Without fanfare that usually accompanies his legal filings, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond has quietly filed a third lawsuit alleging market manipulation by natural gas providers during the 2021 winter storm Uri.
During the first week of January, Drummond filed another lawsuit in Osage County District court naming 16 defendants.
“These Defendants lured many state agencies and political subdivisions into a payment or a payment plan for natural gas during Winter Storm Uri based on fraudulent representations regarding the supply and price of natural gas,” stated the lawsuit. (CJ-2025-00006)
Suit can be read at: file:///C:/Users/User/Downloads/CJ-2025-00006_1083870181.pdf
The lawsuit claimed each of the defendants was aware of the approach of the storm more than a month before it arrived and knew it would increase demand for natural gas.
“As a result of market manipulation by Defendants, during Winter Storm Uri Oklakhoma’s natural gas prices ballooned exponentially compared to states similarly impacted by the weather,” continued the lawsuit. The legal action accused the firms of a variety of tactics to manipulate the natural gas market including the use of force majeure declarations to reduce pipeline deliveries to custsomers and engaging in inflated trades to drive up prices. During the storm, natural gas prices soared from $2.54 MMBtu to a national record of $1,230.65 MMBtu at the height of the alleged manipulation.
The lawsuit stated that each of the 16 new defendants sent force majeure declaration letters to customers in February 2021, during and after the storm claiming “the cold weather had caused a failure or reduction of supply so significant that Defendants would be unable to fulfill contractual price and volumetric obligations.”
The firms are accused of three causes of action. The first is violations of the Oklahoma Antitrust Reform Act. The second accused them of Unjust Enrichment and the third charges they violated the Consumer Protection Act.
The new defendants are: Symmetry Energy Solutions, LLC; Constellation NewEnergy-Gas Division LLC; BP Energy Company; Chevron Ntural Gas Services Inc., Chevron U.S.A.Inc; ETC Marketing LTD; ETC Marketing Inc.; Macquarie Energy LLC; NextEra Energy Marketing, LLC; Sequent Energy Management; Spire Marketing, Inc.; Southwest Energy, L.P.; SWE Management, LLC; Southwest Energy Corporation; Tenaska Marketing Ventures; Tenaska Gas Storage, LC; and Tenaska, Inc.
The Attorney General’s first lawsuits, filed in April 2024, named Enable entities Enable Midstream Partners, Enable Oklahoma Intrastate Transmission Enable Gas Transmission and Enable Energy.
The second lawsuit was filed against Symmetry Energy Solutions LLC.
The firms attempted to have the lawsuits dismissed but Osage County District Judge Stuart Tate ruled against them and denied their Motion to Dismiss on Jan. 14.