Enbridge Inc., Canada’s largest pipeline company, reported third-quarter earnings doubled and raised its profit forecast on signs of stronger demand for shipments from the Alberta oil sands.

Net income rose to C$303.8 million ($286.2 million), or 83 cents a share, from C$148.4 million, or 41 cents, a year earlier, Calgary-based Enbridge said today in a statement. Enbridge said 2009 profit is expected to be C$2.30 to C$2.36 a share, compared with a previous estimate of C$2.18 to C$2.32.

“We’re encouraged by increasing signs of renewed activity in the oil sands as commodity prices recover,” Chief Executive Officer Patrick Daniel said in the statement. “We see significant growth opportunities in the oil sands both in regional pipeline infrastructure and in extending access to new markets.”

Enbridge is in talks with producers to ship more crude from Alberta’s oil sands as it expects new projects out of the world’s second-biggest crude reserves after Saudi Arabia’s. The company plans to use existing pipelines which have enough capacity to take on extra volumes from producers such as EnCana Corp. and Suncor Energy Inc., Senior Vice President Guy Jarvis said in a presentation in Toronto on Oct. 6.

Enbridge shares rose 63 cents, or 1.5 percent, to C$42.58 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

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