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Gulf Canada Resources Limited Web Site
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Gulf Canada Resources Limited is a publicly traded company that explores for, develops, produces and markets conventional and synthetic crude oil, natural gas liquids and natural gas. Its head office is in Calgary, Alberta, and its executive office is located in Denver, Colorado.

Gulf Canada’s roots and history are Canadian - Gulf is a Canadian success story that dates back to the founding of The British American Oil Company Limited in 1906. The company, created by Albert LeRoy Ellsworth, received its charter in October of that year, and began distributing kerosene and lubricating oils in downtown Toronto. From those humble beginnings, B-A grew to become a major refiner and marketer of petroleum products.

Following the 1947 discovery of oil at Leduc, which led to the creation of today's multi-billion-dollar oil and gas business in Western Canada, the company moved quickly to establish itself as a Canadian explorer and producer. It entrenched itself as such in 1956 by acquiring Canadian Gulf Oil Company. Canadian Gulf Oil had begun operations in Western Canada in 1941, and was a highly successful explorer with discoveries such as the Stettler oilfield to its credit. The acquisition confirmed B-A's status as a major, fully integrated oil company.

By the 1960s, the company had become Canada's second largest oil company, exploring for and producing oil and gas in Western Canada, operating nine strategically located refineries, and selling a variety of petroleum products and accessories from 5,000 service stations located coast-to-coast.

But as one of the company's advertising slogans made clear, "At B-A, nothing stays the same any longer than it takes to improve it." So in January 1969, B-A amalgamated with The Royalite Oil Company, Limited, a smaller integrated oil company that traced its roots back to 1912 and the discovery of gas at Turner Valley, Alberta; and with Shawinigan Chemicals Limited. The combined entity became Gulf Oil Canada Limited, later shortened to Gulf Canada Limited, the Canadian member of the international Gulf Oil family.

Gulf Canada continued to explore for oil and gas in Western Canada and extended its search into Canada's northern and East Coast frontier regions. It also continued to refine and market products all across Canada, operating facilities in every province and employing at one time over 11,000 Canadians.

Then in 1984, Chevron Corporation acquired the parent Gulf Corporation and a year later sold its approximately 60 per cent interest in Gulf Canada to Olympia & York. Gulf Canada became a Canadian-owned entity once again, and embarked on a period of diversification and change, including the sale of all of its refining and marketing assets.

In 1987, the company reorganized, creating three separate publicly traded companies to give shareholders the opportunity of directly owning interests in the various businesses. One of those companies was Gulf Canada Resources Limited, which was created to carry on the oil and gas business as one of Canada's largest upstream companies focussed on exploration and production.

Then in January 1995, a group of investors led by Torch Energy Investors Incorporated acquired a 25 per cent interest in Gulf. In recent years, Gulf s principal operating centres have been Western Canada and Indonesia, with additional exploration properties in Algeria and Australia, and a significant exploration land position in the United States.

The billion-dollar acquisition of Clyde Petroleum plc in the first quarter of 1997 added significant producing assets and exploration lands in the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Indonesia and Australia, as well as exploration lands in Libya, Syria, Yemen, The Falkland Islands and Argentina. Gulf is now poised for renewed growth by pursuing its many opportunities, both in Canada and abroad.