TC Energy shifts billions to U.S. as Canadian investment climate falters
One of Canada’s largest energy companies is sending billions south of the border, citing better returns and faster permitting processes in the United States.
One of Canada’s largest energy companies is sending billions south of the border, citing better returns and faster permitting processes in the United States.
TC Energy announced plans to invest $8.5 billion in U.S. energy infrastructure projects over the next five years, including a major pipeline upgrade in Virginia.
President and CEO François Poirier expects natural gas demand to grow by 45 billion cubic feet daily over the next decade.
He added that accelerating project timelines has been a key focus in the United States. What used to take two to three years to permit and the same amount of time to construct could be cut in half or better in the U.S.
Conservative MP Shannon Stubbs blamed Prime Minister Mark Carney for stifling investment in Canada.
“If it wasn’t bad enough that Canada has lost $63 billion in investment since Carney became PM, yet another major Canadian energy company takes money and jobs to the US, instead of Canada,” she said.
Stubbs added that TC Energy, formerly TransCanada, proposed building a west-to-east pipeline in Canada, but “the anti-development Liberals killed it.”
“The lost Liberal anti-development decade of blocked Canadian energy projects drives multiple Canadian companies with billions of dollars to the US to create American jobs, opportunities, and wealth, while the Liberals make Canada fall further behind,” she said.
TC Energy warned back in August that without a positive change in the sector, the U.S. would be a lower-risk investment climate.
“Canadian gas has to compete for capital with the other business units in the company. And currently, the risk-adjusted returns in the U.S. are meaningfully higher than in Canada,” said Poirier.
He made similar claims at the Concordia Annual Summit in New York, held Sept. 22-24.
“The returns we can earn in the United States are significantly more attractive than they are in Canada. I expect that the US will continue to be where we’ll invest,” he said.
The company currently has the 17th-highest market cap of every company in the country. Per market cap, it is the 26th biggest oil and gas company in the world.
Other energy companies have also sought opportunities in the U.S. Enbridge, Canada’s fourth-largest company, is investing $23 billion in Texas gas pipelines.
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