The Discovery of the Oil and Gas Industry in

Alberta

Composed by: Jocelyn Manlongat

The discovery of oil and gas in Alberta transformed the

province’s economic, political, and social structures. As

oil expertise became centered in Calgary, the city became

a major destination for immigration from inside and

outside the province. Alberta’s resources made what had

been one of Canada’s poorest provinces into one of its

richest. As a consequence, the province demanded a

greater voice in the administration of the country

Early Discoveries

1788Peter Pond saw native in Ft. McMurray area using gummy bitumen to repair

canoes1848

Nova Scotia uses oil for light

1857First commercial oil well

drilled Oil Springs, Ontario. Depth: 20m

1880Imperial Oil Formed

1883Natural gas found in Medicine

Hat by CP Rail1902

Western Canada’s first well in Waterton Lakes, Alberta

1908Imperial Oil opens first

service station in Vancouver1909

Well at Bow Island produces natural gas

Growth of an Industry

1914Gas is discovered at Turner Valley;

Alberta’s first oil rush

1921Representatives of Imperial Oil -- the Canadian

subsidiary of American Standard Oil of New Jersey –

noted that the Turner Valley area did not produce enough oil to warrant calling it a proven field.

1917 Standard Oil of New Jersey acquired land

leases forfuture exploration in the province.

1920Turner Valley became known as "Hell’s Half

Acre." Suffering from a lack of markets for excess gas, companies in the field burned it

off in a giant coulee. It is estimated that companies wasted approximately 90

percent of the field’s gas in this manner

1921The American company

had leased 369,537 acres.

Between 1921 and 1924Standard Oil took over

the floundering Petroleum Products

Company.

1925 A pipeline was built to connect Turner Valley to

Calgary.

1928Seven years of intensive

research by Dr. Carl Clark, distinguished

scientist and one of the first Scientific and

Industrial Research Council of Alberta

(SIRCA) employees, on methods of separating

bitumen from oil sands, using laboratory

facilities and a small Edmonton pilot plant—

culminates in the application of a patent.

1930The provincial government began

to establish measures to reduce wastage in the field.

Research aimed at eliminating water and mineral matter from crude bitumen at northern pilot plant near Fort McMurray.

1931-32Alberta government initiates 5%

royalty tax Investigations aimed at further

improvement in bitumen recovery result in publication of the paper "Hot Water Separation of Bitumen from Alberta Bituminous Sands" by K.A. Clark and D.S. Pasternack, in Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, a chemical journal of worldwide circulation.

1934The company began drilling and struck oil in

1936. 1938

Alberta Government forms EUB to police production practices

1939,Seventy wells that produced an annual revenue

of $10 million. 1945

Oil found in Saskatchewan

The post World War II oil boom began on 13 February, 1947 Leduc, south of Edmonton.

The Leduc oilfield was a 200-million-barrel discovery and further exploration uncovered the existence of a large oil field in the area.

Post-Leduc Oil and Gas Exploration and Development

1940 and 1950 American and British oil companies entered

Alberta 1950

Significant gas reserves were also discovered near Calgary1951

Alberta raises Royalties to 16.5%

1953-1957Pipelines built across Canada

for US export1960

OPEC formed1973

The federal government also reacted quickly to the crisis by imposing a freeze on oil

prices. 1975

Canada was in a serious trade deficit position in the

oil industry.

1980Clark’s first budget promised a $4 increase per

barrel in oil prices in 1980.1981

Alberta cut the flow of oil to eastern Canada by five percent.

1982Despite the concessions that Lougheed received

from the federal government, complex factors caused Alberta’s oil boom to collapse.

The Expansion of Alberta’s Oil and Gas Economy

Year 

Wells Barrels(millions)

ExplorationExpenditure($ millions)

1947 502 6.3 25

1960 9,878 133.5 353

1972 14,168 522.2 870

Oil and Gas Industry by Well Count in the NADC Region

The number of wells producing oil and gas rose steadily from 1990 to 2002

indicating a strong industry capable of overcoming the swings in commodityprices on the international market.

November 28, 2007 Flames and smoke rise above Enbridge’s oil pipeline fire

that killed two workers near Enbridge Energy Partners terminal in Clearbrook, Minn. In April 2007, the same pipeline ruptured in Saskatchewan.

Enbridge has reported two other leaks in its Canadian lines since 2001

August 26, 2008The Alberta government projects an $8.5-billion

budget surplus for the fiscal year. The figure is $7 billion more than the surplus projected in the April budget, due to oil and gas revenues that exceeded expectations.

The government projects oil prices to average $119.25 a barrel over the fiscal year, up from the $78 a barrel projected in the budget.

November 18, 2008The announcement comes as oil prices have slid

below $55 a barrel, down from $147 a barrel in July.

2009Baytex Energy Trust

agreed to buy heavy-oil assets in southwest Saskatchewan and natural-gas properties in west-central Alberta for C$93 million.

The assets will produce the equivalent of about 3,000 barrels of oil a day over the rest of 2009, according to a Marketwire statement today.

http://www.nadc.gov.ab.ca/industry/NADC-Area/NADC%20Oil%20&%20Gas/Oil%20and%20Gas%20in%20the%20NADC%20area.pdf

http://www.abheritage.ca/abresources/history/oilsands_timeline_text.html http://www.google.ca/images?

hl=en&q=picture+of+Alberta+oil&sa=N&start=21&ndsp=21 http://images.google.ca/images?

hl=en&um=1&q=picture+of+alberta+oil+and+gas+in+water&sa=N&start=714&ndsp=21

http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/calgary/oil.html http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/calgary/turnervalley.html http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/calgary/pipelines.html http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/calgary/energycrisis.html http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/calgary/FRAME1947.html http://www.edukits.ca/petroleum/documents/webquest.pdf

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