The volatile energy and natural gas sector has taken its share of lumps over the last few months. Often, how energy stocks fare provides an index on how the economy in general is doing, and with the late week surge in prices per barrel, some of the shakiness has disappeared from the knees of energy investors.
It’s been a rough week for Enbridge Inc. (T.ENB), with a stock price that reflected the overall volatility of the industry and the market in general.
There are still safety concerns with how Enbridge does business – in light of the company’s latest oil spill -- with reports this week that a U.S. watchdog is telling the company it must hire an independent party to supervise a new safety plan for a 3,000-kilometre pipeline network.
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration said Calgary-based Enbridge must examine procedures on its entire Lakehead pipeline network before it will allow the company to restart Line 14, which is part of the system that leaked the previous Friday. Enbridge knew the line had defects when it was built in 1998, the regulator says, and it leaked in 2007
With support eroding for Enbridge’s Northern Gateway oil sands pipeline, it’s not news the company particularly needs to hear.
About 1,200 barrels (190,000 litres) seeped out of an Enbridge pipeline in Wisconsin, which was delivering Canadian crude to Chicago-area refineries. Despite Enbridge’s preparations to replace the leaky Wisconsin oil pipeline, it was still not clear by press time when the line would restart.
The pipeline must pass a National Energy Board review, which is currently underway. Representatives from British Columbia will get its chance to cross-examine Enbridge this fall.
Now, there are good signs in all this: on Thursday, the Calgary-based energy behemoth came out with financial figures that showed second-quarter earnings at $11 million, with six-month earnings at $275 million. Second-quarter and six months adjusted earnings increased 7% to $277 million and 11% to $653 million, respectively.
In the news release outlining the financial figures, Enbridge announced that $3.2 billion of additional Eastern Access and Mainline Expansion projects, and its Seaway Pipeline reversal was finished, providing an initial 150,000 barrels per day of crude oil transportation capacity from Cushing, Oklahoma to the American Gulf Coast
Enbridge Inc., a Canadian company, is a North American leader in delivering energy and one of the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations. Its stock did, however, take some knocks, as mentioned, on the day of the leak, July 27, the stock peaked for the last 52 weeks at $42.23.
Since then, shares have taken a tumble to $39.74, where it found itself late Friday near the close. In early August, shares slumped to its gully for 52 weeks at $28.27.
