nyse eca s & p tsx 60 component industry oil and gas predecessors pancanadian energy corporation and alberta energy company 1 founded april 4 2002 2002 04 04 headquarters calgary alberta canada key people doug suttles president and ceo clayton woitas chairman of the board products natural gas oil natural gas liquids revenue us 5.858 usd billion 2013 2 operating income us 1 048 2 net income us 236 000 000 2 total assets us 17.8 billion market capitalization 2014 10 3 number of employees 3500 subsidiaries encana oil and gas usa website www.encana.com encana corporation produces transports and markets natural gas oil and natural gas liquids ngls . it was formed in 2002 and descends from the 19th century canadian pacific railway and canadian pacific oil and gas in the 20th century respectively . all of encana s reserves and production are located in north america since other international assets were divested in the mid 2000s . the corporate headquarters are in calgary alberta . encana has onshore operations in alberta and northeast british columbia and a development off the coast of nova scotia . in the united states encana s subsidiary operates in colorado new mexico wyoming texas and louisiana . after incorporating in 2006 encana corporation formed two subsidiaries in 2009 with encana operating in unconventional natural gas and natural gas liquids exploration processing and transportation and an integrated oil company called cenovus energy . in october 2015 encana announced it would sell its colorado oil and gas assets for 900 million . 4 contents 1 canadian operations 2 us operations 3 production and profits 4 history 5 lawsuits 6 criticism 7 sustainability 8 references 9 external links canadian operations edit encana is canada s largest natural gas producer penty 2012 12 china institute 5 with a large land position in western canada of 7.0 million net acres of which about 3.2 million net acres are undeveloped . 6 encana s natural gas resource plays include bighorn in west central alberta coalbed methane cutbank ridge in northern british columbia peace river arch in northwest alberta clearwater in southern alberta including the emerging clearwater oil play and greater sierra in northeast british columbia . the duvernay in west central alberta is an emerging play . 7 the deep panuke project produces and processes natural gas from approximately 250 kilometers offshore southeast of halifax nova scotia since 2013 . 8 as of 31 december 2012 update bighorn is a 307 000 gross acres 266 000 net acres resource play in west central alberta with resthaven kakwa redrock and berland as primary properties . in 2012 encana drilled approximately 31 net wells and produced about 242 000 barrels per day of natural gas and approximately 5 800 barrels per day of oil and ngls . 7 cutbank ridge is in the canadian rocky mountain foothills southwest of dawson creek british columbia . as of 31 december 2012 update encana controlled about 467 000 gross undeveloped acres 240 000 net acres over the deep basin montney formation of which 85 000 net acres have been developed since 2006 near dawson creek . 7 at peace river arch in northwest alberta encana drills into the montney formation where it controls about 254 000 gross undeveloped acres 236 000 net acres . as of 31 december 2012 update about 26 net wells produced 108 000 barrels per day of natural gas and 2 900 barrels per day of oil and ngls after royalties . encana is a 60 % owner of the sexsmith plant which has a total capacity of 115 000 barrels per day after it sold compression and gathering lines in the sexsmith and pipestone areas to an unrelated third party . at the same time the gordondale sour gas deep cut plant started production with a processing capacity of 50 000 barrels per day and is expected to yield 1 700 thousand barrels per day after royalties . 7 us operations edit encana oil & gas usa inc. is the us subsidiary of encana corporation and headquartered in denver . it has interest in approximately 2.6 million net acres of land in the us of which 2.1 million net acres were undeveloped as of 2012 . 6 in december 2011 encana closed the sale of the majority of its north texas natural gas producing properties . 9 as of 2012 update key resource plays included the haynesville shale in southwestern arkansas northwest louisiana and east texas jonah field in wyoming wattenberg gas field in the denver julesburg basin abbreviated dj basin in northeast colorado extending into wyoming and nebraska and the piceance basin in colorado . 10 for oil interest encana amassed rights for the collingwood utica shale michigan between 2008 and 2010 mostly in cheboygan kalkaska michigan and missaukee counties . it also has oil interests in the san juan basin in new mexico and the tuscaloosa marine shale on the border between mississippi and louisiana . by 2013 encana usa was funding about 30 different plays . 11 production and profits edit at year end 2011 the company s average production was 3.3 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas and 24 000 barrels per day of oil and natural gas liquids . 2 it had more than 3500 employees per its april 2011 prospectus . 10 since 2012 the company s strategy has been to divest its low profit generating assets and focus on the lucrative core business of natural gas and liquids production . 12 on february 25 2015 encana cut 700 million from its 2015 budget after reporting an 85 percent drop in operating profits . 13 history edit when the canadian pacific railway was formed the government of sir john a. macdonald compensated it for assuming the risk of developing the railroad that bound canada from coast to coast with the subsurface rights for a checkerboard pattern of most of alberta and part of saskatchewan . 14 encana inherited these subsurface mineral rights . citation needed in 1883 the canadian pacific railway drilled for water near medicine hat ab and discovered natural gas . citation needed in 1958 canadian pacific created canadian pacific oil and gas to manage its oil and gas properties and its mineral rights . citation needed in 1971 canadian pacific oil and gas merged with central del rio oils resulting in pan canadian petroleum limited . citation needed in 2002 pancanadian petroleum ltd was spun out of canadian pacific limited . it subsequently merged with alberta energy corporation to form encana . 1 in april 2002 encana corporation launched operations with president and ceo gwyn morgan . 15 its initial goal was ... a big company that couldn t be taken over . 11 that resulted in the disposition of producing assets in ecuador and the north sea as well as exploratory assets in chad ghana brazil australia the mackenzie delta and the middle east . 16 in spring 2008 residents from pavillion wyoming approached the united states environmental protection agency about changes in water quality from their domestic wells . 17 in may 2008 encana announced to split into a gas and an oil company . 18 in 2009 the epa announced that it had found hydrocarbon contaminants in residents drinking water wells in pavilion wyoming . 17 in november 2009 encana split into a company focusing on north american natural gas production representing about two thirds of the company s production and its reserves that retained the name encana and an oil company named cenovus energy . 18 in 2011 the dow jones sustainability index included encana for the first time . 19 in november 2011 a potential buyer backed out of buying the pavilion gas field . 20 2011 net earnings slumped to 128 million from over one billion the year before . 2 in february 2012 mitsubishi paid approximately c 2.9 billion for a 40 percent interest in the cutbank ridge partnership with encana which involves 409 000 net acres of montney formation natural gas lands in northeast british columbia . 21 in december 2012 encana announced a us 2.1 billion joint venture with state owned beijing based petrochina 5 through which petrochina would have received a 49.9 percent stake in encana s duvernay formation acreage in alberta . this was in line with the rules that favor minority stakes over takeovers since prime minister stephen harper s december 7 2012 prohibition of purchases by state owned enterprises seeking to invest in canadian oil sands . 5 the deal later fell flat . at the end of 2012 encana s staff had increased to 4 169 employees . 11 during 2013 encana s cash flow decreased . the company cut dividends by more than two thirds and shares fell by more than 15 per cent . in november 2013 it announced a restructuring plan to lay off 20 per cent of its employees to close its office in plano texas to sell assets and to found a separate company for its mineral rights and royalty interests across southern alberta . 11 it planned to invest three quarters of its 2014 capital into five projects projects in the montney formation and the duvernay shale in alberta the san juan basin in new mexico louisiana s tuscaloosa marine shale and the denver julesburg basin dj basin in northeast colorado extending into wyoming and nebraska . 11 in september 2014 encana announced that it would acquire athlon energy inc for 7.1 billion . 22 in may 2014 jonah energy llc acquired encana s jonah field operations in sublette county wyoming from encana usa . lawsuits edit from 2008 through 2010 encana usa accumulated a large land position of 250 000 net acres at an average 150 acre in the collingwood utica shale gas play in michigan s middle ordovician collingwood formation . 23 better source needed in may 2012 encana had paid about 185 an acre for oil and gas rights on 2 156 acres 873 hectares at an auction by the michigan department of natural resources which was 88 percent less than the average paid two years ago in the area . 24 in july 2012 reuters reported about e mails between encana and chesapeake energy america s second largest natural gas producer to divide up michigan counties state land leases for an october 2010 auction to suppress land prices . 25 in 2013 a private landowner filed suit against encana and chesapeake for bid rigging . 26 justice department and michigan authorities were investigating whether state or federal laws were violated ; as of 2014 update the irs and sec are also still investigating . in 2013 two property owners adjacent to a drilling unit filed suit against the michigan department of environmental quality and encana oil & gas usa inc for potential harm due to proximity . in october 2013 the judge of the circuit court of ingham county issued an injunction against encana starting to drill until an administrative hearing before deq s supervisor of wells had been completed re part 12 of deq s rules for oil and gas operations . 27 in may 2014 the supervisor of wells found with encana that the petitioners did not have standing because they did not own land within the drilling unit and dismissed the case . 28 in november 2013 ecojustice the sierra club and the wilderness committee filed a lawsuit against encana corporation and the british columbia s oil and gas commission for excessive water use from lakes and rivers for its hydraulic fracturing for shale gas granted by repeated short term water permits a violation of the provincial water act . 29 criticism edit in northeastern british columbia five explosions targeted encana pipelines between october 2008 and january 2009 ; media reports indicate the pipeline may have been bombed by a disgruntled community member fearing the sour gas containing hydrogen sulfide which can be fatal if too much of it is inhaled poses