Enbridge To Spend C$120 Million On Expanding Eastward Oil Shipments

Enbridge Inc. (ENB, ENB.T) said Monday it will spend C$120 million on two pipeline projects to expand the eastward flow of crude oil from producers in western Canada.

The Calgary pipeline company and its Houston-based sister company, Enbridge Energy Partners L.P. (EEP), will expand a 645-mile pipline from Superior, Wisc., to Sarnia, Ontario, by 50,000 barrels a day to 540,000 barrels a day.

Enbridge will also reverse the direction of part of a pipeline that takes oil westward to Sarnia from refineries in Montreal, reversing the flow eastward to Westover, Ontario, at a cost of C$20 million.

The high discount of oil in the midwestern U.S. to international prices, due to an oversupply of oil at the midwestern hub in Cushing, Okla., means "there is significant value to be captured by increasing the pipeline capacity to move western Canadian and Bakken light crude supply to eastern refiners," Stephen Wuori, president of Enbridge's liquids pipelines division, said in a release.

The expansion and reversal will be done on the existing pipelines, without building new lines, the company said.

An oversupply of oil at the Cushing storage hub, with few ways to reach the coast, has West Texas Intermediate crude oil--the futures contract tied to Cushing--trading at $76.48 a barrel in recent trading, a hefty discount compared with $100.90 a barrel on the Brent future contract tied to the international seaborne oil market.

Enbridge indirectly owns a 26% stake in Enbridge Energy Partners.

Enbridge shares closed down 3.1% to $30.93 on the New York Stock Exchange, amid a broader decline in energy equities.

-By Edward Welsch, Dow Jones Newswires; 403-229-9095; [e-mail]