EnCana Corp., North America’s largest independent, predicts that it will show 12% growth for 2003, and will achieve 10% compounded annual per-share growth — at a minimum — for several years to come.

In its day-long investor conference Wednesday, the Calgary-based producer announced that the board of directors has established a 2003 capital budget of C$5 billion for 2003. This week it also sold some oil pipelines as part of a strategy realignment to focus on its “highest growth, highest return” core assets. A final evaluation by independent engineers of its entire reserve base is expected to be completed by February, however, dispositions of non-core assets initiated in 2002 should exceed C$2.1 billion, the company said.

Regarding the oil pipeline sales, CEO Gwyn Morgan said that the sales of the Express and Cold Lake pipelines are expected to raise dispositions to more than C$2.1 billion, “well beyond the C$1 billion target” set earlier this year. “These pipeline sales mark another important milestone in further defining EnCana’s focus on exploration and production which is characterized by high working interests in large, long-life resource properties where our competitive advantages include industry leading growth, low production costs and high unit netbacks.”

Morgan said the company has a “diverse and attractive suite of domestic and international core exploration and production projects and strategic midstream initiatives. Identifiable internal growth opportunities from our high quality asset base provide us with a rich inventory of profitable projects to choose from.” He added that “investors can have a high degree of confidence in our multi-year minimum growth target of 10% per share because our potential growth rate from identifiable projects actually exceeds that figure”

Management’s confidence in its projections is based not only on the strength of its reserve base, but also on its resource potential. EnCana estimates that the resource potential on its existing onshore North America land base is approximately 10 Tcf and 800 million bbl. “Resource potential” is defined by EnCana as those quantities of oil and gas which are estimated to be potentially recoverable on EnCana’s existing land base from known accumulations and which are not currently classified as proved or probable reserves.

EnCana’s 2002 daily sales are forecast to grow by about 10% from 2001 pro forma sales, reaching between 2,715 MMcf/d and 2,785 MMcf/d and 245,000 bbl/d and 264,000 bbl/dl, for a total daily sales forecast of between 697,000 boe and 728,000 boe. In 2003, EnCana is forecasting daily sales of between 770,000 boe/d and 831,000 boe/d.

EnCana’s 2003 capital budget of C$5 billion is estimated to be allocated by C$3.5 billion onshore North America, conventional; C$500 million for offshore and international; C$500 million for offshore and new ventures exploration; and C$500 million for midstream and marketing.

“Our practice of independent evaluation of all our reserves gives me great confidence in the solid base upon which we are building this company,” said Morgan. “EnCana is one of just a few companies in the industry that has this thorough a level of external reserve verification.”

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