Strong oil demand and production in North America helped Canadian pipeline giant Enbridge Inc (NYSE: ENB) raise its first-quarter adjusted earnings and beat analyst estimates.
Enbridge, operator of Mainline, North America's biggest oil pipeline network, reported on Friday adjusted earnings of US$1.46 billion (C$2.0 billion) for the first quarter. Per share earnings rose by 8% year-over-year to C$0.92 per common share, which beat the C$0.81 average analyst estimate compiled by LSEG.
Adjusted core earnings - or EBITDA - rose in the first quarter compared to the same period of 2023, due to higher throughput on Flanagan South Pipeline due to market demand from the U.S. Gulf Coast, higher volumes on Express-Platte, and contributions from recently acquired assets.
The higher market demand for crude supply in North America was partially offset by significantly warmer weather which impacted the Gas Distribution and Storage division, and by a realized foreign exchange loss on hedge settlements compared to a gain for the same period in 2023.
"In Liquids, we saw high utilization across our systems including another quarter of strong Mainline performance," Enbridge president and chief executive officer Greg Ebel said in a statement.
"Strong operational performance and execution drove record financial results," the executive added, noting that the pipeline operator is on track to achieve its full-year EBITDA and distributable cash flow (DCF) per share guidance.
Last week, another Canada-based pipeline operator, TC Energy Corporation, reported an increase in comparable earnings for the first quarter of 2024 versus the same period last year, beating analyst estimates, as natural gas pipeline deliveries from western Canada to domestic and export markets jumped to a record.
TC Energy's total deliveries on its natural gas NGTL System averaged 15.3 Bcf/d in the first quarter, up by 0.7 Bcf/d compared to the first quarter of 2023. The NGTL System achieved a new daily delivery record of 17.3 Bcf during the period January to March 2024.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
Tsvetana is a writer for Oilprice.com with over a decade of experience writing for news outlets such as iNVEZZ and SeeNews. More
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