Gibson Energy
Photo by Garth Lenz.

Gibson Energy Inc. is one of the largest energy infrastructure companies in Canada, providing oil storage services for the oil sands and pipeline injection stations throughout Canada and the US. Until recently it has been one of the largest crude oil hauling companies in Western Canada.

Why the top 50?

While it is not a fossil fuel producer itself, Gibson plays a critical role in the oil and gas commodity chain of oil sands production, and its 2017 commitment to pivot its assets almost exclusively toward crude oil storage indicates that it intends to solidify its role in Canada’s oil sands, making it one of our Top 50 emitters.  

Key Stats

Head office: Calgary, Alberta

Countries of operation: Canada and the US

Assets: C$2.98 billion16

Revenue: C$6.1 billion 17

Employees: 55018

In Depth
Background

Gibson was originally a subsidiary of the British firm Hunting PLC, under the name Gibson Petroleum Marketing Company Ltd.1 Its early assets included oil transportation services by rail and truck, storage terminals and the construction of gathering pipeline systems. Around the 1990s, Gibson purchased James Propane and Canwest Propane, establishing a wholesale propane distribution and marketing business under the name of Canwest, which it then sold to Superior Plus Corp in 2017.2 The company changed to its shortened moniker, Gibson Energy, in 2002. Gibson is now owned by Riverstone Holdings, following its acquisition from Hunting PLC in 2008.3

Ownership

Shareholder Country Ownership
Share (%)
M&G Investment Management Ltd. GB 19.25
Prudential PLC GB 19.21
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce CA 4.55
QVGD Investors Inc. CA 2.67
Vanguard Group Inc. US 2.30
Bank of Montreal CA 2.01
Bank of Nova Scotia CA 1.99
BlackRock Inc. US 1.50
Norway NO 1.45
Toronto-Dominion Bank CA 1.36
Her Majesty the Queen in Right of the Province of Alberta CA 1.02

Includes all shareholdings of 1% and greater. Source: Orbis Database, October 2018.

Operations

Gibson’s main capital assets include storage terminals for crude oil and liquids located in Edmonton and Hardisty, Alberta. These terminals hold crude oil from the oil sands before it is shipped to market, primarily in the US. The Hardisty Terminal—described by Gibson as the “crown jewel” of its assets—is its largest project, which will have a 10 million barrel capacity for oil sands oil following expansion projects ongoing at the time of writing.4 Both storage terminals are flanked by major Canadian and international oil pipelines including Keystone, Bow River South, and Enbridge’s Express and Lines 2, 3, 4 and 67.5

Gibson also manages processing facilities in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, and Alberta’s Peace River Country that produce petroleum-based products such as asphalt, well site fluids and drilling mud.6 Gibson’s transportation assets ship crude oil and oil products throughout North America by truck, rail and connection pipeline—although it plans to divest these assets in the near term (see “Strategy”). It also operates 60 crude oil “pipeline injection sites” in Texas, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, New Mexico and Louisiana.7 Its two rail loading and unloading stations are located in Hardisty, Alberta.

Strategy

Gibson announced in early 2018 that it had embarked on a “dramatic transformation of the business,” moving away from its trucking assets and into an increased emphasis on oil sands infrastructure in Canada, with plans to sell $375 million of its trucking assets.8 “We will be an oil infrastructure business,” said Gibson’s CEO Steve Spaulding, in reference to the shift. “We’re going to build in and around our core terminals in Canada, and develop a basin infrastructure strategy. The assets that don’t fit will be sold.”9

Prior to the statement, Gibson had already significantly divested its industrial propane business, US Environmental Services sector and natural gas liquids wholesale business, along with a number of its US pipeline injection sites. Through this large-scale divestment of its transportation and US assets, Gibson plans to continue to ramp up the expansion of its oil storage terminals at Hardisty and Edmonton, projecting that this segment will represent three-quarters of its business by 2019.10 The Hardisty terminal can hold 10 million barrels, with a growth capacity of 5 million more.11

Gibson claims that its decision to radically reposition itself in the North American energy market is a response to increased demand from oil producers in the wake of new oil sands projects such as the Teck, Total E&P Canada and Suncor Fort Hills joint venture.12 Gibson suggests that it will align with oil sands growth by adding up to two new holding tanks every year to its Hardisty and Edmonton terminals.13

In its US assets, Gibson has suggested that it will focus on the Permian and SCOOP/STACK pipeline injection sites, with a secondary focus on gathering pipelines. 15

Unlike many major oil companies investing in tech-based strategies to address climate change, Gibson does not have a publicly stated climate strategy, nor does it report on impacts the changing climate may have on its operations.

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Learn more about Gibson Energy at LittleSis.org

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  1. “1950s to 1960s – The Early Years,” Gibson Energy, accessed April 15th, 2019, https://www.gibsonenergy.com/about-us/history/1950s-and-1960s/.
  2. Canadian Press, “Superior Plus to Buy Canwest Propane from Gibson Energy for $412-Million,” Globe and Mail, February 13, 2017, https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/superior-plus-to-buy-canwest-propane-from-gibson-energy-for-412-million/article33996052/.
  3. “1990s to 2010 – Expansion,” Gibson Energy, accessed April 15th, 2019, https://www.gibsonenergy.com/about-us/history/1990s-and-2010s/.
  4. Deborah Jaremko, “Gibson Adding 1.1 Million Barrels of New Oilsands Storage at Hardisty Terminal,” JWN, September 12, 2017, http://www.jwnenergy.com/article/2017/9/gibson-adding-11-million-barrels-new-oilsands-storage-hardisty-terminal/.
  5. “Gibson Continues Expansion at Hardisty,” Oil Sands Magazine, September 12, 2017, http://www.oilsandsmagazine.com/news/2017/9/12/gibson-continues-expansion-at-hardisty.
  6. “Processing Facilities,” Gibson Energy, accessed April 9, 2018, https://gibsonenergy.com/our-operations/storage-facilities/processing-facilities/.
  7. “Pipeline Injection Stations,” Gibson Energy, accessed April 15th, 2019, https://www.gibsonenergy.com/our-operations/transportation-services/pipeline-injection-stations/.
  8. “Gibson Energy Aiming to Sell up to $375M in Non-Core Assets,” BNN Bloomberg, January 30, 2018, https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/commodities/video/gibson-energy-aiming-to-sell-up-to-375m-in-none-core-assets~1314869.
  9. Brian Zinchuk, “Gibson to Sell Off Trucking, Focus on Tanks and Infrastructure,” Pipeline News, January 31, 2018, http://www.pipelinenews.ca/news/local-news/gibson-to-sell-off-trucking-focus-on-tanks-and-infrastructure-1.23159775.
  10. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Steve Spaulding et al., Gibson Energy 2018 Investor Day (presentations), January 30, 2018, https://www.gibsonenergy.com/getattachment/cdfb505e-b76c-4f5e-ae77-5268b7365266/Investor-Day-Presentation.
  11. Spaulding, Gibson Energy 2018 Investor Day.
  12. Geoffrey Morgan, “Gibson Energy Inc Plans to Expand Oil Storage Capacity as Demand in Alberta Soars,” Financial Post, April 14, 2015, http://business.financialpost.com/commodities/energy/gibson-energy-plans-to-expand-oil-storage-capacity-as-demand-in-alberta-soars.
  13. “Gibson Energy Aiming to Sell,” BNN Bloomberg.
  14. Gibson also plans to expand its pipeline operations in order to provide connections between its terminals—the 120 km Viking Pipeline, for example, will transport oil from regional producers in the Viking Basin at a rate of 13,300 barrels per day, with the potential to expand to 25,000 bpd. The pipeline is projected to come online in 2019.14“Gibson Energy to Proceed with Viking Pipeline Project,” Pipeline & Gas Journal, February 21, 2018, https://pgjonline.com/news/2018/02/gibson-energy-to-proceed-with-viking-pipeline-project.
  15. Gibson Energy, “Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements, June 30, 2018 and 2017,” https://www.gibsonenergy.com/getattachment/d6fadbba-bade-4904-b543-cc6aeabd650f/2018.
  16. Gibson Energy, Annual Report 2017, https://www.gibsonenergy.com/getattachment/11cae0b6-a8f7-41c9-9aaa-844c53dd20ff/2017.
  17. “Company Overview of Gibson Energy Inc.,” Bloomberg, accessed April 15th, 2019, https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=4282491.