CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - Feb. 20, 2008) - Enbridge Inc (TSX:ENB) (NYSE:ENB) announced today that the National Energy Board (NEB) has approved Enbridge's applications for the Southern Lights Project.
"We are very pleased that this major milestone in the project has been achieved", said Patrick D. Daniel, President and Chief Executive Officer, Enbridge, Inc. "By increasing diluent import capacity, Southern Lights is very important to the economic development of Western Canadian crude oil production. As the NEB acknowledged, Southern Lights is an innovative and cost-effective solution to transport diluent."
Southern Lights is a proposed pipeline that will transport diluent from the U.S. Midwest to Edmonton, Alberta. A new 20-inch diluent pipeline from Chicago to Clearbrook, Minnesota is planned subject to U.S. regulatory approvals. From Clearbrook, the project involves reversing the flow of Enbridge's Line 13, which currently transports light synthetic crude oil from Edmonton to Clearbrook, Minnesota. Once reversed, Line 13 would transport diluent received at Clearbrook to the Edmonton area. Once completed, the Southern Lights diluent pipeline would have a capacity of 180,000 barrels-per-day (bpd). To replace the crude oil capacity of Line 13, the Southern Lights project also includes construction of a new 20-inch light sour crude oil pipeline from Cromer, Manitoba to Clearbrook.
About Enbridge
Enbridge Inc., a Canadian company, is a leader in energy transportation and distribution in North America and internationally. 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 international operations and a growing involvement in the natural gas transmission and midstream businesses. 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. Enbridge employs approximately 5,500 people, primarily in Canada, the U.S. and South America. Enbridge's common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange in Canada and on the New York Stock Exchange in the U.S. under the symbol ENB. Information about Enbridge is available on the Company's web site at 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.
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Enbridge Inc.
Vern Yu
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Email: vern.yu@enbridge.com
Website: www.enbridge.com