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An Enbridge employee loads pipe at a storage facility near Morden, Man., in 2018.JOHN WOODS/The Canadian Press
Enbridge ENB-T is interested in building a CO2 transportation pipeline that is part of the proposed Pathways carbon capture and storage project in Alberta’s oil sands region, the company said on Friday.
Enbridge’s executive vice-president for liquids pipelines, Colin Gruending, told a conference call the company is bullish on the opportunities that exist in northern Alberta.
The province of Alberta and the government of Canada have agreed to sweeping regulatory and fiscal policy reform in an effort to grow the country’s oil production, and oil sands producers are negotiating with both levels of government with the intent of cementing some of the agreements into legislation.
The negotiations, which the parties previously said they aim to conclude by mid-November, include discussions around finalized terms related to carbon pricing, financial support and permitting to advance Pathways, a 6-million-tonne carbon capture and storage project proposed by Canada’s five largest oil sands producers.
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The multibillion-dollar project would reduce greenhouse gas emissions from Canadian oil sands production, and Prime Minister Mark Carney has said its construction is a condition of federal government support for a new 1 million barrel-per-day crude oil export pipeline to the Pacific Coast.
“On the carbon pipe opportunity, yes, we are interested in that, with the right risk package,” Gruending said, adding Enbridge already operates a significant regional pipeline system in the oil sands region.
“I think we’re set up pretty well there, and keen to get back into that region.”
Proposed by Canadian Natural Resources CNQ-N, Imperial Oil IMO-T, Suncor Energy SU-T, Cenovus Energy CVE-T and ConocoPhillips Canada COP-N, the Pathways project would see compressed CO2 travel through a 650-km pipeline network connecting oil sands facilities to an underground storage hub in the Cold Lake area.
The consortium behind the project has said it is targeting late 2027 for a final investment decision.
Enbridge posted a rise in third-quarter profit on Friday as higher utility rates and growing demand for gas infrastructure in North America boosted earnings from its natural gas businesses.
Its quarterly earnings nearly doubled to $1.29-billion, or 59 cents per share, from $682-million, or 30 cents per share, a year earlier – when Enbridge’s profit had dropped, largely due to losses on contracts used to hedge against market fluctuations.
Adjusted core profit from Enbridge’s liquids pipelines business fell 4.4 per cent, hurt by low volume in its Mainline and underutilized contracts at pipelines serving the U.S. Gulf Coast.
In July, Enbridge delayed a 250,000-barrels-per-day Mainline expansion, citing insufficient commitment from producers.
Concerns over how quickly Canadian producers can increase oil and natural gas output have weighed on the outlook for pipeline operators such as Enbridge, whose long-term growth depends in part on rising volumes moving through their networks.