Calgary & Southern Alberta

Introduction | Bison Economy | Kootisaw | Fort Calgary | Ranching | Agriculture
1895-1946 | 1947-1970 | 1971-1991 | Oil & Gas | Diversification | Ethnicity | Labour | Women

Early Oil Speculation: Courtesy of the Glenbow Collection

The discovery of oil and gas in Alberta transformed the province’s economic, political, and social structures. As oil expertise became centred 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.

Although people commonly associate Alberta’s oil and gas history with the discovery of oil at Leduc in 1947, the industry’s history began much earlier. In the early 1910s, William Stewart Herron, an Okotoks farmer, discovered gas at Turner Valley, southwest of Calgary. Two decades later, in the early 1930s, exploration uncovered oil beneath the field's gas wells. As a consequence of these developments, international oil companies began operating in Alberta. In 1923 and 1939, respectively, Imperial Oil and British American Oil built refineries in Calgary. The provincial government further contributed to Calgary’s development as a permanent administration centre for the oil and gas industry when it set up the Alberta Energy Conservation Board in 1938.

The original Dingman drillers, 1914: Courtesy of the Glenbow Collection

When oil was discovered south of Edmonton at Leduc in 1947, Calgary retained its position as a permanent administration centre for the industry. Numerous international oil companies began operating in Alberta and many established head offices in Calgary. Further exploration in the 1950s and 1960s resulted in a number of large discoveries. Pembina, located south of Edmonton, soon emerged as Canada’s largest oil field. In order to transport oil and gas to potential markets, oil and gas pipelines were required. These pipelines, which connected Alberta to the United States and the east and west coasts of Canada, became the "mega-projects" of the 1950s. They were as important to Calgary and southern Alberta’s development as the Canadian Pacific Railway had been in the early twentieth century.

Dingman Nos.1 and 2 by Roland Gissing
Courtesy of the Glenbow Collection

	The Turner Valley Oil Era: 1913-1946
	Post-Leduc Oil and Gas Exploration and Development
	Pipelines
	The Energy Crisis and Constitutional Debates Between Alberta and the Federal Government