TC Energy Corp.’s Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico is on track to come in 11 per cent below budget and should be operational no later than mid-2025, the Calgary-based company said Thursday.
The project, which was green-lit in 2022, involves the construction of a 715-kilometre offshore natural gas pipeline in southeast Mexico. TC Energy announced Thursday it now expects the total cost of the project to come in at US$3.9 billion, compared to a previous estimate of US$4.1 billion.
TC Energy also lowered its overall net capital expenditure outlook for 2024 to between C$7.4 billion and C$7.7 billion, an eight per cent decrease from its earlier forecast.
On a conference call with analysts, CEO François Poirier attributed the lowered cost estimate for Southeast Gateway to “really good project execution,” adding that materials and equipment were procured for less than expected. He said the project also benefited from “more efficient construction and civil works activities.”
“We continue to anticipate reaching mechanical completion in late 2024 or very early in 2025 and are on track to achieve our commercial and in-service date no later than mid-2025,” Poirier said.
The positive news on Southeast Gateway is significant for TC Energy. The company has recently been under scrutiny from investors and credit rating agencies for its heavy debt load as well as for the spiralling costs of Coastal GasLink, the 670-km pipeline project it completed last year.
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Coastal GasLink — which will transport natural gas from Western Canada to the Shell-led LNG Canada processing and export facility currently being built in Kitimat, B.C. — was one of the largest energy infrastructure projects in recent Canadian history and it encountered a number of construction-related challenges along the way.
Throughout the course of construction, Coastal GasLink’s budget ballooned from an initial C$6.2 billion to C$11.2 billion and then increased again to C$14.5 billion.
Those cost overruns put pressure on TC Energy’s balance sheet, and the company has been seeking to reduce its resulting heavy debt load.
On Thursday, Poirier said the company has made significant progress on that front. He said the company reduced its long-term debt by C$7.6 billion in October, using the proceeds from recent asset sales as well as the debt issuance related to the completed spinoff of the company’s oil pipelines business, now called South Bow Corp.
Poirier said TC Energy is now on track to achieve its year-end net debt target, thanks to the success of its asset divestiture program and the lowered cost outlook for Southeast Gateway.
While the company has said it remains committed to staying within an annual capital expenditure limit of between C$6 and C$7 billion for 2025 and beyond, it is keeping an eye on potential growth projects related to its natural gas business.
The company is predicting a “surge in demand” for natural gas in North America by 2035, due to coal plant retirements, growing electricity consumption from AI and data centres, and increased liquefied natural gas exports.
TC Energy reported a third-quarter profit attributable to common shareholders of C$1.46 billion or $1.40 per share compared with a loss of C$197 million or 19 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
Revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 totalled C$4.08 billion, up from C$3.94 billion in the third quarter of 2023.
TC Energy says its comparable earnings for its latest quarter amounted to C$1.03 per share compared with C$1 per share a year earlier.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 Canadian cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
© 2024 The Canadian Press