Enbridge keeps earnings growth target after deal

CALGARY, Alberta, July 20 (Reuters) - Enbridge Inc (ENB.TO) expects to maintain a target of at least 10 percent earnings growth after boosting funding for the Alberta Clipper oil pipeline to the United States from Canada, an executive said on Monday.

The additional investment in the C$3.6 billion ($3.2 billion) project will mean more earnings per share than without the pipeline, but that will be offset by a smaller contribution from Enbridge's 27 percent stake in Enbridge Energy Partners (EEP.N), Chief Financial Officer Richard Bird said in a conference call.

"So the net result reinforces our 10 percent-plus average growth rate through 2012," Bird said.

The company now sees the bulk of its spending for a pipeline to serve Petro-Canada's PCA.TO Fort Hills oil sands project past that year, and with its securing of a deal for Imperial Oil Ltd's (IMO.TO) Kearl oil sands project, "the growth trajectory post-2012 is continuing to firm up," he said.

($1=$1.11 Canadian) (Reporting by Jeffrey Jones; editing by Rob Wilson)