French energy company TotalEnergies has reached a $5m (€4.88m) settlement with US energy regulators over allegations of natural gas market manipulation by its unit and several traders between 2009 and 2012, reported Reuters.

The settlement amount is significantly lower than the $214m initially sought by the FERC from TotalEnergies' Total Gas & Power North America (TGPNA) unit and its traders.

A TotalEnergies spokesperson said: "TGPNA is pleased with the settlement agreement approved by FERC that fully resolves FERC’s investigation into some of TGPNA’s gas-trading activities more than ten years ago.

"The settlement dismisses all of (FERC) Enforcement’s claims and allegations with prejudice. From the start, TGPNA had consistently stated that it acted lawfully and TGPNA is pleased to put this matter behind (it)."

To settle the claims and allegations, the TotalEnergies unit will pay the settlement amount as restitution to specific non-governmental organisations, as specified by an order issued by the FERC.

This decision comes after a series of investigations into what the FERC describes as loss leader or leveraged trading strategies, where traders accept losses in one market to benefit larger positions in a benchmark or other financial index.

The order clarified that the settlement is not an admission of liability by the TotalEnergies unit nor a concession by FERC Enforcement that its claims are not well-founded.

This settlement is part of the FERC's ongoing efforts over the past two decades to pursue cases involving complex trading strategies that have the potential to manipulate market prices.

The FERC approved Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass 2 (CP2) LNG project in Louisiana in June 2024, despite climate change objections.