TC Energy reports earnings gain in Q3
Canadian pipeline and energy infrastructure developer TC Energy said November 7 it had comparable earnings of C$1.07bn in Q3 2024, up from C$1.03bn in the same period a year ago.
Comparable EBITDA was also higher year-over-year, at C$2.8bn versus C$2.6bn, while net income attributable to common shares reached C$1.5bn, reversing a C$197mn loss recorded in the same period last year.
“Underpinned by wide-scale electrification, demand for natural gas and reliable power generation continues to reach record highs,” CEO Francois Poirier said in the earnings release, noting that natural gas demand in North America is forecast to increase by about 40bn ft3/day through 2035, driven by LNG and power generation demand growth.
US natural gas pipelines, TC Energy’s largest segment, delivered segmented earnings of C$1.33bn in the quarter, up from C$782mn a year ago, while Canadian natural gas pipelines had segmented earnings of C$499mn, reversing a C$799mn loss in Q3 2023, when TC Energy took an after-tax impairment charge of C$1.18bn on its equity investment in the Coastal GasLink pipeline.
Natural gas deliveries on Canadian pipelines averaged 22.2bn ft3/day in the third quarter, up 2% from a year ago, and 25.9bn ft3/day on US natural gas pipelines, up 3% from Q3 2023.
Segmented earnings from Mexico natural gas pipelines rose to C$237mn from C$210mn, but earnings from TC Energy’s liquids pipelines declined to C$240mn from C$253mn.
In Mexico, work continued on the Southeast Gateway project, a 1.3bn ft3/day pipeline TC Energy is developing in partnership with Mexico’s Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE). Capital costs for the project have been reduced, to US$3.9-US$4.1bn from original estimates of US$4.5bn.
Mechanical completion of all onshore facilities was achieved in the quarter, with 500 km of offshore pipeline hydrotested. The remaining shallow water pipe installation should be completed in Q4 2024, and commercial in-service is on track for no later than mid-2025.