On Monday a federal judge in New York signed a consent order that imposed a $13m penalty against Parnon Energy, Arcadia Petroleum, Arcadia Energy and two oil traders, James Dyer and Nick Wildgoose.

Under the terms of the settlement the defendants were not forced to confirm or deny their role in an alleged scheme to manipulate New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) light sweet crude oil futures contract spreads but agreed not to refute the accusations publicly.

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