Ovintiv
U.S. energy company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ovintiv Inc., based in Denver, is an American company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration. The company was previously known as Encana, which, in 2020, restructured from a company domiciled in Canada to a company domiciled in the United States. The company's operations are mainly in the Permian Basin in the United States and in the Montney Formation, where it has a partnership with Mitsubishi, in Canada.[1]
| |
| Formerly | Encana |
|---|---|
| Company type | Public company |
| ISIN | US69047Q1022 |
| Industry | Petroleum industry |
| Predecessors | Encana Corporation PanCanadian Energy Corporation Alberta Energy Company AEC West |
| Founded | April 2002 as Encana January 24, 2020 as Ovintiv |
| Headquarters | |
Key people | Peter Dea, Board Chair; Brendan McCracken, President & CEO; Corey Code, EVP & CFO |
| Products | Petroleum Natural gas Natural gas liquids |
Production output | 614.5 thousand barrels of oil equivalent (3,759,000 GJ) per day (2025) |
| Revenue |  US$8.908 billion (2025) |
| US$1.131 million (2025) | |
 US$1.242 million (2025) | |
| Total assets | US$20.390 billion (2025) |
| Total equity | US$11.195 billion (2025) |
Number of employees | 1,465 (2025) |
| Website | www |
| Footnotes / references [1] | |
The company is ranked 438th on the Fortune 500[2] and 1262nd on the Forbes Global 2000.[3]
As of December 31, 2025, the company had proved reserves of 2,325 million barrels of oil equivalent (1.422×1010 GJ), of which 19% was petroleum, 31% was natural gas liquids, and 50% was natural gas.[1]
History
As Encana (2002-2019)
In April 2002, Encana was formed by the merger of PanCanadian Petroleum with Alberta Energy Company.
In November 2009, the company completed the corporate spin-off of its oil business, Cenovus Energy.[4]
In December 2012, the company announced a US$2.1 billion joint venture with state-owned, Beijing-based PetroChina through which PetroChina received a 49.9% stake in Encana's Duvernay Formation acreage in Alberta.[5][6]
In 2013, the company moved its headquarters to The Bow in Calgary, a newly completed building which was the tallest building in Canada outside of Toronto.[7]
In May 2018, the company permanently ceased production at Deep Panuke. The Deep Panuke project produced and processed natural gas 250 kilometers offshore southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia.[8] The platform was sent for recycling in 2020.[9]
As Ovintiv (2020-present)
On January 24, 2020, after receiving shareholder approval, the company completed the transfer of its corporate domicile from Canada to the United States.[10][11] The shift came after the company's acquisition of Newfield Exploration, after which most of its production was in the United States, as opposed to Canada.
In June 2020, the company announced layoffs of 25% of its workforce.[12][13][14]
In February 2022, Ovintiv dissolved its subsidiary EWL Management Limited, which owned 5 decommissioned mines in Ontario, including three former uranium mines.[15][16]
Acquisitions and divestitures
| Date | Acquisition / Divestiture | Company | Price | Ref(s). |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 2004 | Divestiture | UK operations including a 43% stake in the Buzzard oil field sold to Nexen Energy | $2.1 billion | [17] |
| January 2007 | Divestiture | Assets in Chad sold to China National Petroleum Corporation | $202.5 million | [18][19] |
| May 2007 | Divestiture | Assets in the delta of the Mackenzie River | Undisclosed | [20] |
| December 2011 | Divestiture | Majority of natural gas producing assets in the Barnett Shale | Undisclosed | [21] |
| February 2012 | Divestiture | 40% interest in the Cutbank Ridge Partnership, which involves 409,000 net acres of Montney Formation; sold to Mitsubishi | C$2.9 billion | [22] |
| February 2012 | Divestiture | Midstream assets in the Cutbank Ridge; sold to Veresen | C$920 million | [23] |
| June 2014 | Divestiture | Bighorn assets in Alberta; sold to Jupiter Resources | US$1.8 billion | [24] |
| November 2014 | Acquisition | Athlon Energy | $7.1 billion | [25] |
| May 2014 | Divestiture | Jonah Field operations in Sublette County, Wyoming; sold to Jonah Energy LLC | Undisclosed | [26] |
| June 2014 | Acquisition | Assets in the Eagle Ford Group from Freeport-McMoRan | $3.1 billion | [27] |
| August 2015 | Divestiture | assets in the Haynesville Shale; sold to affiliates of GSO Capital Partners and GeoSouthern Energy | $850 million | [28] |
| July 2016 | Divestiture | Assets in the Denver Basin | $900 million | [29][30] |
| June 2017 | Divestiture | Assets in the Piceance Basin | $735 million | [31][32] |
| December 2018 | Divestiture | Assets in the San Juan Basin | $480 million | [33] |
| February 2019 | Acquisition | Newfield Exploration | $7.7 billion in stock and assumption of debt | [34][35] |
| June 2023 | Acquisition | Assets in the Permian Basin | $4.275 billion in cash and stock | [36] |
| January 2025 | Acquisition | Assets in the Montney Formation; acquired from Paramount Resources | $2.307 billion | [37] |
| January 2026 | Divestiture | Assets in the Uinta Basin | $2.0 billion | [38] |
| February 2026 | Acquisition | NuVista Energy | $2.7 billion | [39] |
| February 2026 | Divestiture | Assets in the Anadarko Basin | $3.0 billion | [40] |
Legal issues
Attempts to manipulate natural gas prices
In July 2003, the company agreed to pay $20 million to resolve allegations by the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission that a subsidiary of the company reported false natural gas trading information, including price and volume information, to certain reporting firms in an attempt to skew indexes for its financial benefit.[41]
Alleged collusion and bid rigging with Chesapeake Energy
From 2008 through 2010, the company accumulated 250,000 net acres in the Collingwood-Utica Shale gas play in the Middle Ordovician Collingwood formation of the Michigan Basin at an average cost of $150/acre.[42] In May 2012, the company paid about $185 an acre for oil and gas rights on 2,156 acres (873 hectares) at an auction by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, which was "88 percent less than the average paid two years ago in the area".[43]
E-mails between the company and Chesapeake Energy showed plans to divide up Michigan counties state land leases to suppress land prices in an October 2010 auction.[44] In 2013, a private landowner filed suit against the company and Chesapeake for bid rigging.[45]
While the case was dropped by the United States Department of Justice, the company was fined $5 million by the Michigan Attorney General, while Chesapeake paid $25 million into a victim-compensation fund.[46]
Environmental issues
Water pollution in Wyoming
In spring 2008, after complaints from residents in Pavillion, Wyoming, the United States Environmental Protection Agency found hydrocarbon contaminants in residents' drinking water wells near gas production wells owned by the company.[47]
2008–09 British Columbia pipeline bombings
Between October 2008 and January 2009, in Pouce Coupe, British Columbia five Encana pipelines were bombed, likely by a disgruntled community member with a grudge against the company.[48] Encana was fined CAD $250,000 under Canada's Environmental Emergency Act after a pipeline rupture near Pouce Coupe released a cloud of gas that contained hydrogen sulfide.[49]
Pipeline leak
In September 2017, a subsidiary of the company was fined $225,000 for a pipeline leak that contaminated water and soil on a big game hunting ranch near Parachute, Colorado.[50]
Violations of Clean Air Act
In September 2024, Ovintiv paid the United States and the state of Utah a civil penalty of $5.5 million and agreed to implement extensive compliance measures to achieve major reductions in pollutants emitted from 139 of its facilities in Utah to resolve allegations that it failed to comply with federal and state requirements to capture and control air emissions at 22 of its oil and gas production facilities in the Uintah Basin.[51]
Leadership
President
- Gwyn Morgan, 5 April 2002 – 31 December 2005
- Randall Kerry Eresman, 1 January 2006 – 11 January 2013
- Clayton Harvey Woitas (interim), 11 January 2013 – 11 June 2013
- Doug Suttles, 11 June 2013 – 10 September 2019
- Michael Gerard McAllister, 10 September 2019 – 24 January 2020
- Michael G. McAllister, January 24, 2020 – June 30, 2020
- Brendan M. McCracken, December 1, 2020 – current
Chairman of the Board
- David P. O'Brien, 5 April 2002 – 24 July 2013
- Clayton Harvey Woitas, 24 July 2013– 24 January 2020
- Clayton H. Woitas, January 24, 2020 – June 30, 2020
- Peter A. Dea, June 30, 2020 – current
In popular culture
Encana's hydraulic fracturing operations in the United States are portrayed in the 2010 documentary, Gasland, which alleges that hydraulic fracturing causes pollution of ground and surface water, air, and soil.[52]
