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Competitive Advantage
The Company's ability to execute its strategy and realize its corporate vision depends primarily on three key strengths. These include the strategic position of the Company's major assets, the diversification of its businesses and its consistent focus on customer service.
The Company's assets are well positioned in North America. In the liquids business, the Company operates a major conduit between U.S. markets and the geopolitically attractive oil sands reserves in Western Canada. Enbridge has economies of scale and scheduling flexibility because of its multiple separate lines and the flexibility to move over 95 different grades of crude oil. Enbridge's existing right of way is valuable in developing major expansion projects due to increasing environmental and land-owner challenges in securing energy corridors. Also, the Company serves a diversity of markets because of the extent and reach of its pipeline systems. The gas businesses are also well located. The Ontario gas utility franchise in Toronto benefits from perennially high customer addition rates due to immigration and urbanization.
The Company's sources of earnings and growth are diversified among liquids pipelines, gas pipelines, gas distribution and international investments. As well, the Company is actively exploring new growth platforms that would further diversify and complement existing core businesses.
The Company is focused on adding value for customers and improving customers' profitability. This focus has aligned the Company with supply demand fundamentals, which have consistently formed a basis for the Company's strategy. The Company seeks to provide value to customers in a variety of innovative ways including provision of access to new markets for producers and new sources of supply for refiners; diversifying the supply of diluent required for transportation of heavy crude; and protection of batch quality and value.