The concept of a jigsaw puzzle to promote your 1993 Convention is an interesting one. Is there some symbolism to that empty slot next to Hibernia? Will one of those three people try to put their piece in there? Or do they intend to go out beyond the edges to the new frontiers?
Regardless, may I make the following comments on your dates?
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Lower Cretaceous gas and oil were discovered at Provost in 1946 by Imperial Oil. Subsequent drilling found gas. They sold out to Dome Pete.
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West Pembina was discovered in 1977 by Cal Standard. They arranged with NAIRB, a small independent run by Joe Johns, to drill the discovery well and thus camouflage the play.
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Hibernia was discovered in 1979. Unfortunately, 1981 was the year of the terrible Ocean Ranger disaster. We are still facing a disaster with the Federal Government putting up so much money for such an uneconomic project. Ask Ottawa how much money Margaret Thatcher threw at the explorers in the North Sea to encourage them to drill. They paid her.
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Turner Valley was a 1914 find in shallow Cretaceous beds yielding sweet, wet gas. The main strike was ten years later in the Mississippian mother lode faulted thrust sheet, Royalite No.4 (ref: Corridors of Time dust cover).
You left out Swan Hills, although there is little credit to be given Geophysics for that discovery.
Both Leduc and Redwater (correctly dated) are 100% geophysical successes. My upcoming book, REDWATER, will have insights into the land play and the geophysics that led to the drilling of Imperial’s discovery well. No, Shell walked away in late 1946 from their few Western Minerals sections - which they only held in option form. They had no Crown land.
Aubrey Kerr
Editor’s response
The Editors wish to thank Aubrey Kerr for drawing on his extensive knowledge of the history of the industry to provide us with the above information.
Barbara Young
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