HOUSTON — Enbridge Energy Partners LP said profits jumped in the third quarter as record quantities of oil flowing through pipelines in Canada and North Dakota outweighed a slowdown in natural gas shipments.
The Houston-based pipeline company said net income rose from $14.9 million in the third quarter last year to $20.5 million this year. After making adjustments to those figures, the company reported net income of $117.8 million compared to $61.0 million in the previous third quarter.
Those adjustments included factoring in expenses and insurance payouts relating to a 2010 spill on its Line 6B pipline in Michigan. Enbridge increased its total cost estimate for the spill to $1.21 billion during the third quarter, executives said on a conference call Monday afternoon, with about $219 million still to be paid. In the most recent quarter, the company reported a net gain of $51.9 million from insurance payments related to the spill.
Enbridge Energy Partners is structured as a tax-advantaged master limited partnership, which passes on most of its cash flow to limited partner investors in dividend-like payments. The company said its adjusted profits available for distribution to limited partners rose from $27.5 million last year to $80.9 million in the third quarter this year.
The majority of the gain was in the liquids transportation segment of the company’s business, where adjusted operating income rose from $150.2 million in the period the previous year to $269.7 million this year. Enbridge said it increased both volumes and rates on the Lakehead and North Dakota liquids pipeline systems. Total liquids deliveries were up about 21 percent from the same period last year.
“With robust crude oil supply growth in western Canada and the Bakken formation, we expect deliveries on both our Lakehead and North Dakota systems to remain strong,” said Mark Maki, president for the partnership, in a statement.
The natural gas sector of Enbridge’s business lagged behind. Its natural gas adjusted operating income fell by $20 million compared to the same period of 2013. Enbridge attributed the decrease to lower natural gas and natural gas liquids volumes on pipelines as producers reduced gas drilling activity in East Texas and in the Anadarko basin centered in Western Oklahoma.
Enbridge declared Monday a cash distribution of 55.5 cents per unit, payable on Nov. 14. Units of Enbridge Energy Partners traded up 1.36 percent Monday to $36.56.
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