Pipeline operator TC Energy posts quarterly profit

April 29 (Reuters) – Canadian pipeline operator TC Energy (TRP.TO) reported a quarterly profit, compared with a year-earlier loss when it took C$2.2 billion in impairment charges related to the suspension of its Keystone XL pipeline project.

TC’s Keystone XL oil pipeline, which was expected to carry 830,000 barrels per day of heavy crude from Canada’s Alberta province to Nebraska in the United States, was scrapped in 2021 after the United States canceled a key permit.

The company’s liquids pipelines also posted C$272 million profit from a year-earlier loss of C$2.51 billion and earnings rose marginally for its Canadian natural gas pipelines.

Demand is on the rise for liquefied and renewable natural gases as European countries try to cut imports from Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

Net income attributable to common shares stood at C$358 million ($281.18 million), or 36 Canadian cents per share, in the three months ended March 31, compared with a loss of C$1.1 billion, or C$1.1 per share, a year earlier.

($1 = 1.2732 Canadian dollars)