09:32:37 EDT Tue 07 May 2024
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or Name
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Enbridge Inc
Symbol ENB
Shares Issued 2,024,926,494
Close 2023-05-04 C$ 53.18
Market Cap C$ 107,685,590,951
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Enbridge reaches tolling agreement for Mainline

2023-05-04 09:34 ET - News Release

Mr. Colin Gruending reports

ENBRIDGE ANNOUNCES TOLLING AGREEMENT IN PRINCIPLE ON MAINLINE LIQUIDS SYSTEM

Enbridge Inc. has reached an agreement in principle on a negotiated settlement with shippers for incentive tolls on its Mainline liquids system, which moves over three million barrels a day of crude oil and liquids from Western Canada to demand markets in multiple provinces and states.

The settlement covers both the Canadian and U.S. portions of the Mainline and will provide customers with a stable, competitive toll relative to competing alternatives. In addition, the settlement will preserve high utilization of the Mainline and incentivize Enbridge to maximize capacity, benefiting industry egress and customer netbacks. The settlement term is 7.5 years through 2028.

"This settlement continues with Enbridge's track record of working co-operatively with shippers and industry groups and builds on a 27-year history of similar incentive deals on the Mainline itself," said Colin Gruending, Enbridge's executive vice-president and president of liquids pipelines. "This settlement is a win-win-win -- customers will continue to receive competitive and responsive service; Enbridge will earn attractive risk-adjusted returns; and the Mainline will continue to feed North America and global markets with a long-term source of safe, secure and affordable energy."

The settlement has been approved by the Enbridge board of directors and received overwhelming support from a 37-member industry stakeholder group that includes producers, refiners, integrated companies, industry agencies and governments.

As part of the settlement, Enbridge will be filing new interim tolls for local Canadian crude movements and cross-border international joint toll deliveries to take effect on July 1, 2023. The settlement also eliminates the need to complete its previously filed Lakehead cost of service application, currently before the United States' Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Enbridge expects to jointly finalize the settlement with industry and submit an application for its approval to the Canada Energy Regulator in Q3 2023, with the expectation that the new tolling settlement could be approved and implemented later this year.

Some highlights of the settlement include:

  • Establishment of a competitive and stable toll that preserves continuing high utilization of the Mainline as well as the profitability of crude oil production in Western Canada;
  • An international joint toll (IJT), for heavy crude oil movements from Hardisty to Chicago, comprising a toll of $1.65 per barrel plus a toll of $2.57 (U.S.) per barrel, plus the applicable Line 3 replacement surcharge; tolls will continue to be distance and commodity adjusted and will utilize a dual-currency IJT that will reduce Enbridge's exposure to foreign exchange fluctuations in respect to the Canadian portion of the toll;
  • During the term, Mainline IJT tolls will be governed by the terms of the settlement, and, for the purpose of calculating tolls, all other previous surcharges are superseded by the settlement;
  • A financial performance collar providing incentives for Enbridge to optimize throughput and cost, but also providing downside protection in the event of extreme supply or demand disruptions or unforeseen operating cost exposure; this performance collar is intended to ensure the mainline will earn 11-per-cent to 14.5-per-cent returns, on a deemed 50-per-cent equity capitalization, throughout the term of the agreement, which is similar to the returns earned on average during the previous tolling agreement;
  • Toll escalation for operation, administration and power costs tied to U.S. consumer price and power indices;
  • Certain future expenditures associated with Line 5, including the Wisconsin relocation project and construction of a tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac, will be included in rate base; half the capital will be included in rate base as incurred and collect a new surcharge while the other half will be backstopped and placed into rate base, for collection through a surcharge, upon project completion;
  • A structure to manage power costs that allows Enbridge to continue its solar self-power initiatives to reduce emissions.

Approximately 70 per cent of Mainline deliveries are tolled under this settlement while approximately 30 per cent of deliveries are tolled on a full-path basis to markets downstream of the Mainline. The other continuing feature is that the Mainline toll will flex up or down 3.5 U.S. cents per barrel for 50-000-barrel-per-day changes in throughput.

The expected financial outcome from this settlement is in line with previously reported financial results and guidance provided, subject to filing and regulatory approval of the definitive agreement and associated rates.

Enbridge is pleased with the customer co-operation and alignment this framework furthers with industry.

"We'd like to thank our customers and stakeholders who worked with us to realize this settlement," said Mr. Gruending. "We look forward to continuing that collaboration in the coming months to advance and implement this tolling settlement."

About Enbridge Inc.

At Enbridge, the company safely connects millions of people to the energy they rely on every day, fuelling quality of life through the company's North American natural gas, oil or renewable power networks and the company's growing European offshore wind portfolio. Enbridge is investing in modern energy delivery infrastructure to sustain access to secure, affordable energy and building on two decades of experience in renewable energy to advance new technologies, including wind and solar power, hydrogen, renewable natural gas, and carbon capture and storage. Enbridge is committed to reducing the carbon footprint of the energy the company delivers and to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Headquartered in Calgary, Alta., Enbridge's common shares trade under the symbol ENB on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange.

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