The company also said it expects production from its core assets to be in the upper range, or exceed its previous forecast of 15-20 percent growth, between the fourth quarter of this year and the corresponding period last year.

Encana has downsized operations to focus on four core North American plays — the Montney and Duvernay in Western Canada, and the Eagle Ford and Permian in the United States.

The company said it expects its corporate margin to be above $10 per barrel of oil equivalent (boe) in 2017, higher than the $8 per boe it had forecast at its investor day in October.

Encana is scheduled to report its fourth-quarter results and 2017 budget on Feb 16.

(Reporting by Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)