Enbridge Energy Partners suffers 3Q16 loss

In September, EEP and its general partner Enbridge Inc. announced that plans for the Sandpiper pipeline project in Minnesota would be put on hold indefinitely due to a drop in expected crude oil production in North Dakota. The 610 mile pipeline was set to transport North Dakota crude oil across northern Minnesota to Superior, Wis. It would have passed through Minnesota’s waters, including wild rice lakes.

Construction on Sandpiper would not have begun until around 2019, assuming that it even received regulatory approval.

A month before the Sandpiper scuttling, Enbridge partnered with Marathon Petroleum to buy a US$1.5 billion stake in the Bakken pipeline system, which encompasses the Dakota Access pipeline. This pipeline has since come under fire from Native Americans and environmentalists in recent months. Dakota Access is set to transport oil from North Dakota, through South Dakota and Iowa, to Illinois. The project is 87% completed, and is expected to be finished before the end of the year – though this seems unlikely at present.

Dakota Access protesters have crowdfunded approximately US$3 million to cover legal costs to challenge the pipeline, as well as for food and other supplies to continue the protest into the winter.

EEP's loss for 3Q16 amounted to US$1.31 per EEP unit, which contrasted with US$82.1 million or seven cents per unit in 3Q15.

After adjustments that exclude the asset impairment related to Sandpiper and other items, EEP's net income was US$89.3 million or nine cents per share, down from US$137.4 million or 23 cents per share, in 3Q15. EEP's revenue was US$1.12 billion, down from U$1.127 billion a year earlier.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/business-news/04112016/enbridge-energy-partners-suffers-3q16-loss/