Oil Pipeline Financial Survey, 2018
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Released: 2020-08-06
In 2018, operating revenues of Canadian oil pipeline companies increased 14.3% compared with 2017, to $15.3 billion. Total operating expenses increased to $10.4 billion in 2018, a 46.9% increase from 2017. This increase was driven by costs associated with pipeline construction or maintenance.
As a result, in 2018, net revenue from operations was $4.9 billion, down 22.1% from 2017, leading to a net income after taxes of $4.1 billion (-8.0%).
Balance sheet: Assets increase
Pipeline companies reported total assets of $73.5 billion in 2018, up 13.5% from 2017. Net fixed assets rose 17.0% in the same period, to $50.5 billion, while current assets decreased 14.6%, to $5.3 billion. Meanwhile, total investment was up 16.3%, to $17.1 billion, compared with $14.7 billion in 2017.
In 2018, total liabilities, capital stock and surplus increased 13.5% compared with a year earlier, to reach $73.5 billion. This was largely because of long-term debt associated with financing new projects.
The increases in assets and liabilities were partly because of the expansion of existing systems and the construction of new systems in response to the high demand for pipeline transportation in Western Canada in 2018.
Note to readers
The Oil Pipeline Financial Survey is a census that collects data on the financial, employment and operating activities of gathering pipelines and transmission pipelines operating in Canada.
Gathering pipelines are regional systems that collect oil from fields and plants and deliver it to terminals and processing facilities, including refineries.
Trunk lines collect oil from terminals and deliver it to destinations, sometimes thousands of kilometres away.
The gathering pipelines in Canada are concentrated in major oil-producing regions (i.e., Alberta and Saskatchewan).
Canadian transmission pipelines deliver oil from the producing regions to major markets, primarily the United States and Eastern Canada.
Data for the Oil Pipeline Financial Survey were revised back to 2016. New methods were used to confront the current data (2018) and previously released data for 2016 and 2017 reference years. Because of the improvements in data confrontation, the current estimates may not be comparable with estimates published prior to reference year 2016.
Data are available upon request.
Contact information
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