Abasand Oils

Abasand Oils

In 1930, Max W. Ball and associates Basil O. Jones and James McClave established Canadian Northern Oil-Sand Products Limited to produce oil and refined products from the oil sands of the Athabasca region near Fort McMurray, Alberta. A charter was issued to Canadian Northern Oil-Sand Products by the Federal Government on September 2, 1930; the head office of the company was located in Edmonton, Alberta. The company developed a process for the extraction of oil from the oil sands. The Canadian Northern Oil-Sand Products was renamed Abasand Oils Limited in 1935. The company built a plant on land leased from the Federal Government on the banks of the Horse River, near Fort McMurray, Alberta; the plant opened in 1936. In 1943, the Federal Government took over operations at the Abasand Oils' plant under the <em>War Measures Act</em>. The plant was damaged by fire in 1945. The federal government abandoned the site in May 1946, and the rights and properties were returned to the Abasand Oils. The plant did not resume operations. In 1953, Abasand Oils subleased most of its oil sands holdings, but it was not until 1967 that it began to receive royalties. Abasand Oils became a subsidiary of Canadian Industrial Gas and Oil Limited, which dissolved in 1975.

Provincial Archives of Alberta