Canadian oil and gas producer Husky Energy sees an increased opportunity for asset purchases, but will have a "high bar" for determining whether to buy, company Chief Executive Officer Rob Peabody said.

"Any action acquisition has to compete with what we consider our very strong organic investment portfolio," Peabody said on a conference call after the company reported a smaller loss for its second quarter.

Global producers have been bailing on Canadian resource investments due to higher development costs, limited pipeline capacity to get crude to market and concerns about high carbon emissions in the sector.

Assets are expected to be available cheaply as the pool of buyers dwindles, investors have said.

Husky is prioritising investments in its offshore business and its integrated operations, Peabody said.

Chief financial officer Jonathan McKenzie said: "What you won’t see us do is something that’s off strategy or outside of sort of the existing operating areas that we’re in."

Husky reported a net loss of C$93 million ($73.89 million), or 10 Canadian cents per share, in the second quarter ended June 30, compared with a loss of C$196 million, or 20 Canadian cents a share, a year earlier.

The Calgary, Alberta-based company’s smaller loss was helped partly by higher oil prices and an increase in production.

Oil prices began to rise late last year after a two-year slump, now hovering around $50 per barrel, as an Opec-led production cut and rebounding demand slowly erode a global glut.

The company’s second-quarter production rose to 320,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed).