Mining’s old guard needs strong medicine
A new report details subpar investor returns in the mining industry over the last decade, particularly big cap diversified companies which have not adapted to new realities.
Enbridge Energy (TSE, NYSE:ENB) has shelved its plans to build the Sandpiper pipeline, which would have carried crude oil from North Dakota to Wisconsin, due mainly to the ongoing slump in oil prices.
The $2.6bn project for a pipeline from North Dakota to Wisconsin will be on hold until market conditions improve, the firm said.
The Calgary-based firm, Canada’s largest pipeline company, said the $2.6 billion Sandpiper project will be delayed until Bakken crude oil output recovery is enough to support its construction.
The news comes on the back of previous delays to the project. In February, Enbridge said it expected to push the start-up date for Sandpiper to 2019 due to the need for an environmental review. And last month, the firm revealed it was investing in another pipeline — Bakken — that would transport North Dakota crude to Texas, adding it would re-consider Sandpiper once that deal was done.
Enbridge and Houston-based Marathon Petroleum, partner in Sandpiper, had invested $800 million in the project, both in the pipeline itself and for regulatory efforts.
