Enbridge profit nearly halved by pipeline ruptures
CBJ – Nov. 3 – Oil leaks from two of Enbridge Inc.‘s massive pipelines drove profit down to $157 million this third quarter, well below last year’s $304 million take.
Enbridge (NYSE, TSX: ENB) saw earnings per share fall from last year’s 83 cents per share to 42 cents this quarter, but said aside from the pipeline issues, things went well for the company in the quarter.
“Although the crude oil spills on Line 6B in July and Line 6A in September detracted from an otherwise strong quarter for Enbridge and its affiliate Enbridge Energy Partners, both lines were returned to operations in September and clean-up associated with the spills is substantially complete,” Enbridge president and CEO Patrick Daniel said in a statement.
“Apart from the spills, Enbridge’s core businesses in liquids pipelines, natural gas transportation and green energy continued to deliver solid and reliable operating and financial performance through the third quarter of 2010, keeping us on track to achieve the upper half of our full year guidance of $2.50 to $2.70 per share.”
The Calgary-based energy giant saw minor increases in delivered oil while its total number on natural gas delivery was more or less static, even as its year-to-date earnings fell from $1.255 billion last year to $637 million so far in 2010. Allowing for the pipeline spills, though, Enbridge said the company saw year-to-date adjusted earnings of $746 million – a 21 per cent jump from last year, and good for $2.02 per common share.
Enbridge said one jewel in its third-quarter crown was the kickoff of its Sarnia Solar Project three months ahead of schedule. In its quarterly statement, the company billed the southwestern Ontario project the “largest operating photovoltaic facility in the world,” designed to pump 80 megawatts into Ontario’s power grid.