Oil first discovered in canada
1973 - First oil discovered on East Coast by Mobil at Cohasset. 1973 - Union Nose Creek well - the deepest well drilled to date in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (18677'). 1974 - Bent Horn oil discovery by Panarctic on Cameron Island - the only oil field to be commercially produced in the Canadian Arctic A 1969 book, called Oil in Canada West the Early Years by George de Mille, told us that the two wells were drilled just eight feet apart. Bill Webb and I discussed this with John Peake, who was the Petroleum Engineer for the Department of Natural Resources of the CPR at the time of abandonment. He said there was no evidence of two wells at the site, and he thought he only found out about the About 11 km north of Oil Springs is Petrolia, where another oil gusher was found in 1866. This town went on to become the oil capital of Canada for 40 years. Here you can visit The Petrolia Discovery, a heritage conservation site with a working 19th-century oil field.