CFTC v. TOTSA TotalEnergies Trading SA (price manipulation, 2024)

Settled

✓ Checked against the primary document on October 2, 2026. The library's summary, tags and figures for this record were compared with the regulator's own document by an AI model (Claude) following written instructions, with sampled and disputed records read a second time. No lawyer has reviewed them. A checked record can still contain errors, and checked does not mean endorsed. See how we check records or report a correction.

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In August 2024 the CFTC issued an order settling charges against TOTSA TotalEnergies Trading SA for attempting in March 2018 to depress the Argus EBOB benchmark by selling physical gasoline below buyers' bids while holding a large short in EBOB-linked futures. TOTSA pays a $48 million civil penalty.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

$48m

Disgorgement

—

Prejudgment interest

—

Total relief

$48m

Alleged gain

—

A dash means the release did not state a figure we could extract, not that the figure is zero. Penalty and disgorgement are stored separately so aggregates across the library do not double-count the same dollars.

What is alleged to have happened

the Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced this matter on August 27, 2024 as release 8953-24. The respondent named is TOTSA TotalEnergies Trading SA (0 individuals, 1 entity).

The order finds TOTSA's sales exceeded 60 percent of brokered volume that month and were reported into the Argus benchmark, to benefit its short futures position. This library tags the matter as price manipulation.

The conduct is recorded against futures.

The relief recorded in our data is a civil monetary penalty of $48 million. Penalty and disgorgement are distinct: disgorgement returns the gain, while the penalty is punitive. We store them separately so that aggregate figures across the library are not double-counted.

For the regulator's own account of the facts, read the primary document linked above. This page deliberately summarises the structured record rather than reproducing the release.

What technique is this, and how does it work?

This action is tagged with one technique in our taxonomy. The tagging is ours: regulators charge statutory provisions, not technique names, so the mapping is an editorial judgement described in our editorial policy.

• Price manipulation — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.

Timeline

1. 2024-08-27 CFTC release published

Primary documents

Everything on this page derives from the documents below. Where our summary and the primary document disagree, the primary document is right.

• CFTC release
• CFTC order or complaint

The linked release is a work of the United States government and is not subject to copyright. Our summary and narrative above are our own writing.

Related actions

Other actions in the library sharing at least one technique tag with this one.

Record added September 10, 2026. submit a correction.