Enbridge Inc. still expects to complete and begin service by the end of the year on the contested $2.6 billion leg of the Canadian oil export pipeline now under construction across 240 miles in Minnesota, CEO Al Monaco said Wednesday.

Enbridge

“Work is on schedule” for Enbridge Line 3, Monaco said at a Scotiabank CAPP Energy Symposium held by the investment bank with the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. “We’re making sure we’re living up to the letter of the permits.”

Canadian exporters, led by the country’s top natural gas user, Alberta thermal oilsands production, are forecast to gain 370,000 b/d of capacity with the updated Enbridge system. The pipe construction replaces a 53-year-old system to enable higher operating pressure.

Other legs of the total $9...