WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today issued an order filing and simultaneously settling charges against Aspire Commodities LLC (Aspire) for exceeding the federal spot month speculative position limits for cash-settled reference contracts to the New York Mercantile Exchange’s (NYMEX) physically-delivered Henry Hub Natural Gas (NG) futures contract on seven occasions from 2022 to 2024.

The order requires Aspire, an energy trading firm with locations in Houston and Dorado Beach, Puerto Rico, to pay an $800,000 civil monetary penalty, and to cease and desist from further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations. Aspire admits the facts in the order.

Case Background

From 2022 to 2024, the ICE Futures U.S. Energy Division (IFED) and the Nodal exchanges granted Aspire conditional limit exemptions, which allowed the company to exceed the federal spot month speculative position limit by an additional 8,000 NYMEX NG cash-settled equivalent contracts on each of the exchanges during the NG contract spot month so long as Aspire did not hold or trade positions in the physically-delivered NYMEX NG contract during the final three trading days in the contract’s spot month.

This order finds Aspire violated those conditions seven times over a two-year period by exceeding the federal spot month speculative position limits in cash-settled reference NG futures contracts.

The CFTC thanks IFED and Nodal exchanges for their assistance in this matter.

The Division of Enforcement staff responsible for this case are James W. Deacon, Carrie Kennedy, James H. Holl, III and Rick Glaser.