UPDATE 3-EnCana profit hit by lower gas prices, production

* Q3 operating EPS $1.03 vs $1.92 a year ago

* Revenue drops 64.2 pct to $3.88 bln

* Shares down 2.7 percent at C$59.06 on TSX (Recasts to add details, comments; changes dateline from Toronto; in U.S. dollars unless noted)

By Scott Haggett and Euan Rocha

CALGARY/TORONTO, Nov 12 (Reuters) - EnCana Corp (ECA.TO), said on Thursday its third-quarter profit fell 46 percent as Canada's biggest natural gas producer weathered lower prices and production levels, but said cutting costs and focusing on new shale plays will sustain profits even if prices stay low.

The company, which is poised to split into separate oil and natural gas businesses at the end of the month, said it expects to be profitable even if new reserve-rich shale-gas developments in the United States and Canada continue to boost supplies of the fuel.

"Natural gas is going to be in abundance for a very long period of time," Randy Eresman, EnCana's chief executive, said on a conference call. "EnCana is well positioned with a very low cost structure and exposure to significant development opportunities within many of the lowest-cost plays in North America."

EnCana's operating earnings for the three months ended Sept. 30 fell to $775 million, or $1.03 a share, from a year-ago profit of $1.44 billion, or $1.92 a share, lagging analysts' average profit estimate of $1.17 a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Most of Canada's oil and gas producers have reported sharp drops in third-quarter profit as commodity prices plunged from their year-before peaks.