Enbridge said – on Wednesday 3rd May – it will build a $250-million, crude-oil contract terminal at Hardisty, Alta., with initial capacity of five million barrels. The unregulated storage capacity will be managed by Enbridge on behalf of its customers.

 
The new terminal will also be close to, but separate from, Enbridge’s regulated mainline system terminal at Hardisty and the company’s 50 per cent-owned Hardisty Caverns partnership.
 
Enbridge also announced that its first-quarter earnings dropped to $190.9 million or 56 cents a diluted share from a year-earlier $220.6 million of 65 cents per share, which included an $11-million unusual gain.
 
The lower earnings this year also reflected a lower contribution from Enbridge’s gas distribution utility in Ontario as weather in the market area was significantly warmer than normal.
 
But Daniel said the warm weather was actually a good thing for consumers, or gas prices would have been much higher due to tight gas supplies that he attributed to a “ponderous” regulatory process and regional opposition projects that has slowed bringing new gas on-stream.
 
Daniel said the first-quarter results met Enbridge’s expectations and leave the company positioned to achieve its previously announced target of $1.55 to $1.75 of adjusted operating earnings for 2006.
 
Its shares traded Wednesday at $33.41, up 28 cents, at the Toronto Stock Exchange.