Enbridge Inc (ENB)

[benfrankledger]

$ENB Canada’s biggest pipeline export system is full and will remain full even if owner Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) succeeds in completing its Line 3 project, CEO Al Monaco said during today's earnings conference call.

ENB’s Mainline system delivered record deliveries of 2.73M bbl/day of crude from Alberta to refineries in the U.S. Midwest in December and the system will be full for at least the next three years, Monaco said.

“January and February volumes look pretty strong as well and we expect the system will essentially be full for the rest of the year. In fact, we expect that to be the case through 2020, including our Line 3 given growing supply and lack of other pipeline capacity before them,” the CEO said.

The news that ENB’s pipelines would remain full until 2020 were aimed at long-term concerns for the mainline system and whether utilization would slip if competing pipeline projects are built.

ENB expects regulators in Minnesota to make a decision on Line 3, which has been approved by Prime Minister Trudeau, during Q2 and to begin shipping oil between Alberta and Wisconsin in 2019.