Enbridge sees firm quarter, weak 2010.

Quarterly earnings of CDN$326-million brought a strong finale to a drop-off year for pipeline operator Enbridge Inc.
Calgary, Canada-based Enbridge (NYSE: ENB) saw earnings of $963 million in 2010, down far from its $1.56-billion take in 2009. Even as Q4 saw a bump from the previous year's earnings of $300 million, the damage was done earlier in 2010, when pipeline ruptures nearly halved the company's third quarter totals, and earnings for the first nine months were almost half 2009's numbers.
“Our strong performance in 2010 builds on an exceptional year in 2009, and extends the company's performance record,” Enbridge President and CEO Patrick Daniel said in a statement.
“Enbridge's 2010 results were driven by strong performance across all of our business units, and reflected the positive impact of cash generated from new projects coming into service. Enbridge brought $6.5 billion of projects into service during 2010, including Alberta Clipper, the Southern Lights Pipeline, the North Dakota and Saskatchewan System expansions, and the Talbot Wind Energy and Sarnia Solar projects.
“Over the past three years, we've brought more than $12 billion in projects into service.”
In a year where Enbridge saw those leaps in new projects – and snagged $2.6 billion in oilsands infrastructure projects for the next few years – 2010 will be remembered by many as a year where ruptures took a toll on the company, both on balance sheets and in reputation. Daniel said work is continuing to get affected lines back to normal, and the impact last year's incidents had is not lost on Enbridge.
“The incidents of the summer and early fall in Marshall, Mich. and Romeoville, Ill. were humbling for our company and a test of our ability to respond not only to the clean-up of the oil spilled, but also to the individuals and communities affected by the spills, and to the transportation needs of our shippers who were affected by the prolonged shutdown of certain of our pipelines,” Daniel said.
“Enbridge's comprehensive pipeline integrity program, and regulatory requirements to accelerate planned work on sections of Line 6B, continue to have impacts on the available capacity of our mainline system.”