Energy giant splits

In a surprise Mother's Day announcement, EnCana Corp. on Sunday gave birth to two offspring companies, effectively calving off its integrated oilsands and natural gas divisions.

 
Even as cement trucks poured the foundations of EnCana's new headquarters in downtown Calgary, a block away CEO Randy Eresman was laying the groundwork for the split, which will take effect in 2009.
 
"We believe this is the right time," he said. "It's the logical next step in the evolution of EnCana."

The split will see the country's largest energy firm split into two of Canada's
 
20 largest corporations, both ranking among the six largest firms in the oilpatch.
 
Eresman said the unnamed gas company would be North America's second-largest nat-ural gas producer, while the integrated oil firm will benefit from interests in refineries in Illinois and Texas.