Turner Valley Oilfield National Historic Site of Canada
Turner Valley, Alberta
Photo of plaque
© Parks Canada Agency / Agence Parcs Canada, 1999
Address :
Turner Valley, Alberta
Recognition Statute:
Historic Sites and Monuments Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. H-4)
Designation Date:
1990-11-16
Event, Person, Organization:
-
Royalite Oil Company
(Organization)
-
Calgary Petroleum Products Company
(Organization)
Other Name(s):
-
Turner Valley Oilfield
(Designation Name)
-
Turner Valley Oilfield
(Plaque name)
Research Report Number:
1961-035, 1995-014, 1995-064, 2006-CED-SDC-26
Plaque(s)
No plaque in place, recommended location: Turner Valley, Alberta
Turner Valley is Alberta's first great oilfield. Initially the field, which began production in 1914, yielded mainly natural gas. Local plants, which provided the only extensive gas-processing system in the province, extracted the marketable petroleum products. The discovery of deeper reserves in 1924 at Royalite No. 4 made Turner Valley the leading producer in Canada. In 1936, the crude-oil pool underlying the gas reserves was discovered and Turner Valley reached peak output. While production declined after 1942, the field continues to be a significant producer of oil and gas.