The
beginning of Canada's petroleum story occurs in
Ontario where the Geological Survey of Canada, the
nation's first scientific agency, made discoveries
of oil seepages on the "gum beds" of Eniskillen
Township in 1850. One year later Charles N. Tripp,
looking to make his riches, seized the information
and registered the first oil company in the world.
Although the world's first failure quickly followed,
James Miller Williams intervened by buying the
company and proceeded to dig deeper then ever
before. Known as a man of great ambition, Williams
found his "black gold," and is often credited with
revolutionizing the industry. Since the 1850s when
commercial exploitation of petroleum first occurred,
the lure of "black gold" and the untold riches of
discovery have pushed Canadian pioneers to gamble
big. Gambles, won or lost, mark much of Canada's
early ventures when technology was limited and
resources undiscovered.
New Caption for picture of old
train: In 1881, the Government of Canada
commissioned the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) to build a railroad connecting
the country from east to west. CPR received 25
million acres of land as payment, some came with
mineral and surface rights.
Over in Alberta, three major
discoveries changed the province from a
predominantly agrarian society to one of the world's
most important petroleum producers. In 1908, the
discovery well Old Glory ushered in the first of
many important natural gas and oil ventures. Turner
Valley entered the national conscious with the
success of Dingman Well in 1914 and thirty-three
years later, the world paid notice with Imperial
Oil's landmark discovery at Leduc #1.
In the rest of the country, oil
reserves have been known since the first half of the
20th century. At the time of discoveries, few people
dared to venture in Canada's Arctic, Atlantic, or
Interior British Columbia. Two adventurous souls,
Charles Link and his trusty ox Old Nig, endured a
torturous trek through Canada's Far North to drill
along the Mackenzie River. For Nig the journey was a
test of endurance, as he traveled by train, river,
and foot across vast stretches of "giant" mosquitoes
and wilderness. Once there, Nig proved his worth by
hauling a derrick, boilers, engines and a sizable
amount of wood uphill, often in below freezing
temperatures. He also proved to be some of the best
steaks produced.
Throughout this site each of
these stories are explored not only for their
importance in this country, but also the world. The
history of the oil and gas industry in Canada is
classified by the region in which it was discovered,
and in so doing, the reader is made aware of how the
history and geography are intrinsically linked in
this country.
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The Birth of the Oil Industry
Before Canada entered Confederation, it had an oil industry. In this excerpt from the JuneWarren publication, The Great Canadian Oil Patch: The Petroleum Era from Birth to Peak, author Earle Gray traces the origins of the oil industry in Canada from its humble beginnings in the Province of Canada West in the 1850s. Read more… |
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