(Reuters) – Pipeline operator Enbridge on Wednesday raised its forecast for near-term profit growth and said it would invest about $500 million in expanding its pipeline and storage assets to improve its presence on the US Gulf Coast.
Enbridge, which operates North America’s largest oil pipeline system, the Mainline, announced it will acquire two shipping docks and land from Flint Hills Resources for about $200 million.
The assets are adjacent to the Enbridge Ingleside Energy Center, the largest crude oil storage and export terminal by volume in the United States.
The company will invest an additional $100 million in the expansion of its Gray Oak Pipeline, an 850-mile crude oil pipeline connected to select Texas market centers.
Enbridge has approved the construction of approximately $200 million worth of offshore pipelines to serve Shell and Equinor’s planned Sparta offshore oil and gas project in the Gulf of Mexico.
The investment plans come a month after Enbridge announced it would reduce its workforce by 650 jobs, or 5 percent, in an effort to reduce costs.
The Calgary, Alberta-based company raised its forecast for near-term core earnings growth to between 7% and 9% through 2026, saying the increase is primarily due to acquisitions announced in September and expected to close in 2024.
In September, the company announced it would acquire three U.S. gas utility companies from Dominion Energy for $14 billion.
(Reporting by Tanay Dhumal in Bangalore; editing by Tasim Zahid and Shinjini Ganguli)
