Pipeline traffic lifts Enbridge income

Pipeline company Enbridge Energy said it bucked trends set by its upstream peers by posting a net income up nearly 40 percent year-on-year.

"We expect deliveries on our liquids pipeline systems to remain strong as we progress our market access programs, providing our customers with expanded pipeline connectivity to premium North American crude oil markets," Mark Maki, president for Enbridge Energy Partners, said in a statement.

The company said net income of $142.8 million was 38.7 percent higher year-on-year. That's in stark contrast to peer companies, from Exxon Mobil to BP, that have all posted substantial declines this year.

Lower crude oil prices means less capital return for most energy companies. Enbridge said it was able to take advantage of an increase in deliveries on its network of pipeline systems.

Deliveries were strong, the company said, on its Lakehead pipeline system in the U.S. Midwest and those running through North Dakota.

Three pipelines in North Dakota -- Sandpiper, Dakota Access and Upland -- should be in service by 2018 and provide 895,000 barrels per day in new capacity. Enbridge is a party to a group behind Sandpiper.

Combined, Enbridge said its pipeline systems carry 2.8 million barrels of liquids per day for the three-month period ending March 31. That's an increase of nearly 17 percent from the same time last year.

"We expect deliveries on our liquids pipeline systems to remain strong as we progress our market access programs, providing our customers with expanded pipeline connectivity to premium North American crude oil markets," Maki said Thursday.