Oil storage firm Gibson Energy sells trucking assets to grow terminal core

CALGARY, A.B. – Gibson Energy Inc. says the sale of its trucking arm means it has completed all of the non-core asset sales it targeted a year ago as part of a strategy to focus on its Alberta oil storage and handling assets.

The Calgary-based company, which helps send one in four barrels of crude exported from Western Canada through its Hardisty terminal in central Alberta, says it will pocket about $100 million from the sale, bringing its divestiture proceeds to about $325 million since early 2018.

It says Trimac Transportation has agreed to pay about $70 million for the trucking assets and a Trimac affiliate is to pay $30 million for property in Edmonton containing a field office and shop, with the deals expected to close later this year.

Gibson previously announced the sales of its environmental services and wholesale propane businesses for about $225 million.

The company reported 2018 net income of $151 million on revenue of $6.8 billion, up from $44 million on $5.7 billion in 2017, as it invested $302 million to build new storage tanks in Edmonton and Hardisty and a pipeline in the U.S.

It plans to spend $200 million to $250 million on capital projects this year.