WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued $72 million in civil penalties to polluters last year, the lowest level in at least two decades when adjusted for inflation, according to an analysis of agency data.

Environmental advocates called the level of fines a symptom of the Trump administration’s pro-fossil-fuel agenda. The EPA rejected that assertion and said it was using “all the tools” at its disposal to deter pollution.

The analysis, conducted by President Barack Obama’s former EPA assistant administrator, Cynthia Giles, and first reported by the Washington Post, showed civil fines for polluters during 2018 at $72 million, the lowest level since at least 1994.

Over the previous 20 years, EPA had issued a wide range of fine totals, ranging from a low of $86 million in 2007 to over $6 billion during Obama’s final year in office – a massive outlier because of a settlement the EPA finalized with BP over its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The median level of the EPA’s annual fines during that period was about $155 million, according to the data, which Giles shared with Reuters on Thursday.

The Environmental Integrity Project, an advocacy group, blasted the EPA’s performance on enforcement under Republican President Donald Trump, saying it reflected the administration’s pro-fossil-fuel and de-regulation agenda.

Trump was elected partly on a promise to revive the U.S. coal industry and boost oil and gas drilling, and he has been working to undo Obama-era environmental protections.

“President Trump promised to reduce EPA to little tidbits during his campaign, so it should be no surprise to see enforcement of environmental laws he’s never liked decline on his watch,” Eric Schaeffer, executive director of the Environmental Integrity Project and a former director of civil enforcement at the EPA.

The EPA said it was not giving polluters any breaks, and cited a recent $305 million settlement with Fiat Chrysler over emissions violations.

“Let there be no mistake — EPA enforcement will continue to correct non-compliance using all the tools at its disposal, including imposing civil penalties to maintain a level playing field and deter future misconduct,” said Susan Bodine, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.

(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Writing by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Leslie Adler)

By Tom Hals

WILMINGTON, Del. (Reuters) – A Delaware judge said on Tuesday Papa John’s International Inc <PZZA.O> must turn over internal documents to the company’s founder who has been seeking to reassert control over the pizza delivery chain after he resigned as chairman in July.

John Schnatter, who owns about 30 percent of the company, has been seeking the documents to try to show the company was mismanaged and to determine if he was improperly pushed out.

The founder of the third-largest pizza delivery chain resigned in July following a Forbes story that he had used a racial slur on a media training conference call.

Schnatter said the comment was mischaracterized and since then he has battled the company in court.

On Tuesday, Chancellor Andre Bouchard of Delaware’s Court of Chancery ordered the company’s directors to turn over documents and communications, including text messages on personal devices, related to Schnatter’s firing. The order covered some messages between directors and their lawyers.

Both sides said in statements they were pleased with the ruling. The company noted the judge narrowed the scope of the document requests, while Schnatter called it a vindication of his right to the information.

The ruling comes as Papa John’s is working to identify potential buyers for the company, which has drawn the interest of private equity investors.

Bouchard rejected the company’s argument that Schnatter did not deserve the documents because it claimed he was seeking them for his personal gain, not for the benefit of shareholders.

The judge said Schnatter’s testimony during a one-day trial led credence to his concern that he was forced out before the board investigated the Forbes story. The judge also noted he had a right to investigate why the company would quickly abandon him as the long-standing face of the company, which raised questions about management and oversight.

Schnatter also sued the board in August for breaching its fiduciary duties and causing what he said was “irreparable harm” to the company.

In November, the company reported a smaller-than-expected decline in quarterly comparable sales in North America, helped by new advertising aimed at moving past its split with Schnatter.

(Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; Editing by Tom Brown)

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Prosecutors in the trial of “El Chapo” Joaquin Guzman on Tuesday played excerpts from what they said were incriminating phone calls made by the accused Mexican drug lord and intercepted by the FBI after they infiltrated his encrypted messaging system.

Nearly two months into the trial of Guzman on charges of drug trafficking as leader of the Sinaloa cartel, FBI special agent Steven Marston testified the 61-year-old was easily identifiable by his higher-pitched voice, which had “kind of a sing-songy nature to it” and a “nasally undertone.”

The phone call excerpts that wafted through the Brooklyn courtroom on Tuesday included discussions of dealings with local officials, including one where Guzman appears to admonish an associate to be careful dealing with police.

“Well, you taught us to be a wolf, acting like a wolf,” the associate replied.

Guzman was extradited to the United States in January 2017 to face charges of trafficking cocaine, heroin and other drugs into the country. Prosecutors have said he also played a central role in a Mexican drug war in which more than 100,000 people have died.

Guzman’s lawyers have portrayed their client as a scapegoat for what they called Sinaloa’s real leader, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, who also faces U.S. charges but remains at large.

The trial began Nov. 13 and is expected to last a few more weeks. Guzman faces life in prison if convicted.

Marston said the FBI tapped into more than 800 calls on the encrypted system with the help of a cooperating witness, Christian Rodriguez.

The agent said the system’s servers were moved to the Netherlands, where they “would not be suspicious” to Sinaloa, and that calls were intercepted from April 2011 to January 2012.

Jurors had previously heard from former Guzman associates testifying about multi-ton drug shipments, deadly wars between rival drug lords, and corruption by Mexican public officials.

The defendant mostly sat quietly during testimony, but waved enthusiastically to his wife in the courtroom before it started.

Tuesday’s proceedings began with testimony from government witness Edgar Galvan, a low-level drug trafficker who the defense said fabricated payments from another trafficker to Guzman with the hope of reducing his own 24-1/3-year prison term.

Galvan denied making up the payments, though he admitted to having previously lied to investigators.

“Would you say you’re a pretty good liar?” defense lawyer William Purpura asked Galvan.

“I used to be,” Galvan said.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)

By Stephanie Kelly

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil prices rose more than 1 percent on Thursday in volatile trade, drawing support from signs that Saudi Arabia is cutting crude output but pressured by concerns that slowing global economic growth could dent demand.

Brent crude <LCOc1> futures gained $1.04 to settle at $55.95 a barrel, a 1.89 percent gain. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude <CLc1> futures rose 55 cents to settle at $47.09 a barrel, a 1.18 percent gain.

(GRAPHIC: Shanghai crude oil futures vs Brent & WTI crude – https://tmsnrt.rs/2AmwzBl)

Prices traded in a wide range, with Brent hitting a session high of $56.30 a barrel and a low of $53.93 a barrel. WTI posted a session high of $47.49 a barrel and a low of $45.35 a barrel.

Supporting futures were signs of reduced supply from members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. OPEC oil supply fell in December by the largest amount in almost two years, a Reuters survey found, as top exporter Saudi Arabia made an early start to a supply-limiting accord while Iran and Libya posted involuntary declines.

OPEC led by Saudi Arabia, alongside allied producers led by Russia, agreed last year to rein in supplies starting from January after oil prices tumbled from above $86 on worries about surging output.

“The Saudis are still spearheading a significant production cut that became official this week. Thus far, strong adherence to adjusted quotas appears a high probability,” Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch and Associates, said in a note.

But oil price gains were capped by concerns about a faltering global economy.

Tech giant Apple Inc <AAPL.O> cut its sales forecast, citing a slowdown in China. [.N] The news rattled U.S. equity markets and weighed on oil prices, which at times track Wall Street.

Weaker-than-expected U.S. factory data also added to economic worries.

“Oil is flip-flopping on concerns of supply and demand,” said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. “It’s really a battle between the supply situation, which looks to be tightening, versus the possibility that demand will drop off.”

U.S. oil and gas executives’ outlook turned negative for the first time since the low point of the last oil bust, according to results of a survey released on Thursday by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

Investors have been concerned about rising supply from top producers, including the United States and Russia.

U.S. crude stocks fell last week, while gasoline and distillate inventories built, data from industry group the American Petroleum Institute showed on Thursday.

Crude inventories fell by 4.5 million barrels in the week ended Dec. 28 to 443.7 million, compared with analysts’ expectations for a decrease of 3.1 million barrels.

Gasoline stocks rose by 8 million barrels, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2 million-barrel gain. Distillate fuels stockpiles rose by 4 million barrels, compared with expectations for a 1.6 million-barrel gain, the API data showed.

Official U.S. government data is due to be released on Friday.

Riyadh was expected to cut February prices for heavier crude grades sold to Asia due to weaker fuel oil margins while reducing prices for light grades to keep Saudi oil competitive against rising U.S. shale oil supplies, a Reuters survey showed on Thursday.

(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly; Additional reporting by Noah Browning in London; Editing by Susan Thomas and Lisa Shumaker)