Strong LPG export volumes helped contribute to second quarter 2026 financials that led AltaGas to raise its 2026 EBITDA and normalized EPS guidance by 4% and 6%, respectively on July 30 with its second quarter results press release. Capital expenditure guidance for the year increased by CAD$0.1 billion, to CAD$1.8 billion, owing to construction delays at the REEF LPG export terminal and the sanctioning of the NE BC Liquids Expansion project.
Operationally, the second quarter saw AltaGas’s LPG export volumes out of its Ferndale and RIPET terminals grow 13% year over year, to 144 Mb/d, driven by higher Asian demand due to Middle East supply disruptions. Midstream Gathering and Processing volumes were up 8% year-over-year, thanks to the start-up of the Pipestone II plant late last year.
The 56 Mb/d REEF LPG export terminal Phase I project’s anticipated start-up date has been delayed from late this year to March of 2027, and its cost estimate has increased 12% to about CAD$1.5 billion. Construction of the jetty (see image below) is taking longer thanks to delays caused by abnormally high ocean swells and marine mammal activity. The overall project is about 85% complete while the jetty is about 80% complete. Meanwhile the REEF Optimization I project, which would add 36 Mb/d of propane export capacity for CAD$110 million, remains on schedule for second half 2027 start-up. AltaGas and Vopak both own 50% of REEF.
Source: AltaGas
Tourmaline and AltaGas recently announced they have agreed to build the NEBC Liquids Expansion project. Tourmaline is already building a deep cut gas plant at Groundbirch-Monias that is expected to start up by mid-2028, and will now build an expandable 10 Mb/d LPGs rail terminal next to it, while AltaGas will add 6 Mb/d of fractionation capacity in BC at its Townsend plant.
The Dimsdale storage expansions remain on budget and on schedule (Phase I adds 6 Bcf by year-end, Phase II adds 30 Bcf by mid-2027), as does the Methanol Removal project at the RIPET LPG terminal (late 2026 start-up).
South of the border, construction of the MVP Southgate pipeline is underway, and is now expected complete by year-end 2026, versus mid-2028 previously, at a cost estimate of $370-$430 million vs. $370 million previously. AltaGas owns 5.1% of the project.
