EnCana boosts production, shows profit for quarter; natural gas flow rises 10%

Allen Baker, PNA contributing writer

EnCana Corp. posted net earnings of C$204 million for the third quarter. Comparisons with last year’s third quarter aren’t meaningful because that was before the merger of Alberta Energy Co. and PanCanadian Energy Co. that formed EnCana.

The new Calgary-based company showed a profit of C$494 million in the second quarter of this year. Third-quarter results were reduced by C$145 to reflect an unrealized foreign exchange loss on the company’s U.S. dollar debts.

EnCana boosted natural gas production in the third quarter to 2.8 billion cubic feet daily, up 10 percent from the combined output of Alberta Energy and PanCanadian a year earlier. But the average price for gas dropped 15 percent to C$3.56 per thousand cubic feet from C$4.19. EnCana now has 26 billion cubic feet of gas in storage and is poised to sell more than 3 billion cubic feet daily during the peak winter season.

Oil and natural gas liquids production rose 6 percent compared to the total for the two predecessor companies a year ago, to 270,225 barrels daily. EnCana got C$33.64 a barrel for its liquids, up 9 percent from the figure for the 2001 quarter.

Revenues for the quarter were C$2.88 billion, up from C$2.68 billion in the second quarter. Comparisons with the 2001 third quarter aren’t meaningful.