TC Energy reports Q3 2023 net loss; seeks reduced exposure in Mexico
TC Energy Corp. had third-quarter 2023 net losses attributable to common shares of $200 million compared with a net income in third-quarter 2022 of $800 million. The company also completed its 2.1-bcfd Coastal GasLink pipeline, sold 40% equity in its Columbia Gas and Columbia Gulf Transmission LLC natural gas pipeline businesses, and announced its intention to spin off its liquids pipelines business (OGJ Online, July 28, 2023).
Coastal GasLink will run 416 miles from Dawson Creek, BC, to LNG Canada’s 14-million tonne/year liquefaction plant near Kitimat, BC. Gas will be introduced to the system now that mechanical completion and hydrotesting are complete.
Construction of LNG Canada was 85% complete as of summer 2023 and expected to enter service “mid decade” (OGJ Online, July 18, 2023). The plant will use two liquefaction trains, with an additional two—roughly doubling capacity—under consideration. Coastal GasLink is expandable to 5 bcfd via additional compression.
On Nov. 1, 2023, TC placed substantially all of the Foothills West Path delivery program of its more than 16.5-bcfd Nova Gas Transmission Ltd. (NGTL) system into service. NGTL, covering more than 15,000 miles in Alberta and northeast British Columbia, gathers and transports Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin gas and is in the midst of adding 3.5 bcfd of capacity between 2022 and 2026.
TC Energy also plans to execute C$3 billion ($2.2 billion) of incremental divestitures between now and end-2024. This could be achieved either through discrete asset sales in the US or joint ventures in its Canadian or Mexico assets, similar to its $3.9-billion sale of a stake in Columbia to Global Infrastructure Partners. The company said in its earnings call that its goal is to “reduce [its EBITDA] exposure in Mexico.”
It placed the lateral section of its 886-MMcfd Tula-Villa de Reyes pipeline into commercial service in third-quarter 2023 and expects to do the same with the line’s south section in 2024. The pipeline will supply natural gas to powerplants in Central Mexico.
The company plans for its 1.3-bcfd Southeast Gateway project to begin operations in mid-2025. Land rights and rights-of-way negotiations have closed and all “critical permits” for construction of its 25-km onshore section have been received. TC Energy said it is advancing construction of onshore infrastructure and landfalls and that offshore engineering is complete, with installation expected to begin by end-2023.
Southeast Gateway will serve southeast Mexico, starting onshore in Tuxpan, Veracruz, then proceeding offshore, making landfall at Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, and Dos Bocas, Tabasco (OGJ Online, Aug. 8, 2022).
Christopher E. Smith | Editor in Chief
Christopher brings 27 years of experience in a variety of oil and gas industry analysis and reporting roles to his work as Editor-in-Chief, specializing for the last 15 of them in midstream and transportation sectors.
