Enbridge

Enbridge is an energy distribution company that provides distribution, gathering, processing and storage of natural gas. Enbridge is a Canadian Company that has a significant and growing involvement in natural gas gathering and transmission. 

They have been included in the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World ranking for the past five years. Enbridge owns and operates Canada's largest natural gas distribution company, and provides distribution services in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and New York State. As a generator of energy, Enbridge has interests in 1,700 megawatts of renewable and alternative energy generating capacity and is expanding its interests in wind and solar energy and geothermal. 

Enbridge employs more than 10,000 people, primarily in Canada and the U.S. and is ranked as one of Canada's Greenest Employers and one of Canada's Top 100 Employers for 2013. Enbridge's common shares trade on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges under the symbol ENB. Enbridge operates, in Canada and the U.S., the world's longest crude oil and liquids transportation system.

1949: Enbridge was founded on April 30 and is headquartered in Calgary, Interprovincial Pipe Line Company was officially incorporated receiving its charter from the Canadian federal government and launching a success story that spans generations.

1950: Alberta Premier Ernest Manning and Canadian federal minister C.D. Howe opened the valve on IPL’s inaugural line to start moving oil eastward; the first oil arrived in Superior two months later, on December, Enbridge (formerly Lakehead Pipeline) finished construction on Line 1, from Edmonton, Alberta to Superior, Wisconsin. The company completes its first pipeline and delivers oil to Superior, Wisconsin. It was expanded through Gretna, Manitoba, to Superior, Wisconsin, in the United States.

1953: The year marked the entry of a second oil pipeline venture, the Trans Mountain Oil Pipe Line Company, to ship Alberta crude to distant markets west. IPL was listed on the Toronto and Montreal stock exchanges.

1954: The line entered service, a development that provided a direct connection between the Alberta oil fields and Canada’s petrochemical heartland in Ontario.

1955: The first year in which IPL did not undertake major construction, the system's capacity had grown to 217,000 barrels per day on the Edmonton-Regina section, 193,000 between Regina and Gretna, 163,000 between Gretna and Superior, and 147,000 between Superior and Sarnia.

1956: IPL owns and operates the longest crude oil pipeline in the world.

1967: Oil consumption had been growing at a rate of 7 percent annually since the end of World War II. IPL was moving crude to refineries in Ontario, Buffalo, Detroit, Toledo, and other points in the United States and required yet more delivery capacity for markets east of Superior.

1969: IPL completes its Chicago Loop, beginning deliveries to Chicago a year later.

1970: Following the opening of the Chicago market, deliveries increased by 16 percent, bringing total throughput to about 900,000 barrels per day.

1971: When OPEC raised prices and began to ship refined products for the first time, about 85 percent of the oil and gas production and 99 percent of the oil refining in Canada was in the hands of foreign corporations, according to T.C. Douglas, head of the New Democratic Party.

1972: In early that year, OPEC again raised its prices upward for Arab crude, and that year, IPL's average deliveries exceeded one million barrels a day.

1973: IPL began to prepare its application to the NEB for the new pipeline in late that year. In addition, forces of environmentalism, nationalism, and socialism converged to inform the government's intervention in the affairs of the oil industry following the Arab oil embargo of 1973.

1976: The new pipeline first delivered oil in June and reached its planned delivery level of 250,000 barrels per day in December. The company's Montreal pipeline begins delivery of oil.

1977: Subsequent uncertainties about environmental regulations slowed project growth and led to the 1977 shelving of some projects. On the American side, the newly created Federal Energy Regulatory Commission took over the regulation of Lakehead operations.

1978: Meanwhile, after two years of public hearings on tariffs, IPL was placed under direct rate regulation by the NEB. Tariffs were designed to reduce revenues by approximately 5 percent for the Canadian system, excluding the Montreal extension.

1981: IPL was looking seriously for diversification options.

1983: IPL built the Norman Wells pipeline and joined Frontier Pipeline Company.

1985: The company initiated a three-phase expansion plan to build capacity and handle the increase in heavy oil shipments, and enjoyed record earnings for the fifth consecutive year.

1987: Notwithstanding this slump, the company went on to complete the second phase of capacity expansion.

1991: It changed its name to Interprovincial Pipe Line Inc.

1993: IPL represented a single line of business, a crude oil pipeline system.

1994: The company again changed its name to IPL Energy Inc.

1995: In its first international venture, it embarked on developing OCENSA, a new Colombian pipeline, along with TransCanada PipeLines. It completed phase one of its System Expansion Program (SEP I) plan, embarked on SEP II, and acquired several strategic feeder pipelines. The company expanded its activities outside of North America by taking a stake in the Ocensa pipeline.

1996: In December, in a very significant move, IPL Energy acquired Consumers’ Gas, Canada’s largest natural gas distribution system that served, at that time, more than one million customers in Ontario, Quebec and New York.

1997: IPL launched a new subsidiary, Consumers first, opening the first of five retail stores that sold natural gas and electric products and services to customers.

1998: IPL, which now had two business units, Energy Transportation and Energy Distribution, changed its name again to Enbridge Inc. IPL Energy became Enbridge Inc.

1999: Enbridge was awarded the exclusive franchise to develop and operate a natural gas distribution network for the province of New Brunswick.

2001: Enbridge completed the acquisition of Houston’s Midcoast Energy Resources  – giving the company an expanded presence in the natural gas transmission business, and significantly widening its geographical presence in North America. Enbridge’s shares were first listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the trading symbol ENB.

2005: Enbridge acquired Shell Gas Transmission, which included ownership interests in 11 natural gas transmission and gas gathering pipelines in five major offshore Gulf of Mexico corridors.

2006: It announced the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines Project from Athabasca to Kitimat, British Columbia. Spectra was formed in late 2006 as a spin-off from Duke Energy.

2009: Enbridge bought the Sarnia Photovoltaic Power Plant and expanded it up to 80 MW, which was the world's largest photovoltaic power station at that time.

2014: Today, Enbridge is the leading pipeline operator in the Fort McMurray to Edmonton and Hardisty corridors, with 12 oil sand projects connected to the Enbridge system as of March.

2016: On September 6,, Enbridge agreed to buy Spectra Energy in an all-stock deal valued at about $28 billion.

2017: Enbridge Inc. and Spectra Energy Corp. finalized the terms of a definitive merger agreement.

“Our name spells out our mission: a bridge to a cleaner energy future. That bridge safely connects millions of people around the world to the energy they rely on every day through our four core businesses—liquids pipelines, natural gas pipelines, gas utilities and storage, and renewable energy.”

According to the website:

“As a diversified energy company, we are uniquely positioned to help accelerate the global transition to a cleaner energy future, and we’re doing it in ways that are ethical, sustainable and socially responsible. We’re advancing new low-carbon energy technologies—including hydrogen, renewable natural gas, and carbon capture and storage. We’re committed to reducing the carbon footprint of the energy we deliver, and to achieving net zero emissions by 2050.”

Crude oil and liquids pipelines: The company is the largest transporter of crude oil in Canada with 3 million barrels per day of oil and liquids. The Enbridge Pipeline System is the world's longest crude oil and liquids pipeline system, with 27,564 km (17,127 mi) of active crude pipeline in both Canada and the United States. This pipeline network delivers 3 million barrels of oil per day.

Natural Gas pipelines: Enbridge's pipelines transport 20% of the natural gas consumed in the United States. It owns and operates Canada's largest natural gas distribution network, providing distribution services in Ontario and Quebec. Union Gas in Ontario now fully operates under Enbridge Gas Inc. In Quebec, Enbridge has interest ownership in Gazifère.

Enbridge builds, owns, and operates a network of natural gas transmission pipelines across North America, connecting the continent's prolific natural gas supply to major markets in Canada, the United States, Mexico, and further abroad.

Enbridge's natural gas network currently covers 38,375 km (23,850 mi) across five Canadian provinces, 30 U.S. states, and offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, transporting roughly 16.2 Bcf (billions of cubic feet per day) of natural gas.

DCP Midstream: DCP Midstream is a joint venture between Enbridge and Phillips 66. Phillips 66 is one of the largest petroleum services companies in the US, owning and operating 39 natural gas plants and 51,000 miles of gathering pipe. Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, DCP operates a portfolio of natural gas gathering, logistics, marketing and processing services across nine states.

Renewable energy generation: Enbridge made its first investment into renewable energy in 2002 with the purchase of a wind farm. To date Enbridge has invested in 23 wind farms, 7 solar energy projects, 5 waste heat recovery facilities, 1 geothermal project, 1 power transmission project, and 1 hydroelectric facility.

Enbridge has a growing interest in European offshore wind energy, and its renewable assets are part of the company's plan to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.