Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Enbridge Inc., Canada’s largest pipeline company, reported third-quarter earnings doubled and raised its profit forecast on signs of stronger demand for shipments from the Alberta oil sands.

Net income rose to C$303.8 million ($286.2 million), or 83 cents a share, from C$148.4 million, or 41 cents, a year earlier, Calgary-based Enbridge said today in a statement. Enbridge said 2009 profit is expected to be C$2.30 to C$2.36 a share, compared with a previous estimate of C$2.18 to C$2.32.

“We’re encouraged by increasing signs of renewed activity in the oil sands as commodity prices recover,” Chief Executive Officer Patrick Daniel said in the statement. “We see significant growth opportunities in the oil sands both in regional pipeline infrastructure and in extending access to new markets.”

Enbridge is in talks with producers to ship more crude from Alberta’s oil sands as it expects new projects out of the world’s second-biggest crude reserves after Saudi Arabia’s. The company plans to use existing pipelines which have enough capacity to take on extra volumes from producers such as EnCana Corp. and Suncor Energy Inc., Senior Vice President Guy Jarvis said in a presentation in Toronto on Oct. 6.

Enbridge shares rose 63 cents, or 1.5 percent, to C$42.58 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Equity Funds

Third-quarter results were boosted by a higher allowance for equity funds used during construction in liquids pipelines, a stronger contribution from Enbridge Energy Partners and unrealized fair value gains on derivative financial instruments, Enbridge said.

Excluding gains on derivatives and other items, profit was 42 cents a share. On that basis, Enbridge was expected to earn 38 cents a share, the average analyst estimate compiled by Bloomberg.

Third-quarter revenue fell 40 percent to C$2.63 billion as prices fell. Crude prices in New York, which averaged 42 percent less in the third quarter than a year earlier as the global recession curbed demand for the fuel, have gained about 80 percent since the start of the year. A barrel of crude averaged $68.30 in the third quarter of this year.

Enbridge also said that it plans to convert its 72 percent owned Enbridge Income Fund into a taxable corporation before the Canadian government begins taxing income trusts in 2011. Unitholders are scheduled to vote on the restructuring at the fund’s annual meeting in May.

8,500 Miles

Enbridge operates some 8,500 miles (13,700 kilometers) of pipeline from the Alberta oil sands to Cushing, Oklahoma, delivering more than 2 million barrels of crude and related products a day.

The company on Oct. 5 said it plans to build an oil pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico with Chevron Corp., Norway’s Statoil ASA and Japan’s Marubeni Corp. The 40-mile Big Foot conduit will cost about $250 million and will transport about 100,000 barrels of oil a day.

In August, Enbridge received a permit from the U.S. to build the Albert Clipper pipeline from Hardisty, Alberta, to Superior, Wisconsin. The project will be able to carry 450,000 barrels of oil per day, Enbridge has said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sonja Franklin in Calgary at sfranklin6@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 4, 2009 16:18 EST