Crescent Point boosts 2017 capital budget to C$1.45 billion

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Canadian light oil and gas producer Crescent Point Energy Corp said on Wednesday it will increase its 2017 capital budget 31 percent from this year to C$1.45 billion ($1.10 billion) and boost production by 10 percent. The Calgary-based company, which has core operations in southwest Saskatchewan, the Williston Basin and the Uinta Basin in the United States, expects to finish 2017 producing 183,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Crescent Point previously set a preliminary 2017 budget of C$1.4 billion. The updated guidance is the latest sign of cautious optimism among Canadian oil and gas producers after more than 2-1/2 years of weak prices and aggressive cost cutting. "We've had a very successful 2016 operationally and are ahead of our budgeted December exit production of approximately 167,000 boepd," Scott Saxberg, Crescent Point's president and chief executive officer, said in a statement. The company plans to drill 670 wells next year and has allocated 51 percent of its budget to the Williston Basin, which spans the U.S.-Canada border and is Crescent Point's largest producing area. Twenty-five percent of capital expenditures are earmarked for southwest Saskatchewan, while 18 percent of the budget will be spent on the Uinta Basin in Utah. The remainder of the budget will cover infrastructure and seismic investments in its three core areas, Crescent Point said. ($1 = 1.3233 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by Nia Williams; Editing by Tom Brown)