In the heart of oil country

Lots of money, and risk, involved in bringing Alberta crude to surface

Editor’s note: First of a three-part series From the Ground to the Pump that explores the production


Pump jacks riddle the countryside in this hilly region of Alberta where the sandy terrain is more useful for grazing cattle than growing crops.

Bobbing slowly up and down like squeaking metal birds, they pull up heavy black gold that will be trucked and piped to the nearby Hardisty terminal. The terminal is at the centre of a spiders