Stettler


  
WWII and After
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Stettler was the centre of a thriving mixed farming district and a rapidly developing oil and gas field. There was a busy creamery, two egg grading stations and six grain elevators with a storage capacity of 215,000 bushels (7,576 cubic metres). 

On May 3, 1949, oil was discovered at the Gulf-Ellis No. 1 well, 6 miles (9.7 kilometres) southwest of the town. There was also the discovery of oil from the Cretaceous Sands by Casagama on land one mile north of Stettler. T.L. Brook and Associates found wet gas and some oil wells situated several miles south of Erskine and these wells supplied Stettler with gas.

Panoramic view of Stettler, Alberta. 1912  Glenbow ArchivesOn September 5, 1950, news broke that the Gulf Company had discovered a lucrative new field 4 miles (6.4 kilometres) southwest of Big Valley. There were 604 producing oil wells in the Stettler area. One of the largest gas fields in the province was discovered in the Stettler district. The Fenn/Big Valley field was capable of producing 974 barrels (112.6 cubic metres) of oil a day with virtually no water. Later, this field would produce 35,000 barrels (4047 cubic metres) a day for Gulf and account for 26 per cent of the company's total production of light oil. This would soon draw other companies like Esso and Shell.

The discovery of oil at Stettler was not made until two full years after Leduc and one year after Redwater at a time when almost every existing market had been close to depletion. As a result, development at Stettler was not great but the area did reap a small economic harvest. Oil batteries and pipelines became a familiar fixture on the Stettler landscape. Two gas absorption plants were also constructed.


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