BP Canada was a Canadian petroleum company and subsidiary of British Petroleum that existed between 1955 and 1992. The name refers to a group of companies that engaged in various segments of the petroleum industry lifecycle. BP entered the Canadian market in October 1953, when it purchased a 23 percent stake in the Triad Oil Company. In 1955, BP formed a Canadian subsidiary, based in Montreal, called BP Canada Limited. The company began acquiring retail stations in Ontario and Quebec and in 1957 started construction on a refinery in Montreal. By the end of the 1950s BP Canada was a fully-integrated operation. In 1964, it acquired from Cities Service the Oakville Refinery, and then expanded its operations significantly in 1971 when it acquired Supertest Petroleum.
TC Energy Corporation is a major North American energy company, based in the TC Energy Tower building in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, that develops and operates energy infrastructure in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. The company operates three core businesses: Natural Gas Pipelines, Liquids Pipelines and Energy.
NOVA Chemicals Corporation is a Canadian petrochemical company that has been in operation since 1954. NOVA was formed as provincial crown corporation called the Alberta Gas Trunk Line Company Limited to manage Alberta's natural gas collection system. During the 1970s, the company diversified into petroleum exploration and production, manufacturing, and petrochemicals. In 1980 the AGTL was renamed NOVA, An Alberta Corporation. After a decade of financial struggles, in 1998 NOVA sold its petroleum and pipeline business to TransCanada Pipelines and continued as solely a petrochemicals operation. The gas collection system run by TransCanada is now called the NOVA Gas Transmission Line.
The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), with its head office in Calgary, Alberta, is a lobby group that represents the upstream Canadian oil and natural gas industry. CAPP's members produce "90% of Canada's natural gas and crude oil" and "are an important part of a national industry with revenues of about $100 billion-a-year ."
Sidney Robert "Bob" Blair was a Canadian oilman. During a career that spanned from 1951 to 1991, Blair played a major role in the development of the Alberta petroleum industry. In 1970 he was appointed president of the Alberta Gas Trunk Line Company Limited, a position he held until 1986. Over the course of his presidency, he transformed AGTL/NOVA from a provincial transmission utility into a diversified energy and chemicals giant. Blair was a vocal economic nationalist who spent much of his career working to develop Canadian-owned industry, often putting himself in conflict with Canada's foreign-owned majors. He is also remembered for leading the unsuccessful attempt to build the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline in the 1970s.
Petroleum production in Canada is a major industry which is important to the overall economy of North America. Canada has the third largest oil reserves in the world and is the world's fourth largest oil producer and fourth largest oil exporter. In 2019 it produced an average of 750,000 cubic metres per day (4.7 Mbbl/d) of crude oil and equivalent. Of that amount, 64% was upgraded from unconventional oil sands, and the remainder light crude oil, heavy crude oil and natural-gas condensate. Most of the Canadian petroleum production is exported, approximately 600,000 cubic metres per day (3.8 Mbbl/d) in 2019, with 98% of the exports going to the United States. Canada is by far the largest single source of oil imports to the United States, providing 43% of US crude oil imports in 2015.
Canada's natural gas liquids industry dates back to the discovery of wet natural gas at Turner Valley, Alberta in 1914. The gas was less important than the natural gasoline - "skunk gas" it was called, because of its distinctive odour - that early producers extracted from it. That natural gas liquid (NGL) could be poured directly into an automobile's fuel tank.
The Canadian petroleum industry arose in parallel with that of the United States. Because of Canada's unique geography, geology, resources and patterns of settlement, however, it developed in different ways. The evolution of the petroleum sector has been a key factor in the history of Canada, and helps illustrate how the country became quite distinct from her neighbour to the south.
The Honorable Richard D. "Rick" Orman is a businessman and former Canadian politician. Orman was born in Calgary, Alberta in 1948 as a fourth generation Albertan. He studied at the University of Calgary before graduating with honours from Eastern Washington University in 1971. Orman served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1986 to 1993. Since 1993, he has been active within the business community, both provincially and internationally.
Francis Murray Patrick McMahon was a Canadian oilman best known as the founder of Pacific Petroleums and the Westcoast Transmission Company. Time magazine called him "The man who did the most to open up northwest Canada's wilderness—and convince oilmen of its treasures."
William Brett Wilson is a Canadian investment banker, businessman, and investor. He was a season 3, 4 & 5 panellist on CBC Television's Dragons' Den. He has attracted widespread attention and media coverage for his controversial public statements, particularly on social media.
Although there are numerous oil companies operating in Canada, as of 2009, the majority of production, refining and marketing was done by fewer than 20 of them. According to the 2013 edition of Forbes Global 2000, canoils.com and any other list that emphasizes market capitalization and revenue when sizing up companies, as of March 31, 2014 these are the largest Canada-based oil and gas companies.
The Haskayne School of Business is the University of Calgary's business school, located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is named after Richard F. Haskayne, who gave one of the largest endowments to a business school in Canada. The school offers undergraduate, masters, and PhD degrees, as well as executive education programs. Haskayne is ranked as one of the top business schools in Canada and one of the top 100 in the world.
James S. Kinnear is a Canadian entrepreneur and philanthropist. Kinnear was born in Toronto, Ontario, and grew up in Montreal and Toronto.
Russell Keith Girling is a Canadian businessman. He served as the president and chief executive officer of TC Energy.
Hudson's Bay Oil and Gas Company Limited was a Canadian non-integrated petroleum company that operated between 1926 and 1982. Originally called the Hudson's Bay Marland Oil Company (HBMOC), it was founded as a joint venture between the Hudson's Bay Company and the Marland Oil Company with the purpose of producing oil on land where the HBC held mineral rights. In 1929 the Continental Oil Company (Conoco) purchased Marland Oil and reformed the HBMOC as the Hudson's Bay Oil and Gas Company (HBOG). By the 1960s HBOG had become the third largest oil producer in Canada. Between 1981 and 1982, Dome Petroleum, also based in Calgary, acquired HBOG for $4 billion in what was then the most expensive takeover in Canadian history. The purchase by Dome ultimately contributed to its own demise in 1988, at which time it was acquired by Amoco Canada.
Gulf Canada was a Canadian integrated petroleum company that existed between 1944 and 2001. Gulf Oil Corporation began operating in Canada in 1942, and two years later formed a Canadian subsidiary called the Canadian Gulf Oil Company. In 1956 Canadian Gulf Oil merged with the British American Oil Company and until 1969 operated under the British American name. In 1969, British American amalgamated with its subsidiaries into a new company called Gulf Oil Canada Limited.
Richard Pootmans is a Canadian politician who currently serves as the councillor for Ward 6 on the Calgary City Council. Pootmans initially served two terms from 2010 to 2017 before a one-term hiatus during which he co-founded a consultancy. He returned to council following the 2021 municipal election.
Pipelines in Canada are important components of energy infrastructure in Canada as the majority of natural gas and oil deposits are located in landlocked Alberta and need to be transported to ports or terminals to access larger markets.
Below is a brief timeline covering the history of the petroleum industry Alberta and its predecessor states.
