CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwired - March 5, 2015) - Enbridge Inc., (TSX:ENB) (NYSE:ENB) announced today plans to optimize a previously announced expansion of its Regional Oil Sands System. The optimization, which has been agreed to with affected shippers, will involve capital cost savings of $0.4 billion in aggregate and lower tolls for the shippers, while maintaining attractive returns on the capital to be invested.
Projects involved in the optimization include the Athabasca Twin Project and the Wood Buffalo Extension Project. Following the optimization and finalization of scope and definitive cost estimates for the projects, Enbridge's commercially secured expansion investments on its Regional Oil Sands System, in-service from 2014 to 2017, will total $5.6 billion. By 2017, Enbridge will connect 11 oil sands projects to regional hubs in Edmonton and Hardisty, Alberta.
"We continually work closely with our customers to ensure we're meeting their market access needs through safe, reliable transportation solutions offered at the lowest practical cost," said Guy Jarvis, President, Liquids Pipelines. "By combining the Wood Buffalo Extension Project and the Athabasca Pipeline Twin, we will be able to deliver significant toll savings to our shippers while meeting all our contractual commitments to them. At the same time, optimization of the projects is a more efficient use of capital for Enbridge and preserves attractive returns."
The optimization involves:
The cost of the Wood Buffalo Extension at its reduced scope is expected to decrease to approximately $1.3 billion, from $1.8 billion before the optimization. The cost of the Athabasca Pipeline Twin is expected to increase from approximately $1.2 billion to approximately $1.3 billion.
Enbridge expects to file an amendment application with the Alberta Energy Regulator in the second quarter of 2015. The Wood Buffalo Extension, the Athabasca Pipeline Twin and the proposed Norlite Diluent Pipeline will be the conduit to ship diluent to, and blended bitumen from, the Fort Hills Mine project, which has an anticipated first oil date of Q4 2017.
A map is available at the following address: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/993471_map.pdf
About Enbridge Inc.
Enbridge Inc., a Canadian Company, is a North American leader in delivering energy and has been included on the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World ranking for the past seven years. As a transporter of energy, Enbridge operates, in Canada and the U.S., the world's longest crude oil and liquids transportation system. The Company also has a significant and growing involvement in natural gas gathering, transmission and midstream businesses, and an increasing involvement in power transmission. As a distributor of energy, Enbridge owns and operates Canada's largest natural gas distribution company, and provides distribution services in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and New York State. As a generator of energy, Enbridge has interests in more than 1,800 megawatts of renewable and alternative energy generating capacity and is expanding its interests in wind and solar energy and geothermal. Enbridge employs more than 11,000 people, primarily in Canada and the U.S. and is ranked as one of Canada's Top 100 Employers for 2014. Enbridge's common shares trade on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges under the symbol ENB. For more information, visit www.enbridge.com.
Certain information provided in this news release constitutes forward-looking statements. The words "anticipate", "expect", "project", "estimate", "forecast" and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Although Enbridge believes that these statements are based on information and assumptions which are current, reasonable and complete, these statements are necessarily subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties pertaining to operating performance, regulatory parameters, weather, economic conditions and commodity prices. You can find a discussion of those risks and uncertainties in our Canadian securities filings and American SEC filings. While Enbridge makes these forward-looking statements in good faith, should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary significantly from those expected. Except as may be required by applicable securities laws, Enbridge assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements made herein or otherwise, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
For more information please contact: