Building a Bigger Bridge
One of North America’s largest pipeline operators is enjoying an especially good year. Alberta-based Enbridge, which transports 30% of all U.S. crude and 20% of the nation’s natural gas, also happens to be in the gas utility business back home in Canada. There, the company supplies customers in Ontario (hello, 75%) and Quebec with more than 5.9 BCFD. So, when Enbridge decided to test the utility waters here, there was little chance of simple toe-dipping.
Reese Energy Consulting today is following the latest from Enbridge, which will pick up three natural gas utilities operating in Ohio, N.C., Utah, Idaho, and Wyo., in a deal valued at $14 billion. The acquisitions of East Ohio Gas Company, Questar, and Public Service Company of North Carolina are among the latest asset sales by Va.-based Dominion Energy to reinvigorate its ailing stock price.
For Enbridge, its entrance into the U.S. utility sector comes with serious weight as it takes title of Largest Natural Gas Utility Platform on the Continent. The move also puts an even weight on the company’s oil and gas mix where crude has long taken center stage. Enbridge last month reported 2Q earnings of $4.5 billion of which $2.45 billion was attributed to liquids and $1.4 billion to natural gas. On the crude side, the company has an increasing advantage exporting Canadian oil via its Mainline as shippers grow more frustrated with the beleaguered Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. But on the gas side, the increasing electrification of everything offers Enbridge an even bigger mountain of opportunity.