The upheaval in financial and commodity markets has led EnCana, one of North America’s biggest independent energy producers, to postpone plans to split into two publicly traded companies, one focused on natural gas and the other on the Alberta oilsands.

The slide in the oil price has cast a shadow over the bitumen-like oilsands, where companies have announced projects, including expansion of existing ones, totalling more than C$100bn ($85bn).