Spectra Energy Corp said it will spend $1.49 billion to purchase the Express-Platte System, one of the three major pipelines that move crude oil from Western Canada to refineries in the Rocky Mountain and Midwest regions in the United States.The purchase, which comprises $1.25 billion in cash and $240 million in debt, will give Spectra a foothold in the rapidly expanding North American crude oil pipeline market.Canada has only three major pipelines that take conventional and oil sands crude into the Midwest, and fears are mounting that the export of Canadian crude will be constrained due to pipeline project delays, even as production burgeons.The Express pipeline takes up to 280,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil from Hardisty, Alberta to U.S. refining markets in Montana and Wyoming. The smaller Platte line carries about 164,000 bpd from Guernsey, Wyoming to Wood River, Illinois.
Spectra Energy Corp (Spectra Energy) through its subsidiaries and equity affiliates, owns and operates a portfolio of complementary natural gas-related energy assets and is a natural gas infrastructure company. Shares of SE remained unchanged at $27.34. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $26.56 and as high as $32.27. On average, 3174030 shares of SE exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 0.
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