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By Charles Lefebvre

Encana announces plans to move corporate structure to United States

Oct 31, 2019 | 10:10 AM

CALGARY, AB — A Calgary-based oil company announced plans to move its corporate structure to the United States.

Encana announced Thursday morning it will be setting up in the United States and re-branding the company as Ovintiv.

The move is expected to happen in early 2020, but still needs approval from shareholders, the courts and the stock exchange.

Alberta Energy Minister Sonya Savage released a statement Thursday morning, saying she was “troubled” by the news, but adds she is not surprised, saying the company had been focusing on the United States in recent years, “due to harmful policies in Canada.”

“Today’s news follows Encana’s earlier decision in November 2018 to move to a ‘headquarter-less model’ with a heavy shift to the U.S. It is no coincidence that today’s news is being announced after the federal election,” the statement reads.

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Savage’s statement says the company plans to maintain operations in Alberta, and the decision does not involve any lost jobs in the province.