Canadian energy earnings hint at brighter outlook for oil

By Nia Williams and Amrutha Gayathri CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - The Canadian oil and gas earnings season kicked off on Thursday with signs of an industry recovery as Encana Corp and Precision Drilling Corp outlined plans to boost activity. Calgary-based Encana reported an unexpected quarterly operating profit and said it would boost 2016 capital spending by $200 million from a previously announced range of $900 million to $1 billion. It also plans to increase production by about 13,000 barrels