Macquarie Bank Limited which is turn is a wholly owned subsidiary of Macquarie Group Limited, an Australian multinational investment bank and financial services company.
On page 10 of the lawsuit, the Attorney General further described the firm as the North American energy marketing and trading arm of MGL’s Commodities and Global Markets Division.
“Although Macquarie was one small part of CGM, the amount Macquarie earned from two weeks of U.S. natural gas trading in mid-February 2021 was as much as CGM in its entirety normally earned in four years,” stated the lawsuit.
Not so said Patty Buchanan, Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs for Macquarie Group Limited in response to the OK Energy Today story about the lawsuit being transferred to federal court in Kansas. She said the statement was “incorrect.”
“This is the correct information: Macquarie’s Commodities and Global Markets (CGM) business is one part of the global Macquarie Group. Amounts CGM earned maintaining critical energy supply to clients during the unprecedented freezing weather events in mid-February 2021 represent a fraction of CGM’s overall revenue over the previous four years,” wrote Buchanan.
“For your reference, here’s CGM operating income in Australian dollars for the prior four fiscal years:
Kobach is pushing ahead with the lawsuit, claiming that Macquarie’s alleged price manipulation during the severe winter storm (as cited on pg 44 of the lawsuit) “was responsible for illegitimately causing more than $50 million of Kansans’ Excess Costs.”
However, he believes that further examination of the cost streams will reveal “the aggregate harm to Kansas residents to be far larger.”
