Calgary-based Husky Energy said Wednesday it is looking at buying oil-producing properties from other companies in Western Canada.

Husky CEO Asim Ghosh's comments came after the company announced total production during the second quarter dropped to the equivalent of 283,900 barrels of oil per day compared with 317,000 barrels in the same 2009 period.

Husky Energy's office towers in Calgary. The company reduced its estimate of 2010 oil and gas production on Wednesday. (Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press)

"The company is extremely well-positioned for the long term, but we do have — and let's call a spade a spade — some issues around ... production," said Ghosh, who is less than two months into his new job.

The drop was due partly to lower output from the White Rose field and a slower-than-forecast ramp-up of production from the North Amethyst offshore project. Both projects are off the coast of Newfoundland.

The drop was also a result of the company's decision last year, during the recession, to save money by drilling fewer new wells.

"While we have emerged from the recession in a very strong financial position, we are seeing that impact on the current production levels," Ghosh told analysts on a conference call.

Husky said it expects its 2010 production will be between 285,000 and 295,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. That's a cut from an earlier estimate of 306,000 to 330,000 barrels.

Ghosh said Husky is looking to grow its "bread and butter" operations in Western Canadian heavy oil and is open to strategic acquisitions that would fit well with what it already has.

"You won't see us going off to Afghanistan or offshore India," he said.

Earlier Wednesday, Husky reported a second-quarter profit of $266 million, or 31 cents a share, down from a year-earlier $430 million, or 51 cents a share.

With files from The Canadian Press