An investor bulletin from 2015 Enbridge Day (Part 3)
When it comes to natural gas fundamentals, Greg Harper is inclined to take the long view. And from Enbridge’s perspective, that view is pretty inspiring.
“We in the energy infrastructure business are marathoners, not sprinters,” Mr. Harper, president of Enbridge’s Gas Pipelines and Processing division, recently told investors and analysts during the 17th annual Enbridge Day Investment Community Conference.
“Longer-term outlook for natural gas and NGLs (natural gas liquids) remains very favorable” despite current commodity prices, added Mr. Harper. “We still expect a significant amount of new and expanded infrastructure to be required within North America over the next several decades.”
Our 2015 Enbridge Day investment conference, held Oct. 7 in Toronto and Oct. 8 in New York, gave current and potential Enbridge investors insight into our business fundamentals, our financial outlook, our long-term vision, and our large and diversified set of future growth opportunities – including the natural gas supply and demand picture.
In addition to a strategic company overview by president and CEO Al Monaco, who discussed our $38-billion, five-year capital growth program, 2015 Enbridge Day also included updates by various Enbridge leaders on key aspects of our business – including a Gas Pipelines and Processing presentation by Mr. Harper.
Enbridge already has a significant natural gas and NGL footprint on both sides of the border – including our gathering and processing systems in Texas and Oklahoma; our Alliance and Vector pipelines; our Aux Sable extraction and fractionation facility; our offshore assets in the Gulf of Mexico; and our Canadian midstream foundational assets.
Global long-term demand for all energy sources will continue to grow, particularly natural gas. In North America, growth in natural gas demand through 2025 – including industrial activity, gas-fired power generation, and appetite for liquefied natural gas (LNGs) – will be fueled by abundant low-cost supplies.
Overall, changing supply and demand flows are expected to create more than $500 billion in capital investment opportunities in North American gas and NGL midstream infrastructure over the next several decades.
Enbridge is well-positioned for growth, and our long-term plans in the natural gas space include:
- Extending our reach into more prolific and economic basins, including the Marcellus and Utica plays in the northeast U.S.;
- Gaining a foothold in demand markets to execute a “demand-pull” strategy;
- Positioning ourselves for potential LNG export capabilities;
- Using our project execution expertise to capitalize on the robust long-term outlook for Gulf of Mexico deep-water developments; and
- Further strengthening our regional positions, such as the Montney and Duvernay in Western Canada, by setting the stage for large-scale development.
“We are very bullish on natural gas fundamentals of supply and demand growth,” said Mr. Harper, “and the opportunity for North America to be much more connected to the global gas market.”
