Partner Perspectives: Enbridge

The interns were grateful for the opportunity to meet with Brian Johnson, Chief Operating Officer of Enbridge, and Islam Elsayed, Senior Advisor for Government Affairs, to discuss our programme partner, Enbridge’s, extensive role in North America’s energy sector.

Over the course of our meeting with Brian and Islam, we received a comprehensive overview of Enbridge’s operations and its far-reaching impact. The discussion highlighted several striking facts about the company’s scale, including that it stores over half of North America’s oil, transports approximately three million barrels of oil per day, facilitates around 20 percent of natural gas movement across the continent, and serves roughly four million customers in Ontario.  

Our conversation also explored the future of energy demand, with a focus on the expectation that global energy consumption will significantly increase in the coming years. We discussed the factors behind this projected consumption increase, with advancements in artificial intelligence, the expansion of nuclear energy, and increasing industrialization in developing regions being notable. A key theme that emerged from the discussion was the idea that we are experiencing an “energy transformation” rather than a transition, emphasizing that energy systems are evolving and expanding rather than simply shifting from one source to another. 

Building on this, we engaged in a thoughtful discussion on a range of complex and timely issues, including Canada’s foreign investment strategy, approaches to balancing energy needs with climate change mitigation, and the challenges of maintaining supply amid rising oil prices and global conflict. Brian and Islam provided valuable perspectives on how Enbridge navigates these dynamics within an increasingly complex global landscape. 

Following our meeting, the OLIP interns had the opportunity to complete a site tour of Enbridge’s Technology Operations Centre (TOC). We spoke with Cliff Crawford, Hydrogen Specialist at Enbridge, and Amal Sabrie, Government Affairs Specialist, who generously hosted our tour of the facility and prefaced the various structures in the TOC. Namely, we ventured through North America’s first hydrogen‑powered combined heat and power (CHP) system, and discussed Enbridge’s work to reduce emissions and advance a more sustainable energy future.  

We greatly appreciated Cliff and Amal’s candid conversation regarding mapping pipelines and infrastructure across North America, and bridging energy futures on a cross-continental framework. There were many takeaways we had into both the policy and scientific spheres of this incredible site tour. 

We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to Brian, Islam, Cliff, and Amal for taking the time to meet with us and share their knowledge and experiences. We also thank Enbridge for their continued partnership with OLIP, and we look forward to continuing to learn from their work!