Enbridge

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Enbridge Inc.
Type Public
Traded as TSX: ENB
NYSE: ENB
S&P/TSX 60 Component
Industry Oilfield services & equipment
Founded 1949
Headquarters Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Key people Al Monaco(CEO)
Revenue $10.98 bil[1] Ytd 3Q10 Increase18%
Net income $1.255 bil[1] Ytd 3Q10 Increase97%
Total assets $29.09 bil[1] sep10 Increase3.3%yoy
cur $3.29 bil
Total equity $7.39 bil[1] sept'10
Employees 6,900 (Dec. 31, 2012).[2][dead link]
Website www.enbridge.com

Enbridge Inc. is a pipeline transport company based in Calgary, Alberta, focused on transporting and distributing crude oil, natural gas, and other liquids, as well as green energy.[3] The company has approximately 6,000 employees, mostly in Canada and the United States. The company was initially incorporated as Interprovincial Pipe Line (IPL) in 1949, shortly after Canada's first major oil discovery at Leduc, Alberta. The original pipeline was constructed to transport oil from western Canada to refineries in the east. IPL became Enbridge Pipelines in 1998. The Enbridge name is a portmanteau from "energy" and "bridge".

Contents

[edit] Activities

Enbridge building in Edmonton, Alberta

Enbridge operates the world's longest crude oil and liquids pipeline system, located in both Canada and USA. It owns and operates Enbridge Pipelines Inc. and a variety of affiliated pipelines in Canada and the United States, and has an approximate 27% interest in Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE: EEP) which owns the Lakehead System in the United States. These pipeline systems have operated for over 60 years and now comprise approximately 13,500 kilometres (8,400 mi) of pipeline, delivering more than 2 million barrels (320,000 m3) per day of crude oil and liquids. Enbridge is also the sponsor and manager of the Enbridge Income Fund.

Enbridge is also involved in liquids marketing and international energy projects and has a growing involvement in the natural gas transmission and midstream businesses, through the Alliance and Vector pipelines, and various U.S. assets that transport, gather, process, and market natural gas and other petroleum products.

As a distributor of energy, Enbridge owns and operates Canada's largest natural gas distribution company, Enbridge Gas Distribution, which provides gas to industrial, commercial and residential customers in Ontario, Quebec, and New York State. Enbridge distributes gas to more than 1.9 million customers. Enbridge owns approximately 70% of, and operates, Enbridge Gas New Brunswick which owns the natural gas distribution franchise in the province of New Brunswick.

Enbridge is encouraging the use of renewable and green energy by investing in wind and solar power and new energy technologies such as fuel cells. Enbridge has interests in four operating wind farms—two in Alberta, one in Saskatchewan and one in Ontario—with combined capacity of more than 260 megawatts. In late 2009 and early 2010, Enbridge added to its wind power portfolio with the announcement of investments in the Talbot and Greenwich wind energy projects. In October 2009, Enbridge announced its entry into solar energy with its investment in the 80 megawatt Sarnia Photovoltaic Power Plant, which will be the largest photovoltaic solar energy facility in operation in Canada and one of the largest in North America. In 2008, Enbridge officially launched the world’s first hybrid fuel cell power plant.

In October 2009, Enbridge was named one of "Canada's Top 100 Employers" by Mediacorp Canada Inc.[4] Later that month, Enbridge was also named one of Alberta's Top Employers,[5] and one of Canada’s Ten Best Places to Work.[6] In November 2009, Enbridge was recognized as Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Culture in the Energy and Natural Resources sector.[7] In early 2010, Enbridge was recognized as one of Canada’s Greenest Employers.[8]

Enbridge currently has offices in Enbridge Place (Formally ING Tower), Manulife Place, and Royal Bank Building.

[edit] Transport of Athabasca oil sands bitumen

As of 2012 Enbridge has proposed two pipeline projects which would transport bitumen from the Athabasca oil sands to refineries or export terminals. One, Eastern Access, would also transport shale oil from North Dakota to a refinery in Montreal. The other, Northern Gateway,[9] would transport bitumen to Canada's west coast. Expansion of the capacity of an existing pipeline to Chicago is also proposed.[10][11]

[edit] Spills and violations

Using data from Enbridge's own reports, the Polaris Institute calculated that 804 spills occurred on Enbridge pipelines between 1999 and 2010. These spills released approximately 161,475 barrels (25,672.5 m3) of crude oil into the environment.[12]

On July 4, 2002, an Enbridge pipeline ruptured in a marsh near the town of Cohasset, Minnesota, in Itasca County, spilling 6,000 barrels (950 m3) of crude oil. In an attempt to keep the oil from contaminating the Mississippi River, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources set a controlled burn that lasted for one day and created a smoke plume about 1-mile (1.6 km) high and 5 miles (8.0 km) long.[13]

In 2006 there were 67 reportable spills totaling 5,663 barrels (900.3 m3) on Enbridge's energy and transportation and distribution system; in 2007 there were 65 reportable spills totaling 13,777 barrels (2,190.4 m3) [14]

On March 18, 2006, approximately 613 barrels (97.5 m3) of crude oil were released when a pump failed at Enbridge's Willmar terminal in Saskatchewan.[15] According to Enbridge, roughly half the oil was recovered.

On January 1, 2007, an Enbridge pipeline that runs from Superior, Wisconsin to near Whitewater, Wisconsin cracked open and spilled ~50,000 US gallons (190 m3) of crude oil onto farmland and into a drainage ditch.[16] The same pipeline was struck by construction crews on February 2, 2007, in Rusk County, Wisconsin, spilling ~201,000 US gallons (760 m3) of crude, of which about 87,000 gallons were recovered. Some of the oil filled a hole more than 20 feet (6.1 m) deep and contaminated the local water table.[17][18]

In April 2007, roughly 6,227 barrels (990.0 m3) of crude oil spilled into a field downstream of an Enbridge pumping station near Glenavon, Saskatchewan.[15]

In 2009, Enbridge Energy Partners, a U.S. affiliate of Enbridge Inc., agreed to pay $1.1 million to settle a lawsuit brought against the company by the state of Wisconsin for 545 environmental violations.[19] In a news release from Wisconsin's Department of Justice, Attorney General J. B. Van Hollen said "...the incidents of violation were numerous and widespread, and resulted in impacts to the streams and wetlands throughout the various watersheds".[20] The violations were incurred while building portions of the company's Southern Access pipeline, a project to transport crude from the oil sands region in Alberta to Chicago.

In January 2009 an Enbridge pipeline leaked about 4,000 barrels (640 m3) of oil southeast of Fort McMurray at the company's Cheecham Terminal tank farm. Most of the spilled oil was contained within berms but about 1% of the oil, about 40 barrels (6.4 m3), sprayed into the air and coated nearby snow and trees.[21]

On January 2, 2010, Enbridge's Line 2 ruptured near Neche, North Dakota, releasing about 3,784 barrels of crude oil, of which 2,237 barrels were recovered.[22][18]

April 2010 an Enbridge pipeline ruptured spilling more than 9.5 barrels (1.51 m3) of oil in Virden, Manitoba, which leaked into the Boghill Creek which eventually connects to the Assiniboine River.[23]

July 2010, a leaking pipeline spilled an estimated 843,444 US gallons (3,192.78 m3) of crude oil into Talmadge Creek leading to the Kalamazoo River in southwest Michigan on July 26, 2010, near Marshall, Michigan.[24][25] A United States Environmental Protection Agency update of the Kalamazoo River spill concluded the pipeline rupture "caused the largest inland oil spill in Midwest history" and reported the cost of the cleanup at $36.7 million (US) as of November 14, 2011.[24] The cleanup is unfinished as of March 2013.[26] PHMSA raised concerns in a Corrective Action Order (CAO) about numerous anomalies that had been detected on this pipeline by internal line inspection tools, yet Enbridge had failed to check a number of those anomalies in the field.[27] The Michigan spill affected more than 50 kilometres of waterways and wetlands and about 320 people reported symptoms from crude oil exposure.[28] The NTSB said at $800 million, it was the costliest onshore spill cleanup in U.S. history.[29] The NTSB found Enbridge knew of a defect in the pipeline five years before it burst.[30]

On September 9, 2010, a rupture on Enbridge's Line 6A pipeline near Romeoville, Illinois, released an estimate 7,500 barrels (1,190 m3) of oil into the surrounding area.[24][31]

[edit] Environmental initiatives

In 2007 Enbridge employees in the Toronto area participated in Pollution Probe's "Clean Air Commute," where they were encouraged to use alternate forms of transportation to get to work.[32]

Enbridge is producing the first multi-megawatt hybrid product. The hybrid fuel cell power plants that are involved propose to generate electricity that will be delivered to wholesale grids.

[edit] Corporate governance

Current members of the board of directors of Enbridge are: David Arledge, James Blanchard, J. Lorne Braithwait, Patrick Daniel, E. Susan Evans, William Fatt, Louis Hyndman, Robert Martin, George Petty, Charles Schultz, and Donald J. Taylor.

The President and CEO of Enbridge is Al Monaco.

[edit] References

Question book-new.svg
 This article relies on references to primary sources. Please add references to secondary or tertiary sources. (November 2011)
  1. ^ a b c d "Enbridge 2010 Third Quarter Report". 2010-11-03. 
  2. ^ http://www.enbridge.com/investor/pdf/2010-02-19-year-end-aif.pdf[dead link]
  3. ^ "Renewable Energy". Company website. Enbridge. Retrieved June 26, 2012. 
  4. ^ "Canada's Top 100 Employers: National Competition". Canadastop100.com. 2011-10-07. Retrieved 2012-07-23. 
  5. ^ http://www.Canadastop100.com/alberta/
  6. ^ [1].
  7. ^ "Waterstone Human Capital". Announcing Canada's 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures. Retrieved 20 July 2012. 
  8. ^ "Canada's Greenest Employers". Canadastop100.com. 2012-04-20. Retrieved 2012-07-23. 
  9. ^ "Enbridge Northern Gateway Project". Enbridge Northern Gateway. Retrieved June 14, 2012. 
  10. ^ Jeffrey Jones (May 16, 2012). "C$2.6 bln for Eastern Access, C$600 mln for mainline". Reuters. Retrieved June 14, 2012. 
  11. ^ Elisabeth Rosenthal (June 13, 2012). "Canada Seeks Alternatives to Transport Oil Reserves". New York Times. Retrieved June 14, 2012. 
  12. ^ http://www.tarsandswatch.org/files/Updated%20Enbridge%20Profile.pdf
  13. ^ National Transportation Safety Board Report Pipeline Accident Report from ntsb.gov[dead link]
  14. ^ Enbridge Inc. 2008 Corporate Social Responsibility Report[dead link]
  15. ^ a b "Spills and Releases". Enbridge. 2007. [dead link]
  16. ^ Content, Thomas (January 4, 2007). "Oil group cleans spill in Clark County"". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 2012-12-12. 
  17. ^ Bergquist, Lee (2007-02-16). "Oil spill tainted water table". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 2012-12-12. 
  18. ^ a b "PHMSA: Stakeholder Communications". Primis.phmsa.dot.gov. Retrieved 2012-07-23. 
  19. ^ The Canadian Press: Enbridge Energy agrees to pay $1.1 million for Wisconsin environmental violations[dead link]
  20. ^ Enbridge Energy Settles Lawsuit Over Environmental Violations for $1.1 Million
  21. ^ "Enbridge still mopping up Anzac spill" from edmontonjournal.com[dead link]
  22. ^ http://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/comm/reports/enforce/documents/320105001H/320105001H_CAO_01192010.pdf
  23. ^ "CBC News: Oil Spill Into Manitoba Creek". Cbc.ca. 2010-04-07. Retrieved 2012-12-12. 
  24. ^ a b c U.S. EPA "EPA Response to Enbridge Spill in Michigan" June 21
  25. ^ EPA Raises Oil Spill Estimate In Michigan River[dead link]
  26. ^ http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/24714
  27. ^ http://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/comm/reports/enforce/documents/320105008H/320105008H_CAO%20Amendment_09222010_text.pdf
  28. ^ Enbridge proposes changes to Northern Gateway pipeline July 20, 2012 Canadian Press
  29. ^ Enbridge to Spend Up to C$500 Million More on Northern Gateway Safety July 20, 2012, foxbusiness.com
  30. ^ Michigan lawmaker wary of Enbridge plans July 19, 2012
  31. ^ "Enbridge US". Romeoville.enbridgeus.com. Retrieved 2012-07-23. 
  32. ^ "CNW Group". Newswire.ca. 2007-06-22. Retrieved 2012-12-12. 

[edit] External links

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