Calgary-based Encana announces further job cuts

Support for laid off workers Latest round of job losses at EnCana comes at a time when support groups for laid off Calgarians are emerging. Jamie Mauracher explains.

Calgary-based oil giant Encana is planning a 20 percent reduction in its workforce to make up for lost revenues.

The company is seeking $250M in cost savings for 2016, announcing the action in their fourth quarter update.

It also said that it suffered a net loss of about $612M.

Encana chief executive Doug Suttles said the company enters 2016 with a strong balance sheet, a high-quality portfolio of assets and improved efficiency that offset the impact of reduced capital spending and lower prices for its oil and gas.

"Under our new plan, we will invest virtually all of our capital in our core four assets and our cost structure will be about $550M lower than in 2015," Suttles said in a statement.

That $550M target includes between $200M and $250M of additional savings in Encana's cost structure beyond its previous guidance.

The new cost savings include $50M in overhead costs, mainly through the workforce reduction. Encana also expects to cut transportation and processing costs by between $75M and $125M and reduce other costs by $75M.

Encana cut hundreds of jobs last summer, and has reduced its workforce by 50 percent since 2013.

(With files from the Canadian Press)