Third-quarter margins were $86 million (Canadian in all cases), up from $62 million in 2010. Adjusted EBITDA was $70 million in the third quarter, an increase of 32% from 2010 levels.   
Capital expenditures were $28 million this quarter and $75 million so far this year. Notable events in 2010 have included Provident selling the remainder of its upstream business unit to move forward as a “pure-play” infrastructure midstream business. Provident’s remaining upstream business was combined with Midnight Oil Exploration Ltd. in June to form Pace Oil & Gas Ltd.   
In addition, this year saw Provident execute a buyout of fixed price derivative contracts related to its midstream business. The buyout of crude oil and natural gas swaps totaled a $199.1 million cost.   
In October, Provident finalized its deal to acquire Three Star Trucking, purchasing a two-thirds equity interest in the Saskatchewan-based oilfield hauling company serving Bakken-area crude producers. The deal expanded Provident’s presence in the Bakken area and provided opportunities to enhance its NGL and diluent logistics service businesses.   Provident also said it would construct a truck uploading terminal in Cromer, Manitoba, that, along with associated storage, will have initial capacity of approximately 2,000 b/d of NGL production from the Bakken area. NGLs from this terminal will be injected into the Enbridge mainline for transport to Sarnia, Ontario. A number of storage deals also marked this quarter. Provident inked agreements with NOVA Chemicals Corporation for storage at the Redwater facility near Edmonton, Alberta. Approximately one million barrels of storage is to be leased under the long-term agreement. On-stream dates are slated for Q3 2012 and Q1 2013.   
Two other 10-year storage deals — one with a major industrial company in the Sarnia area for 525,000 bbl and one with a major producer for about a million barrels — were also announced. Service is to begin in 2012 and 2013.   Looking ahead, Provident plans to deploy $135 million in growth capital in 2012:   
–Plans are to continue to develop underground storage caverns and related infrastructure at Redwater West with costs of about $95 million.    
–Provident also plans $6 million in initiatives around its Younger fractionation facility and liquids gathering system to optimize Younger plant capacity and enhance Redwater West supply.    
–Additionally, $18 million is allocated to increase fractionation capacity at Redwater by approximately 8,000 b/d. This project will allow Provident to process additional NGLs from Younger and from Provident’s NGL capture areas around its liquids gathering system — as well as NGLs that may be received off the Pembina Pipeline system.   –Provident has also allocated some $10 million for projects related to its storage and terminalling facility in Corunna, Ont. Provident will begin providing additional storage and terminalling services under a long-term agreement with a major industrial customer in the Sarnia area in Q1 2012. Additional capital will be spent to increase storage and enhance services to meet demand arising from drilling in Appalachian shale plays and strong Sarnia petrochemical and refining activity.    
–Lastly, $6 million will go toward expanding Provident’s crude oil and NGL footprint in the Bakken area. The Cromer terminal is expected to be completed in Q1 2012. Three Star is also planning to purchase additional trucking units to expand its crude oil hauling operations into NGL and diluents trucking and other service offerings.   Looking forward, Provident said it expects the very strong NGL industry fundamentals that have shaped robust NGL pricing and demand will continue through 2011. But it expects 2012 will trend toward “more normal market conditions.”