100 Years of Oil

Newspaper Name: Calgary Herald
Province: Alberta
Town(s) Served: Calgary, Canmore/Banff, southern Alberta
Published: 05/08/2014
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“Calgary goes oil crazy” the front page of the Calgary Herald declared following the May 14, 1914 discovery of oil at Turner Valley, south of the city. The same headline would not be out of place today, 100 years later, given how that historic find and the subsequent century of oilfield expansion, innovation and discovery in Alberta’s oilpatch continues to affect every aspect of life in the city. The submitted front page, marking the discovery of western Canada’s first commercial oilfield 100 years before, launched a three-part special report chronicling the Turner Valley find and how it forever changed Alberta’s economic fortunes. The three-part report was followed by a week-long series examining how oil –starting with the Dingman No. 1 well in Turner Valley - has shaped not only Alberta’s history and its future but everyday life in the province today.