08:34 AM EST, 11/08/2024 (MT Newswires) -- NuVista Energy ( NUVSF ) on Friday said its third-quarter profit fell by nearly half on weaker natural-gas prices as it plans to cut capital spending next year amid depressed prices.

The Western Canadian petroleum producer said its profit in the quarter fell 46% to $59.8 million, or $0.29 per share, from $110.3 million, or $0.50 per share, in the year-prior period.

Revenue fell 16% to $301.4 million from $360.4 million even as production rose 3.9% to 83,475 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd). The average price for gas fell 43% to $1.92 per thousand cubic feet.

The company said it is looking to secure higher pricing for its gas, agreeing to supply Trafigura with 21,000 million British thermal units per day of gas to be liquefied and sold to Asian markets beginning in 2027.

NuVista expects fourth-quarter production of around 90,000 boepd and said it expects 2025 output to remain at that level in 2025 as its cuts expected capital spending next year to $450 million from $500 million this year.

"With commodity prices retreating from the highs of 2022, we have taken this as a market signal to moderate capital spending and production growth in order to increase the priority of at least triple-digit return of cash to shareholders via share buybacks," the company said in a statement.

The company's shares closed down $0.04 to $11.70 Thursday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.