Useful general histories of the oil and gas industry are: Eric J. Hanson, Dynamic Decade: The Evolution and Effects of the Oil Industry in Alberta (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1958); Earle Gray, Impact of Oil: The Development of Canada's Oil Resources (Toronto: Ryerson Press, Maclean-Hunter, 1969); Earle Gray, The Great Canadian Oil Patch (Toronto: Maclean-Hunter 1970); Ed Gould, Oil: The History of Canada's Oil and Gas Industry (Saanichton, B.C.: Hancock House, 1976); and George de Mille, Oil in Canada West: The Early Years (Calgary: Northwest Printing, 1969).
Limited to more specific aspects of the industry are: J. Joseph Fitzgerald, Black Gold with Grit (Sidney, B.C.: Gray's Publishing, 1978) and Larry Pratt, The Tar Sands: Syncrude and the Politics of Oil (Edmonton: Hurtig, 1976) on the tar sands; William Kilbourn, Pipeline: TransCanada and the Great Debate, a History of Business and Politics (Toronto: Clarke, Irwin, 1970) on the 1950s controversy about transporting natural gas from Alberta to QuΘbec; Earle Gray, Wildcatters: The Story of Pacific Petroleums and Westcoast Transmissions (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1982) on Canada's first major natural gas pipeline; and James D. Hilborn, ed., Dusters and Gushers: The Canadian Oil and Gas Industry (Toronto: Pitt Publishing, 1968) on petrochemicals.
The Alberta government has published its own histories of the industry. They are: Floyd K. Beach and J.l. Irwin, The History of Alberta Oil (Edmonton: Department of Mines, 1940); Oil and Gas Exploration and Development in Alberta, 1883-1960 (Edmonton: Department of Mines, 1960); Alberta Oil Sands: Facts and Figures (Edmonton: Department of Mines and Minerals, 1974); Alberta Oil and Gas Picture, 1947-73 (Edmonton: Department of Mines and Minerals, 1974); and Oil Sands and Heavy Oils of Alberta (Edmonton: Alberta Energy and Natural Resources, 1982). Our Petroleum Challenge: The New Era (Calgary: The Petroleum Resources Communication Foundation, 1979) provides an overview of the industry's history and activities to 1978.
The Canadian Geographic Journal and the Journal of Canadian Studies contain articles of general interest, and detailed information can be found in Imperial Oil Review, Oilweek, The Western Oil Examiner, Canadian Mining Journal Canadian Oil and Gas Industries, Institute of Petroleum Technologists, Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and other trade and professional journals.
Some audio-visual aids are available to illustrate particular aspects of the oil industry's development. A National Film Board of Canada multimedia kit entitled The Energy Crisis (709C 0174 001 contains the filmstrips "The Oil Industry in Canada" (205C 0173 026) and "The Alberta Oil Sands" (505C 0374038). The Film Board also distributes two excellent short films produced by Imperial Oil Limited: "A Mile Below the Wheat" (106C 0149 015) on the Leduc story, and "Decision to Drill" (106C 0162 013) on oil exploration geology in Alberta.
The federal Department of Energy, Mines and Resources will supply the free publication Petroleum in Canada (M22-63/1979) and, at a nominal cost, a Canada Energy wall map from the National Atlas (MCR 4002).
Oil companies can be contacted for information on their corporate histories and current energy activities. Syncrude, for example, supplies information on tar sands through their Public Affairs Department (14th Floor, 10030 107th Street, Edmonton, Alta., T5J 3E5). Special anniversary issues, such as Half a Century of Progress, 1912-1962 by Canadian Western Natural Gas in Calgary, often organize relevant information into a convenient format. Annual energy maps are produced by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and the Bank of MontrΘal and are distributed free of charge.
Canada's Visual History volumes that can be used in conjunction with this volume are: Volume 21, The British Columbia Mining Frontier: 1880-1920; Volume 25, Canada's Northern Frontier: 1880-1926; Volume 47, Calgary: Police Post to Oil Capital; and Volume 56, The Early Oil Industry.
