Delineation

Encana Corp. is hunkering down with a reduced spending plan for 2012 in dry natural gas plays and shifting more investments to liquids and oil-prone unconventionals in North America, CEO Randy Eresman said Wednesday.

Devon Energy Corp. has a long “to-do” list of exploration activities planned in North America this year — in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, onshore in its core U.S. holdings and in emerging Canadian oilsands projects. The plans take into account rising service and labor costs, but “we’d have to see a fairly large reduction in prices” before pulling back on any planned exploration, President John Richels said. “We’re taking the longer-term view, and we’re very confident that we’ll see higher prices this year on the gas and oil side.”