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By Geoffrey Morgan and Tyler Dawson

CALGARY / EDMONTON – Described as a “tragedy” in a downtrodden industry, one of Canada’s oldest and largest energy companies Encana Corp. is dropping Canada from its name and moving to the United States to attract more investors.

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“Make no mistake, we have a long and proud history in Canada and our assets here are world-class,” Encana president and CEO Doug Suttles said on an investor call Thursday morning, where he announced what many in Calgary had long feared – the company’s headquarters was moving to the U.S. and the iconic company would be renamed Ovintiv Inc.

But industry observers see it as another symbolic blow to the Canadian oilpatch that’s been broadsided by low commodity prices, stringent regulations, transport constraints and opposition from climate activists over the past decade.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said the combination of federal laws around new pipeline development and rhetoric about phasing out the energy industry had created “an inhospitable environment” for companies like Encana and exacerbated the underperformance of the Canadian energy sector.