Oil Strike on Fosterton, Saskatchewan - Saskatchewan Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

As the boards read:

Oil Strike At Fosterton May Open, Up Important to Swift Current; The Swift Current Sun, Jan. 9 1952

What Oils Means to Swift Current, The Swift Current Sun, Sun. 9, 1952

Towns In Oil Discovery Field Take Excitement In Stride, Grain Still King, The Swift Current Sun. Jan 9, 1952

"Rig-Town" Is Growing Already, The Swift Current Sun. Jan. 9, 1952

Another Well For Fostertoon, The Swift Current Sun. Jan. 9, 1952

Oil Firms Are Seeking Space, The Swift Current Sun. Jan. 16, 1952

Oil Strike Set Saskatchewan On Fire

A fire With Rumor, Speculation and Hope
The strike made American headlines, one of the greatest oil strikes on the continent at that time. A whirling diamond-toothed drill, suspended at the end of 2500 feet of piercing piple, lowered into a snow covered wheat field owned by Harry Lowick, 4 miles south of Fosterton. Fosterton No. 1 was orginally called Socony Western Prairie Roseray No. 1 Its location was about 27 miles northwest of Swift Current. January 4, 1952 it was confirmed a producer. Soon the hustle and bustle of hundreds of cars and trucks moved in carrying oil men, equipment, newspaper reporters, radio commentators, news reel men and curious sightseers. On the the ground it look black. But actually it was deep brown in color, about the shade of cooking molasses, and had the consistency of that of a heavy lubricating oil. It felt as slick as powerded graphite and left a stain tha several soapings failed to remove. This liquid Black Gold was going to change the district's future economy and the welfare of the whole province.

The Big Producer
The Well has established as a commercial producer. In 1954, Fosterton's crude oil sales contract, negotiated with Great Norther Oil Co., provided a market for new Saskatchwan crude sources.

After a free flow test was made the well was made. The well was spouting at a rate of nine hundred gallons an hour. The flow would gives 480 barrels per 24 hour day. far above the average of 150 barrels per day. New wells were decided to be spudded in shortly after the big discovery. Tests indicated that Fosterton No. 1 had a gross pay zone of 663 ft, and the gravity of the oil has been recorded a 24.1 degrees, well within the medium oil classification. As of Feb. 28, 1983 the well had produced 733,469 cubic metres of oil, producing approximately 4,613,525.155 barrels of black gold.

Swift Current Frontier-Oil City
Swift Current had begun to feel the effects of the Fosterton Oil Strike. When Fosterton No. 1 came in, it was the object of much excitement. Car loads of area residents flocked to the wellsite along with provincial cabinet minister and Mobil officials, Increased production brought more need for housing in Swift Current and area. Ther were approximately 1,400 houses in Swift Current in 1952. As of 1983 there were 15,000 people in Swift Current.

Grain , cattle and oil comprise the keystone to to our future. The original well at Fosterton that heralded the new era in Southwest Development is still producing today, 30 years after it was first tapped. Hopefully this uninterrupted record of production is a sign that the industry itself will continue to operate successfully for many years.

Marker type: boards Marker placement date: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
When entering a new log for visiting a waymark please provide a picture if there is not one added to the waymark. Please include any thoughts about the area and the history that the marker may represent.

Recent Visits/Logs:

There are no logs for this waymark yet.