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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery added 55 cents to $49.74 on the New York Merc, while Brent for December added 50 cents to $51.77 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $14.00 to WTI ($35.74), unchanged. Natural gas for November added six cents to $3.03. The TSX energy index added 4.74 points to close at 205.08.

EnCana Corp. (ECA) added 52 cents to $14.42 on 11.2 million shares, after updating its 2016 guidance, releasing preliminary 2017 guidance and talking up its five-year ambitions at today's investor day in New York. The 2016 guidance update marks the third time this year that EnCana has tweaked its numbers. Originally, it expected to spend $1.5-billion (U.S.) to $1.7-billion (U.S.) in order to produce 340,000 to 370,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day. Over the months, it has pushed down the budget to a range of $1.1-billion (U.S.) to $1.2-billion (U.S.) while keeping the production guidance nearly intact, at 340,000 to 360,000 barrels a day. Neither the budget nor the production guidance changed today, but EnCana did lower its cost forecasts again, boasting of another $50-million (U.S.) in savings. Its upstream operating costs, for example, are now pegged at $3.95 (U.S.) to $4.10 (U.S.) a barrel, well below the original forecast for $4.70 (U.S.) to $5 (U.S.) a barrel. EnCana praised itself in this morning's press release for its "relentless focus on growing value" and its "culture of innovation and efficiency." President and chief executive officer Doug Suttles took up the cheer at the three-hour investor presentation, declaring, "We are now entering a phase of delivering value from the tremendous business we've created." The tremendous business, he explained, revolves around four core plays: the West Texas Permian, the Alberta/B.C. Montney, the Texas Eagle Ford and the Alberta Duvernay. These are contributing around three-quarters of total production. Over the next five years, said Mr. Suttles, production from the four core plays is expected to double, at which point it will make up 90 per cent of total production. Much of the increase will come from the Permian, where EnCana wants to boost production by three to four times over the next five years. It will also aim to boost its Montney liquids production by four to five times and to double its Montney gas production. Production from the Eagle Ford and the Duvernay is expected to stay relatively flat.

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