Encana Shugs off Prices, Ups 2015 CapEx

Canada's Encana Corp said it would boost capital spending in 2015 to focus on its more-profitable shale oil fields, bucking an industry-wide move to cut spending as oil prices tumble.

The company said it would spend between $2.7 billion and $2.9 billion in 2015, up from the $2.5 billion and $2.6 billion it had estimated for this year.

Encana, which is boosting oil and natural gas liquids production under Chief Executive Doug Suttles, said it would spend 80 percent of its budget on four shale fields - Montney in British Columbia, Duvernay in Alberta and Eagle Ford and Permian in Texas.

The company, which has exited 11 fields since 2013, is shifting focus to these fields due to lower costs of production.

Encana said it expects oil and liquids production to generate 75 percent of it cash flow in 2015.

The price of international benchmark Brent crude has nearly halved since touching a year-high of $115 in June due to slow global economic growth and large supplies of crude coming to the market from U.S. shale fields.

Up to Monday's close, Encana's shares had fallen about 30 percent to C$13.53 on the Toronto Stock Exchange this year. The company's U.S.-listed shares have fallen nearly 36 percent on the New York Stock Exchange in the same period.

Reporting by Ashutosh Pandey and Narottam Medhora