Strange, don't you think, that it took an American to once and for all put an end to Ontario's dominance of the federation.
BAKKEN:
A few years ago, a Billings petroleum geologist by the name of Dick Findley was working out of his basement - searching for oil in an area that had been barren for over 20 years. Things were rough and he was struggling to get by.
He even flirted with the idea of getting a second job as a restaurant cook. On a diet of nothing but Ramen noodles and hard-boiled eggs - how could you blame the guy?
But one thing kept Dick going - an unprecedented suspicion that this area, known as the Bakken Basin, contained more oil than Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran combined.
The Bakken Basin, located in Montana, North Dakota and Saskatchewan - was at one point coined "one of the largest disappointments in the oil industry."
During this period, technology lacked the efficiency to make drilling worthwhile. And when oil hit all time lows in the late 90's - the Bakken Basin was basically abandoned.
But Findley kept digging around.
And through sheer luck, he and his partner stumbled upon a porous layer of dolomite, 9000 feet below the ground of a ranch just outside Sidney, Montana.
This stumble turned out to be the largest on-shore oil discovery in decades. Little did he know, but Findley discovered enough oil to fuel the U.S. for 41 years.
It used to be Alberta alone ... but no more. The rush is on in Saskatchewan, and those getting in early will also retire early.
Bakken is huge ... mega, in fact, but it is only a big element in what is shaping up in Saskatchewan to be stunning growth. It's hard to wrap one's head around it ... the potential is so stunning.
Northern Saskatchewan is awash in minerals. From rare earth types to uranium, the Canadian shield is offering up riches. Move west and a bit South, and oil sands are an enormous resource where they spill across the border from Alberta into Saskatchewan. A bit it further south and it's diamonds, of all things, with one of the richest finds on the planet buried just east of Prince Albert.
Further south, on the prairie, it's potash ... oceans of it in fact, with nothing but growth ahead. Potash Corp in fact, has become the king of the TSX.
And that, brings us to a sea of natural gas and oil that culminate in the Bakken ... the mega find of the new century (keeping in mind that heavy oil is gushing on the other side of the province.)
So, go West young man. Leave the Toronto socialists and whiners behind and come to the land where those with guts and determination can get in on the ground floor of a boom.
How often does that happen?
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