China's Sinopec invests in Enbridge pipeline

Shares in Calgary-based Enbridge rose Friday, a day after it disclosed that state-owned Sinopec, China’s largest oil refiner, is investing in its proposed $5.5-billion Northern Gateway pipeline project.

Enbridge stock closed up 42 cents, or 0.8 per cent, to $55.55 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The 1,170-kilometre pipeline would carry as much as 525,000 barrels of oilsands crude a day from a site near Edmonton through the Rockies to a proposed terminal at Kitimat, B.C., where it could be loaded on tankers bound for the U.S. and Asia.

First Nations and environmental groups oppose the project, saying it poses a risk of an oil spill either along the route or from tanker traffic along the Pacific coast.

Regulatory approval is up to a panel jointly made up of the National Energy Board and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, which is reviewing the proposal.