At EnCana, key resource plays capture huge accumulations of hydrocarbons trapped in unconventional reservoirs. For natural gas this means they must be of the size to be able to ultimately recover greater than one trillion cubic feet of reserves and to grow to more than 200 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of long-life production.

Natural gas production from EnCana's key resource plays increased 14 percent in 2007 to 2.7 Bcf/d, up from 2.4 Bcf/d in 2006. The increase was led by strong results in the U.S., where total gas production was up 14 percent, with the strongest growth in East Texas at 44 percent, Fort Worth in Texas at 23 percent and Jonah in Wyoming at 20 percent. In the fourth quarter,the company also saw the benefit of incremental production gains from the Deep Bossier acquisition. In 2007, total gas production in Canada increased 2 percent. Growth was strong at Cutbank Ridge in northeast British Columbia at 38 percent, the company's coalbed methane (CBM) production in central and southern Alberta at 34 percent, and Bighorn in west central Alberta at 31 percent. Drilling successes in Canada were offset by natural declines at conventional properties.

Oil production from Foster Creek and Christina Lake was up 25 percent to 26,814 bbls/d. Overall, key resource play gas and oil production for the year was up 13 percent.

In April 2008, EnCana designated the Weyburn oil field in Saskatchewan, one of the largest oil fields in Canada, a key resource play. In addition to being a prolific oil field that has been producing for more than 50 years, Weyburn's enhanced oil recovery project is playing an important role in helping research underground storage of carbon dioxide (CO2).

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