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Last change July 23, 2020

Ongoing Oral History Project | Phase III - Oil Sands Oral History Project 117 interviews |
Phase II - CSEG/ CSPG Hall of Fame - 84 interviews | Phase I - 223 interviews

(Use Browser command "Edit > Find on this Page" to search for a name.)

Ongoing Oral History Project - 2013+

1 interview - Smiley Raborn - by David Finch, Interviewer. Funded thanks to a Community Spirit Grant.
Available in the Glenbow Western Research Centre at the University of Calgary. Contact Doug Cass, Past Chief Archivist at the Glenbow Archives

Phase III - Oil Sands Oral History Project, 117 interviews, 2011 - 2013

"an extraordinary treasure trove" - Chris Turner, author

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Heavy machinery used at Athabasca Oilsands, 1967
Credit: Glenbow Archives (with permission)
Bucketwheel at Great Canadian Oilsands, 1967
Credit: Robert McClements Jr.

Bitumount

 

Bitumount oil sands processing plant, 1936
Credit: Glenbow Archives (with permission)

Sponsors | Completed Interviews | Inventories and Descriptions of Key Oil Sands Archival Materials

Oil Sands Oral History Final Report in PDF

Funded by the oil sands industry and the Province of Alberta, and managed by the Petroleum History Society, the Oil Sands Oral History Project was the most-extensive research and documentation project ever undertaken on the oil sands industry.

The purpose of the project was to capture – in audio and, wherever possible, video format – interviews with people who played key roles in the development of the oil sands. The first interview, which took place on April 13, 2011, captured the recollections of the late Peter Lougheed. Protocols were developed for the conduct of the oral histories based on museum and archival standards, and the project took advantage of a team of experienced researcher/interviewers, videographers and transcribers.

After the interviews were transcribed and the project’s researchers have checked them over carefully, interviewees had the opportunity to review them and a short biography prepared by the researchers. The Petroleum History Society deposited these materials plus any donated documents to the Glenbow Archives, where they have become a permanent resource for historians and other researchers. 117 people were interviewed.

For some of the stories we've heard, please see our Archives newsletters starting with September 2011 and onwards.

Phase III Oil Sands Oral History Project

Funding Sponsors:

Non-funding sponsors:
Canadian Oil Sands Limited Glenbow Museum and Archives
Syncrude Canada Ltd. JuneWarren-Nickles Energy Group
Alberta Historical Resources Foundation/
Alberta Lottery Fund
CNW Group
Athabasca Oil Corporation  
Canadian Natural Resources Limited  
Imperial Oil Limited  
MEG Energy Corp.  
Nexen Inc.  
Suncor Energy  
Connacher Oil and Gas Limited  

Inventories and Descriptions of Key Oil Sands Archival Materials

Here is the Finding Aid for the Oil Sands Oral History Project at the Glenbow Western Research Centre at the University of Calgary website https://glenbow.ucalgary.ca/finding-aid/oil-sands-oral-history-project/

Inventories of oil sands material at the University of Alberta Archives and the Provincial Archives of Alberta, in Edmonton, have been prepared as part of this project. Access is available here.

Completed Interviews in Oil Sands Oral History Project

 

First Name

Surname

Principal Affiliation

1

Mickey

Abougoush

Amoco; private consultancy

2

Brad

Anderson

Alberta Chamber of Resources

3

David

Armstrong

Imperial Oil

4

Jack

Avery

Suncor Operations

5

Gene

Bacon

GCOS/Suncor HR

6

 John

Barr

Syncrude Canada

7

Guy

Boutilier

Mayor and MLA

8

Clem

Bowman

Chair AOSTRA; Imperial Oil

9

Cliff

Britch

Suncor

10

John

Broadhurst

VP Shell

11

Larry

Brocke

Alberta Environment

12

Elmer

Brooker

Engineering consultant

13 David Brown Director Canmet Energy, Devon
14

Gerry

Burden

Imperial Oil; incorporated Syncrude

15

Terry

Burton

Suncor

16

Neil

Camarta

VP Oil Sands Petro-Canada/Suncor

17

Maurice

Carrigy

Chair AOSTRA

18

Jim

Carter

CEO Syncrude Canada

19

William (Bill)

Cary

GCOS (Suncor Energy)

20

Harbir

Chhina

VP Cenovus Energy SAGD pioneer

21

C. R. (Chuck)

Collyer

Syncrude; Bechtel

22

Ted

Cyr

AOSTRA, Alberta Energy

23

Lester

Deep

Suncor Operations

24

Gerry

DeSorcy

Chair ERCB

25

William D

Dickie

Former Alberta Energy Minister

26

Howie

Dingle

Esso VP

27

Richard

Dixon

U of A Centre of Applied Business Research

28 Grant Duncan Principal Production Engineer In Situ Resources, Suncor
29

Maurice

Dusseault

University of Waterloo

30

Neil

Edmunds

Laricina

31

Alan

Fair

Director of Tailings EPA, COSIA

32

Keith

Firmin

Shell Canada

33

Charlie

Fischer

Nexen CEO

34

Richard L (Rick)

George

CEO Suncor Energy

35

Ned

Gilbert

Suncor Energy

36

Ray

Gillespie

Esso Cold Lake

37 Simon Gittins

Cenovus

38

George

Govier

Chair ERCB

39 Murray Gray Director, Centre of Oil Sands Innovation
40

Ron

Gray

First Syncrude employee; executive positions

41 Hassan Hamza Director, CANMET Energy
42

Maggie

Hannah

Geological Consultant

43 Jack Haston Suncor
44

Toshiku

Hirata

President Japex (Japan Canada Oil Sands)

45

Chris

Holoboff

Cold Lake High School

46

Ernie

Hui

Alberta Environment

47

William (Bill)

Humphreys

Abasand

48

Al

Hyndman

Syncrude Canada Research/Operations

49

Eddy

Isaacs

Alberta Innovates Alberta Research Council

50

Dave

Krook

Esso Cold Lake

51

Bert

Lang

Suncor/head of Millennium Project

52

Vern

Larson

Director Imperial Oil Research

53

Peter

Lougheed

Premier Province of Alberta

54

Richard

Luhning

AOSTRA

55 Jean Lund Syncrude
56

Neil

Lund

Syncrude

57

Donald S

Macdonald

Energy Minister Government of Canada

58

Hans

Maciej

Canadian Petroleum Association (now CAPP)

59

Bert

MacKay

Suncor Safety and Training

60

Preston

Manning

Ernest Manning (his father)

61

Dee (Parkinson)

Marcoux

VP Suncor Energy

62

Jacob

Masliyah

University of Alberta

63

William (Bill)

McAffrey

Founder and CEO MEG Energy

64

Bob

McClements

GCOS construction CEO of Sun Oil

65

Neil

McCrank

Chair ERCB

66

Anne

McLellan

Energy Minister Government of Canada

67

Bill

Mooney

Cities Service; Syncrude

68

Norbert

Morgenstern

University of Alberta

69

Thomas

Morimoto

Bitumount

70

Arthur

Morris

Suncor Heavy Equipment Operator

71

Jane

Morris

Suncor Human Resources

72

Prakash

Mullick

Suncor Standards Program

73

Patricia (Black)

Nelson

Alberta Energy Minister

74

Eric

Newell

CEO Syncrude Canada

75

Randy

Ottenbreit

Imperial Oil including Cold Lake

76

Frederick

Otto

Dean of Engineering emeritus U of A

77

Harold

Page

GCOS; Alberta Chamber of Resources

78

Albert

Poulette

Alberta Environment, Manager, Compliance

79

Paul

Precht

Alberta Energy

80

Carolyn

Preston

CONRAD

81

Roland

Priddle

Chair National Energy Board

82

David

Redford

AOSTRA

83

Joy

Romero

CNRL Horizon Project

84

Robert

Rosen

City Lumber Supply Chain

85

Brian

Rottenfusser

UTF geologist

86

Germain

Routhier

Suncor Operations

87

Mark

Ruschkowski

Esso Cold Lake

88

David

Ryan

Suncor PR & Training

89

Bob

Scarborough

Dome Amoco steam technology

90

David

Schindler

U of A

91

Glen

Schmidt

Laricina

92

Brent

Scott

CEO Syncrude Canada

93

Tony

Settari

U of C

94

John

Shaw

U of A, Chair in Petroleum Thermodynamics

95

Mary Clark

Sheppard

Karl Clark (biographer of her father)

96

Cal

Sikstrom

Imperial Oil environmentalist

97

Gale

Simpson

AOSTRA

98

Kem

Singh

Dir Air. Land and Water, Alberta Environment

99

Dr Robert

Skinner

Alberta ADM Energy; IEA; Statoil Canada

100

George

Skulsky

Suncor Superintendent of Operations

101 Bruce Slevinsky Esso and Imperial
102

Nell

Spragins

Widow of Frank Spragins

103

Gerry

Stephenson

AOSTRA/Underground Test Facility

104

Barry Stewart Imperial/ PetroCanada/ Suncor exec.
105 Bruce Stewart Former Director, CANMET Energy

106

Jack Suggett Athabasca Oil Sands
107 Michael A (Mike) Supple Suncor executive now chair of Synenco
108

Robert W (Bob)

Taylor

Alberta ADM-Oil; Amoco Canada

109

Don

Thompson

Syncrude Oil Sands Developers Group

110

Don

Towson

Petro Canada PCEJ Electric Heat Pilot

111

Ron

Wallace

AEMP Panel; AEMWG Chair
AEMMB Vice Chair; AOSERP program

112

Allan

Warrack

MLA, Professor, Business Economics, U of A

113

Kathryn

Wood

AOSTRA;  RMRC Implementation Team

114

Barry

Worbets

Statoil

115

Chi-Tak

Yee

Roger Butler’s partner VP MEG Energy

116

K. C. Yeung Oil sands reservoir engineer
117

Erdal

Yildirim

Syncrude National Oil Sands Task Force


News release January 18, 2011
Announcing our third Oral History Project: Preserving Our Oil Sands Story

 

Phase II
84 Interviews

Phase I Interviews
223 Interviews

Interviews available at the Glenbow Western Research Centre at the University of Calgary in audio and transcribed.
Finding aids to Phases I and II https://glenbow.ucalgary.ca/finding-aid/petroleum-industry-oral-history-project/
Contact Doug Cass, Past Chief Archivist at the Glenbow Archives

Phase II - Quarterly Report #16 Final Report
For period April 1 to December 31, 2004

by David Finch, Interviewer and Project Manager
Petroleum Industry Oral History Project - Petroleum History Society
Overview | Work conducted during this period | Interviews conducted by Phase II of this project

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Overview

Phase I of the Petroleum Industry Oral History Project operated from 1981 to 1985 and collected more than 200 interviews with key men and women involved in the development of the Canadian oil and gas industry. Phase II of this project began operation in October, 1999 and has revived and continued the process of recording and transcribing the stories of these important pioneers.

With seed funding from the Petroleum History Society, grants from the Canadian Society of Exploration Geophysicists and the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists, a partial matching grant from the Alberta Historical Resources Foundation and assistance from the Glenbow Archives and Oilweek Magazine, this project intended to conduct an additional 100 interviews – 84 were completed.

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Work conducted during this period

The project concluded conducting interviews during this period by interviewing Mike Miller in April, Robert Rintoul and Earl Lipsett in June and finally, Bill Mooney in July. Ms. Lenni Rae continued transcribing for this project during this reporting period and has cleared up the backlog of transcribing interviews from the first part of this project too. She has transcribed more than 250 interviews to date.

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84 Interviews conducted by Phase II of this project
October 1999 to December 2004

These interviews are available on audio tape and transcribed at the Glenbow Western Research Centre at the University of Calgary.
Finding aids to Phases I and II https://glenbow.ucalgary.ca/finding-aid/petroleum-industry-oral-history-project/

  Related to Hall of Fame or other
1 Bill Fisher Bill Mooney
2 Hugh Leiper Roland Priddle
3 Earl Lipsett Robert Rintoul
4 Mike Miller Tony Vandenbrink
 
  Related to
Canadian Society of Exploration Geophysicists
Related to
Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists
1

Dick Baillie

Bill Ayrton

2

Wilf Baillie

Ted Best

3

Art Baptie

Fred Calverley

4

John Baxendale

Don Cook

5

Peter Bediz

Rein de Wit
6

Harry Carlyle

John Downing
7

Bob Comer

Bob Erickson

8

Don Crane

Cal Evans

9

Hans den Boer

George Eynon
10

Marty Dewis

Bill Gussow
11

Dave Einarsson

Mike Hriskevich

12

Bill Evans

A.N. Hutton

13

Harold Farney

Jim Kirker

14

Craig Ferris

Ed Klovan

15 John Frey Jim MacDonald
16

Ed Fulmer

John Maher

17

Ned Gilbert

Terry McCoy
18

Lloyd Hatlelid

Bob McCrossan
19 George Hobson Digby McLaren
20 Norman Jones

Jack McMillan

21 Andrew Kennedy Peter Fitzgerald Moore
22 George Kostashuk Eric Mountjoy
23

Roy Lindseth

C.B. Newmarch

24

George Longphee

Dave Organ
25 J. Warner Loven

Bob Orr

26

Earle Mahaffy

Ernie Pallister

27 Ian McIlreath Alice Payne
28

Roy Millice

Ray Price
29

Ken Morrison

Peter Putnam
30

Denny O'Brien

Gerry Reinson
31

Jack Pullen

Clay Riddell

32

Wes Rabey

Kathy Scales

33

Ted Rozsa

Jim Scott

34 Bud St. Clair Lee Slind
35

Peter Savage

Don Stott
36

Don Seaman

Gordon Williams
37 Gerry Sykes Harry Woodward
38 Ken Thompson  
39 Bill Watson  

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223 People Interviewed in the
Petroleum Industry Oral History Project
Phase I, 1981 - 1985

A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q R  S  T  U  V  W  XYZ

These interviews are available on audio tape and transcribed at the Glenbow Western Research Centre at the University of Calgary.
Finding aids to Phases I and II https://glenbow.ucalgary.ca/finding-aid/petroleum-industry-oral-history-project/

Contact Doug Cass, Past Chief Archivist at the Glenbow Archives

In 2018-2019, the PHS completed a project to transcribe and digitize 60+ interviews that were not previously in those formats. This project was funded in part by the Government of Alberta through the Alberta Historical Resources Foundation.

Government of Alberta Logo
Alberta Historic Resources Foundation
1 Harold Acheson
2 Harry Alger
3 Bill Allen
4 Geoff Andrews
5 John Andrichuk
6 Jean Angus
7 Jack Armstrong
8 Eric Atkinson
9 W. L. "Pete" Atkinson
10 Don Axford
11 Herb Bagnall
12 Andy Baillie
13 John Ballachey
14 Ed Baltrusaitis
15 Ray Barker
16 Ed Barroll
17 Peter Bawden
18 Peter Bediz
19 Elmer Berlie
20 Ted Best
21 "Tiny" Bevans
22 Doris Bingham
23 Don Binney
24 "Swede" Black
25 Mark Blain
26 George Blundun
27 Bob Brinkerhoff
28 Doug Brown
29 R. A. Brown
30 R. S. "Spike" Brown
31 Jack Browning
32 Bun Burggren
33 Doug Cairns
34 Thelma Cameron
35 Don Campau
36 Harry Carlyle
37 Lyle Caspell
38 S. K. Chakravorty
39 Carl Chapman
40 Bill Charles
41 Norm Christie
42 Bill Clemis
43 C. E. Cleveland
44 Gordon Connell
45 Eugene Cook
46 Bert Corey
47 Pierre Cote
48 Colin Crickmay
49 Marshall Crowe
50 Sterling Davies
51 Marion de Chastelain
52 George de Mille
53 Mary Dickson
54 Walter Dingle
55 John Downing
56 Ian Drum
57 Jim Drumheller
58 Charlie Dunkley
59 Ralph Edie
60 Garnet Edwards
61 Oscar Erdman
62 Art Feldmeyer
63 Ralph Flanders
64 Glenn Fox
65 Larry Frantz
66 Bill Friley
67 George Furnival
68 Bob Galbraith
69 Jack Gallagher
70 Ed Galvin
71 Alvin Geddes
72 Ian Gehman
73 Ken Germond
74 Kelly Gibson
75 Marjorie Gibson
76 Sheldon Gibson
77 Willis Gibson
78 D. P. Goodall
79 Jack Goodman
80 Jack Goth
81 George Govier
82 David Gray
83 Jean Greig
84 Earle Gray
85 John Gray
86 W. C. "Bill" Gussow
87 Conrad O. Hage
88 E. T. "Jeep" Hall
89 Willis Hancock
90 Stan Harding
91 Don Harvie
92 Dallas Hawkins
93 John Homer Hayden
94 Cecil "Harry" Heath
95 M. Helliwell
96 Alex Hemstock
97 Emily Hemstock
98 Gerry Henderson
99 W. S. Herron Jr.
100 Charles Hetherington
101 Tom Hicks
102 Polly Holden
103 Harley Hotchkiss
104 Al Howes
105 Michael Hriskevich
106 Harry Hunter
107 Vern Hunter
108 Allan Insley
109 Jim Irwin
110 John Jackson
111 Marg James
112 George Jones
113 Gordon Jones
114 Stan Kanik
115 Aubrey Kerr
116 Fred Kidd
117 Tom Kimmett
118 Stu King
119 Howard Kirk
120 Margaret Knode
121 Labby Laberge
122 E. H. "Eddie" Laborde
123 "Spi" Langston
124 Douglas Layer
125 Louis Lebel
126 Charles Lee
127 D. E. "Ed" Lewis
128 Fin Lineham
129 Jim Lineham
130 Jim Livingstone
131 Bill Lockhart
132 Emily Mackay
133 W. D. C. "Don" Mackenzie
134 Roy Harry McMillan
135 Gerry Maier
136 Paul Marshall
137 Rod McDaniel
138 D. P. McDonald
139 Bill McGregor
140 Don McIvor
141 Gordon McKay
142 Fred McKinnon
143 Horace Meech
144 Archie Miller
145 Jack Minchin
146 David Mitchell
147 Hoadley Mitchell
148 Carl Moore
149 Paul Moseson
150 J. V. "Tip" Moroney
151 Scovil Murray
152 Clair Nabors
153 Reg Nelson
154 Matt Newell
155 Carl Nickle
156 Arne Nielsen
157 Trajan Nitescu
158 Lauder Nowers
159 Ralph Oborne
160 Ernest Pallister
161 E. O. Parry
162 Raymund Paterson
163 Maurice Paulson
164 Stan Pearson
165 David Penner
166 John Pettinger
167 W. A. Phillips
168 Jack Pierce
169 Mary Pope
170 Mel Pope
171 Jack Porter
172 John Poven
173 Gilbert Raasch
174 Wes Rabey
175 Gordon Rae
176 Mel Reasoner
177 Don Redman
178 Bill Roliff
179 Alastair Ross
180 Charles Schock
181 Jim Scott
182 Bob Sears
183 Ernie Shaw
184 Charlie Shipp
185 Clark Siferd
186 Hubert Somerville
187 Bobby Sparrow
188 Lloyd Stafford
189 David Stauft
190 Peter Stauft
191 Charles Stelck
192 Bill Stuart
193 Hans Suter
194 Kathleen Taylor
195 Nick Taylor
196 Vern Taylor
197 Ann Knode Tharp
198 Ben Toone
199 George Tosh
200 Ed Tovell
201 Ray Tull
202 Helen Turgeon
203 Mary Pandachuk Turner
204 Bill Twaits
205 Leo Vladicka
206 Len Walker
207 Bruce Watson
208 Jack Walper
209 Tom Wark
210 Jim Warke
211 C. T. "Bill" Webb
212 Gordon Webster
213 Harry Webster
214 Jack Wegh
215 Don Weir
216 Bob Welch
217 Sid Weller
218 R. T. D. Wickenden
219 Giles Wilderman
220 Don Wilken
221 Ralph Will
222 Lloyd Wilson
223 Lewis Workman
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