Enbridge posts third-quarter profit on Spectra deal

Canada's Enbridge Inc on Thursday reported a quarterly profit compared with a year-ago loss, driven mostly by new natural gas, liquids and utility assets acquired in its Spectra Energy deal.

Enbridge bought Houston-based Spectra last September in an all-stock deal valued at about $28 billion, creating North America's largest energy infrastructure company.

The pipeline operator also said it is waiting for approval from Minnesota for its Line 3 replacement project. The project will double capacity on the line to 760,000 barrels per day (bpd).

Calgary-based Enbridge's liquids pipeline business, its biggest, earned C$976 million, on an adjusted basis, in the quarter ended Sept. 30, up from C$941 million a year earlier.

The company moved 2.5 million bpd of crude oil on its mainline system across Canada and the United States during the quarter, up 6 percent year over year.

Earnings attributable to shareholders was C$765 million ($595.38 million), or C$0.47 per share, in the third quarter, compared with a loss of C$103 million, or C$0.11 per share, a year earlier.

(Reporting by Ahmed Farhatha in Bengaluru and Nia Williams in Calgary; Editing by Bernard Orr)