The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that Enbridge is spending $500-million (U.S.) to bolster its American business, underscoring the optimism it has for expansion opportunities in the continent's oil and gas basins. The Globe's Emma Graney writes that the investment includes the expansion of Enbridge's Ingleside Energy Centre export terminal near Corpus Christi, Tex. It is planning to add 2.5 million barrels of additional storage there, and has signed an agreement to buy two marine docks and land next to the facility from Flint Hills Resources. Enbridge is also planning to expand its Gray Oak pipeline, which carries oil from the Permian basin to the Gulf Coast. Chief executive officer Greg Ebel says the deals will increase the company's access to dock space, allowing it to load more very large crude carriers to meet growing customer demand. He says the Ingleside export facility is "bang in the middle of what we want to do" in terms of expansions to meet a growing global demand for North American oil and gas. Mr. Ebel adds: "Increasingly, exports are an important player. We see that on the LNG side, definitely on the Gulf Coast and starting to come to fruition on the West Coast of Canada as well."