Oilfield with international flair

By Collin Gallant on September 30, 2017.

What do grape growers in the Champagne province of France and cattle ranchers near CFB Suffield have in common?

Some might say they’re both the best at what they do.

Also, both parties will now deal with the same oil and gas company when it comes seeking surface access.

International Petroleum Corporation announced it will add the Suffield block and areas around Alderson to its oil and gas portfolio. The company also has offshore drilling in the South Pacific and fields in the province of France that is eponymous with sparkling white wine production.

That field, in what’s known as the Paris Basin, is “quite a nice place to go for an operations tour,” according to IPC head Mike Nicholson this week.

Jokes aside though, Nicholson stressed that his company is used to working with landowners who have high standards.

“We’ve got a good track record with farmers, vineyards owners (in France).”

Speaking of…

Ranchers in the northern region of Cypress County, what a 12 months it’s been. About this time in 2016, meat inspectors found bovine TB in a cow at an Oregon plant. More recently prairie fires have been cutting across the landscape and there’s been a notable drought this year.

Whether the weather

It’s October on Sunday, and barring a cloud burst today, Medicine Hat and the surrounding area will wind up with less than a half inch of rain in September.

According to provincial data, accumulation for the month is in the 10 mm range, or about one-third the average rainfall for the month.

The May to September period saw only saw about half the average rainfall we usually receive, and that’s mainly due to a wet early spring.

Most of the southeast received between 100 to 150 mm of rain (four to six inches) over the four-month period.

Total rainfall in the region in August measured one-half inch — about one-fifth the usual amount.

It’s been a dry one across the Prairies. This summer Regina-area homeowners had underground utility lines pulled from houses as the ground dried and shifted.

Aside from a small dot around Leader, where soil moisture is considered “adequate,” the entire southwest quadrant is either short or very short of soil moisture, states the latest crop report.

Feedback

Last week this column mentioned Rod Fonteyne, a player with the original junior Tigers in the 1950s, had passed away.

Local collector Tim Hittel knocked on the window at the News this week and held up five of the souvenir programs that he’s found over the years.

He’s missing programs the first three seasons (1948-49, 1949-50 and 1950-51), but has all the others in his private. Those aren’t for sale but he entertains offers to trade.

Get in touch with Hittel at this weekend’s annual Antique and Collectibles show and sale, which he organizes each year at the Cypress Centre. About 300 booths are booked for the event, today and Sunday.

A look ahead

Council sits for the last time this term on Monday to hear minor matters, the agenda shows. A land zoning application to expand a container storage site on Bridge Street will involve a public hearing.

100 Years Ago

The response to whether astors will grow in southern Alberta is a riotous yes, the News reported on Sept. 27, 1917, citing a riot of colour on a First Street lot.

Resident Bart Oxley boasted that the vacant 80 by 45-foot residential lot featured 27,500 blooms on plants he raised after pondering the above question.

“The climate and soil of Medicine Hat are without equal” for the task, the News stated.

A general description of the location would place it on the southside of the 400 block of First Street (Note: present day, that’s the lawn of the Esplanade).

Medicine Hat had the highest price in the province for milk and bread ($1 for six quarts and $1 for 10 loaves), the News reported. That compared to 14 quarts and 14 loaves in Redcliff (the cheapest). It was clearly a case where the “food controller and city council” should investigate.

Parliament closed headed of a fall election, the first since 1911.

In the conclusion of the Alberta Provincial Election (held in June) overseas ballots elected its second women to the legislature. Lt. Roberta MacAdams, a nurse from Calgary, and Capt. Robert Pearson, of Edmonton, were the winners among the soldier’s vote. Both were considered “MLA’s at large.”