Our performance at a glance
In 2020, despite the disruption caused by COVID-19, Enbridge safely and reliably delivered billions of barrels of crude oil to North American refineries, where it was converted into the energy and fuel society required to rise to the challenges presented by the pandemic. We also moved more than 9.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, a key fuel to heat our homes, enable transportation and manufacturing, and energize our industrial sector. And we generated 1.75 gigawatts (net) of renewable power as part of the transition to a lower-carbon future.
In 2020, we safely transported nearly 3.8 billion barrels of oil to market. Even as COVID emerged as a global pandemic, disrupting societies and economies, we adapted to keep our team safe and the energy the world counts on moving reliably. Throughout 2020, we sustained our strong safe delivery performance. Over the year we experienced seven incidents, six of which were contained on Enbridge property, spilling a total of 943 barrels of oil. While this is a safe delivery record of 99.99997%, we believe that even one leak is too many. We continually strive to meet our goal of preventing all incidents, so in addition to safely, effectively and thoroughly responding to, containing and cleaning up each spill, we investigated every incident or near miss to identify and address root causes and make our systems even safer over time. We also continued to invest in research and technology, and to engage every employee and contractor to build a stronger and more resilient company culture relentlessly focused on safety.
Crude Oil Pipelines
Barrels of crude oil safely delivered in 2020
Total barrels spilled in 2020
Barrels spilled within our facilities in 2020
Barrels spilled outside of Enbridge’s
property in 2020
Large volumes shipped with strong safety performance
In 2020, we delivered nearly 3.8 billion barrels of crude oil while maintaining our strong safe delivery record—we matched 2019’s record-low number of spills, the total volume of oil spilled increased by 729 barrels from the previous year, but the total volume spilled outside Enbridge property decreased by 43 barrels, a 41% reduction.
Our belief that every incident can be prevented drives our strong safe delivery performance. Our approach and the results we achieve are supported by a relentless focus on safety by every member of our team, built on a foundation of programs, policies and procedures to reinforce our safety culture, and underpinned by billions of dollars invested in the safety of our systems.
Natural Gas Transportation
In 2020 we transported nearly 7.75 trillion cubic feet of natural gas—an average of more than 21 billion cubic feet a day. During that time, we experienced 9 reportable leaks on our natural gas pipeline systems, a 63% reduction in the number of incidents compared to the previous year.
Natural Gas Distribution
Our natural gas utility, Enbridge Gas Inc., provides reliable natural gas service to about 3.8 million customers in Ontario and Quebec. In 2020, we safely delivered nearly 1.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas to those customers and experienced 6 reportable natural gas releases.
How much every day?
To learn more about the energy we deliver to keep our society powered up and on the go, check out our energy dashboards, which provide a continual, minute-by-minute tally of the natural gas and crude oil we’re transporting and the renewable energy we’re generating.