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Pipelines run toward oil storage tanks stand at the Enbridge Inc. Cushing storage terminal in Cushing, Okla., in this file photo.Daniel Acker/Bloomberg

Enbridge Inc., Canada's largest pipeline company, reported a first-quarter loss on adjustments to contracts meant to guard against swings in currencies, oil prices and interest rates.

The loss was $383-million or 46 cents a share, compared with profit of $390-million or 47 cents a year earlier, the Calgary-based company said in a statement Wednesday. Excluding one-time items, per-share profit missed by 3 cents the 59-cent average of 13 analysts' estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Results were affected by quarterly adjustments to hedges designed to protect the company from shifts in currencies, interest rates and crude prices, Enbridge said. Growing volumes on its pipeline system and higher tolls in Canada are expected to boost earnings growth through the year.

"We are now seeing the benefit of our system optimization through record volumes on our mainline," chief executive officer Al Monaco said in the statement. "The full benefits of those efforts will be seen over the course of 2015."

Enbridge shipped more crude from Alberta's oil sands even as falling prices slowed the industry's expansion and curtailed some projects. The pipeline operator plans to spend $44-billion through 2018, including new natural gas lines and power plants, to capture more of the market.

The price for West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, averaged $48.57 (U.S.) in the quarter, down 51 per cent from a year earlier. Crude closed at $60.40 a barrel in New York Tuesday, the first time it traded above $60 this year.

Canadian crude producers including Suncor Energy Inc., Imperial Oil Ltd. and Cenovus Energy Inc. reported declining profit – or losses – in the first quarter

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Tickers mentioned in this story

Study and track financial data on any traded entity: click to open the full quote page. Data updated as of 27/03/24 4:00pm EDT.

SymbolName% changeLast
CVE-N
Cenovus Energy Inc
+0.6%19.96
CVE-T
Cenovus Energy Inc
-0.33%26.93
ENB-N
Enbridge Inc
+0.39%36.13
ENB-T
Enbridge Inc
+0.89%48.81
IMO-A
Imperial Oil Ltd
+0.07%68.65
IMO-T
Imperial Oil
+0.21%93.29
SU-N
Suncor Energy Inc
+0.33%36.6
SU-T
Suncor Energy Inc
+0.02%49.5

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