EnCana To Sell Two Pipelines - Fund Raising For New Capital Intensive Investments

EnCana Corp., Canada's number two oil company, has said that it is planning to sell stakes in two Canadian oil pipelines that have a book value of about C$1.3 billion ($855 million) to raise money for the expansion of it’s exploration and production facilities.

The company is offering its 1,717-mile Express pipeline system, which connects to six US states, and also a seventy percent stake in the 297-mile Cold Lake network, spokesman Alan Boras said. The lines generated C$140 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in 2001, the company said.

EnCana, formed in April by PanCanadian Energy's $8.9 billion purchase of Alberta Energy, is one of North America's biggest gas producers. It recently made discoveries in the US Gulf of Mexico and the North Sea and purchased reserves in the US Rocky Mountains and properties in British Columbia.

“They have had success in exploration and have to spend money on development,” said Gord Currie, an analyst with Canaccord Capital Corp. “They've got three or four capital intensive projects, and the challenge is how to pay for all that development.”

©

&to=http://www.encana.com/' target=_blank>EnCana