Canadian pipeline operator TC Energy TRP-T +3.51%increase beat analysts’ estimates for fourth-quarter adjusted profit on Friday, helped by record natural gas flows across its North American network and increased demand for natural gas and power.
Major pipeline operators such as TC Energy are doubling down on expectations of surging natural gas demand as LNG export facilities expand and power-hungry AI systems, cryptocurrency miners and data centers ramp up electricity use.
TC Energy operates a 58,100 mile-long network of pipelines, supplying more than 30 per cent of the clean-burning fuel consumed daily across North America.
The company placed $8.3-billion of projects into service in 2025, and expects to place nearly $4-billion of capital into service this year.
In January, it closed a non-binding open season for 0.5 billion cubic feet per day (bcfpd) on its Columbia Gas Transmission system near Columbus, Ohio, attracting 1.5 bcfpd of total bids, three times the proposed project capacity, as power demand from data centers surged.
The company anticipates full-year capital expenditure to be between $6.0-billion and $6.5-billion.
Canadian natural gas pipeline deliveries averaged 27.2 bcfpd during the quarter, up 5 per cent from a year earlier, while U.S. pipeline flows rose 9.5 per cent to 29.6 bcfpd.
Deliveries to LNG facilities jumped 21 per cent to 3.9 bcfpd.
TC Energy’s adjusted core profit at U.S. natural gas pipelines, its largest segment, rose to $1.39-billion, from $1.2-billion a year ago.
Adjusted core earnings from Canadian natural gas pipelines rose nearly 13 per cent to $961-million during the quarter.
On an adjusted basis, the Calgary-based company earned 98 Canadian cents per share, compared with analysts’ average expectations of 92 Canadian cents, according to data compiled by LSEG.
It raised the quarterly dividend by 3.2 per cent to $0.8775 per share, marking its twenty-sixth straight year of dividend growth.
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