Encana Corp, Canada's largest natural-gas producer, said on Wednesday its quarterly operating profit jumped 87 percent due to higher production of oil and natural gas liquids.The company also said net earnings skyrocketed to $2.81 billion from $188 million and reiterated its planned acquisition of Athlon Energy Inc will close on Thursday.Encana agreed to purchase Athlon in September to gain access toW a premier oil position in the Permian Basin, Texas. The $5.93 billion deal put Encana on track to achieve 75 percent of operating cash flow from liquids in 2015.The company's operating profit, excluding most one-time items, rose roughly in line with expectations to $281 million, or 38 cents per share, in the quarter from $150 million, or 20 cents per share, a year earlier.
Athlon Energy Inc., is an independent exploration and production company. Shares of ATHL traded higher by 0.07% or $0.04/share to $58.45. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $26.97 and as high as $58.46. On average, 2781090 shares of ATHL exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 350278.
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