Encana dumps Alberta gas assets

CALGARY, Alberta, June 27 (UPI) -- The largest natural gas producer in Canada, Encana Corp., said Friday it was selling off some of its gas interests in Alberta to a counterpart for $1.8 billion.

Encana said it was selling its Bighorn assets, comprised of 360,000 net acres of land, pipelines and associated infrastructure, to Jupiter Resources, a company with headquarters in Calgary.

"Bighorn is a high quality asset that has not been receiving significant investment in 2014," Encana President and CEO Doug Suttles said in a statement. "Going forward, it should serve as an excellent foundational asset for Jupiter Resources."

Encana said that, as of year-end 2013, its Bighorn assets had net proved reserves of 1.1 trillion cubic feet of oil equivalent, of which 75 percent is natural gas.

Jupiter Resources CEO Simon Bregazzi said in a statement Bighorn is one of the premier natural gas projects in the area and "has generated some of Canada's most prolific well results in recent years."

Encana in May said it will pay around $3.1 billion to acquire acreage at the center of the Eagle Ford shale basin in Texas.