QGEP Seeks Stronger Brazil Presence, Guardado Says

Global oil majors from Exxon Mobil Corp. to Chevron Corp. are about to get the clearest indication yet of how far Mexican lawmakers will go to lure them into the largest unexplored crude area after the Arctic Circle.

Encana Corp, Canada’s largest natural gas producer, said it would boost liquids production by 30% in 2014 as part of new Chief Executive Doug Suttles’ plan to focus spending on regions rich in gas liquids and oil. The company will focus three-quarters of its planned 2014 capital spending of $2.4-billion to $2.5-billion on five shale regions in western Canada and the U.S. south and southwest.

As industry and governments keep up the push to open new markets for Western Canadian natural gas, Devon Energy Corp. is throwing in the towel on the depressed Canadian business, providing a reminder that the road to a liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry from the West Coast remains long and uncertain. The top American oil and gas independent, once a big believer in gas in Canada, has grown impatient with years of low prices and is putting on the block most of its Canadian gas production.