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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery added 14 cents to $43.44 on the New York Merc, while Brent for November added 30 cents to $46.21 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $14.45 to WTI ($28.99), up from a discount of $14.55. Natural gas for October added 13 cents to $3.07. The TSX energy index lost 1.93 points to close at 186.32.

EnCana Corp. (ECA) lost 99 cents to $12.04 on 21.2 million shares, after arranging a $1-billion (U.S.) public offering of 107 million shares at $9.35 (U.S.), or about $12.35 at current exchange rates. About half of the proceeds will go toward the 2017 spending program and half will be used for more debt reduction. EnCana has already reduced its net debt by about $2-billion (U.S.) since year-end 2014, thanks to asset sales and a $1.44-billion bought deal completed last year, but net debt was still nearly $5.4-billion as of mid-2016. This has not stopped EnCana from pursuing ambitious production plans centring on its four core plays: the West Texas Permian, the Texas Eagle Ford, the Alberta Duvernay and the Alberta/B.C. Montney. These produced 268,300 barrels of oil equivalent a day in the second quarter, out of total production of 368,300 barrels a day. EnCana's president and chief executive officer, Doug Suttles, told a Barclays conference in New York earlier this month that EnCana is aiming to boost total production by 60 per cent over the next five years, with production from the four core plays roughly doubling. He did not provide yearly production or budget numbers, but promised to have more details at an investor day next month. In any event, EnCana clearly figures that selling $1-billion (U.S.) in shares will put it on the right path.

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