Alberta energy pioneers strike oil on this day in 1947
Posted Feb 13, 2012 8:09 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It was a discovery that changed the futures of an entire province and revolutionized Alberta after energy pioneers struck oil in Leduc.
Vern Hunter had drilled 133 times before without much luck and had already spent $23-million before trying an Edmonton area farm.
Crews set up shop and it took three months of drilling before they finally struck paydirt – black gold.
The find helped to revolutionize Alberta and changed it into one of the country’s largest economic engines.
Oil production quickly skyrockted from 21,000 barrels being produced nation-wide to 400,000 a decade later in Alberta alone.
Towns across the province like Devon, Drayton Valley and Swan Lake saw boosts in their population as Canadians began to move west.
Twenty years later after the discovery of Leduc One, dozens of oil-bearing Devonian reefs had popped up across the region.
Former Premier Peter Lougheed once said “My generation knows if we didn’t have Leduc and its consequences, we probably would be living elsewhere.”
The infamous rig that was used is now on permanent display as a National Historic Site of Canada inside Edmonton’s Gateway Park.
