Enbridge ready to deliver

www.canoe.ca Thursday, January 30, 2003 By TODD NOGIER, BUSINESS EDITOR

 Now the dark cloud of Kyoto hanging over the oilsands has begun to disappear, Enbridge will position itself as the pipeline operator of choice to transport the crude to hungry U.S. markets, the company's chief said yesterday. Patrick Daniel, CEO of the Calgary-based pipeline and energy giant, said recent clarifications of costs under the Kyoto climate change deal have given producers the confidence to look to the oilsands as a more secure energy resource for the U.S. And as a dominant transporter of oilsands crude, Enbridge looks to cash in on the investment craze of the oil-soaked region of northeastern Alberta. "Momentum (in the oilsands), I think, really has been regained now that the Kyoto overhang appears to be dissipating," Daniel told analysts yesterday. GOOD QUARTER Enbridge released solid financial results yesterday, announcing it earned $34 million, or 18 Canadian cents a share, in the last quarter, down from a year-earlier $40 million, or 25 Canadian cents a share. Adjusting for a $5.9 million loss on the sale of the Enbridge Midcoast assets to 12.9% owned Enbridge Energy Partners, the company's earnings were $40 million, or 25 Canadian cents a share, just a penny under an average estimate among analysts. Daniel said Enbridge is now scouring the troubled U.S. energy pipeline industry looking to expand its holdings in that country to bring oilsands crude to market. Many of the questions on how the Kyoto Protocol affects operating costs in the oilsands were answered in December when federal Natural Resources Minister Herb Dhaliwal put caps on emissions and credit levies. Political unrest in Venezuela and the potential for war between the U.S. and Iraq have increased the oilsands' profile as a more secure resource, said Daniel. "The disruption of imports from Venezuela and the continuing risk of interuptions in the Middle East really highlights the reliability and long-term role of Canadian supply -- and that positioning has never been better," he said. Enbridge is one of Canada's biggest diversified energy companies. It owns and operates the major pipeline shipping Alberta oil to eastern markets and also owns Enbridge Consumers Gas, Canada's largest natural gas distributor. The company, with about 4,000 employees, has also been expanding in the U.S. and South America.