Oil Strike.
Farmers have always been some of my favorite people. They think and dream much differently than others, use practical wisdom to solve problems, and can work from day to night without blinking. Our world economy and survival has been built on the backs of farmers – and black gold. Black gold is beautiful. Billions of humans have been pulled out of thousands of years of abject poverty and cruelty due to the industrialization and advancement of technology and human systems. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd Industrial Revolutions set us up for this moment: The Dawn of the 4th Industrial Revolution; also known as Industry 4.0. Last week, the WHO declared that the world population just hit 8 billion souls; a significant psychological marker. With current technology and crop yields, farmers around the world can produce enough food to support over 20 billion people. We definitely have enough food and petroleum to sustain our economies - and build a new bridge to the next generations. Do we have the mindsets, critical thinking and cooperation to make it happen?
We come from a long line of Irish farmers. In the picture above, my son, Jack Kells, stands in front of my grandfather’s farm on LaSalle Line in Petrolia, Ontario; about 3 hours south of Toronto. Tunis Kells and his young son, James - my father - built that barn in early 1950. It replaced a much older one. Tunis’ father, Jack Kells, owned the farm next door. His many brothers and sisters had farms nearby. These hardworking, gritty farmers were the Kells grandkids of Irish farmers who arrived in Canada from Meath County (Kells, Ireland; origin of The Book of Kells; https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20160425-the-book-of-kells-medieval-europes-greatest-treasure ) on ships in the cruel winter of 1820. They were escaping the political fighting between Catholics and Protestants - and the approaching Great Famine of Ireland. More than one million Irish would starve to death. A very common story for many families at that time in North American history. Like all immigrants, the ten or so families arrived together with very little in their pockets, little formal education, an unstoppable work ethic, and a dream of a better life for their children. A dream is a powerful thing to many. There are more than 180,000 farms in Canada and 2 million in America. However, just a few kilometers from Jack’s farm began the greatest economic revolution in human history. ??
On a cold day in 1858, James Miller Williams drilled a new 51-foot deep well to find water on a farm near Black Creek, Ontario. They were looking for water; they found black gold. It was the first oil strike in the world. The location is now known as 2423 Kelly Road, Oil Springs, Ontario; currently the site of Canada’s Oil Museum. Within a year of that original oil strike there were more than 400 oil wells drilled in the Oil Springs/Petrolia area. Williams would quickly form the Canadian Oil Company – the first integrated oil company in the world. Neighboring Petrolia and Oil Springs would become a booming Victorian town as oil brought tremendous and immediate development and riches to the area. (More than 500-area drillers would learn important and transferable skills over the next few decades - that would lead many young farmers to be exported and help open-up other energy development areas in North Africa and the Middle East.) A year later, in 1859, in Titusville, Pennsylvania, Edwin Drake drilled the first oil well in America. These two oil strikes initiated the global petroleum industry as we know it today - and literally fueled the 2nd and 3rd Industrial Revolutions -?setting us up perfectly for the 4th Industrial Revolution unfolding before our eyes.
The Native American and Canadian Indians had found oil seeping from the ground in Ontario and Texas centuries before.?However, the spectacular 1901 Spindletop gusher in Beaumont, Texas kicked the North American petroleum industry into high-gear. By 1902 there would be 300 oil wells and 600 oil companies formed in Texas. The Canadians and Americans were off to the races and would work together to begin to transform the global energy business. Some of these wildcat drillers would go on to form companies that would later roll-up and transform into what we know today as ExxonMobil, and Suncor and Imperial Oil north of the border. In 1914 the first oil well would be drilled and another massive oil strike achieved in Alberta, Canada. With the significant new oil finds in West Texas in 1936, both America and Canada were well on their way to becoming global leaders in energy development; a leading position that remains today. On March 3, 1938, an American company would drill in the Saudi Arabian desert - and find some of the largest petroleum deposits in the world. Many decades later the Saudis would capture the operations and rename it Saudi Aramco. In 1968 oil was discovered in Alaska. These developments would change the political and economic landscape of the entire planet; it would change the dynamics and trajectory of mankind, also. The economic potential of populations around the world would be lifted quickly from the farm, forest and the desert. Wars would be fought and won. New territory boundaries would be drawn and defended. Corporations would rise and fall. Workers would move from the farm to the city. Factories would build automobiles, airplanes and computers. Industrialization and technology would ignite the human spirit like a giant oil well-fire. From those early, significant finds on those farms in Oil Springs and Titusville, the economic development and industrialization would grow as technology moved in-step and synchronicity with the development of petroleum. Texas, Alberta and Saudi Arabia remain some of the single largest global petroleum producers to this day. ?
The leaders of the past remain the leaders of the future: Texas, Alberta, Alaska, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Colorado, California, Wyoming and others produce significant and strategic amounts of petroleum and natural gas to fuel our 718,000 manufacturing plants and 276 million automobiles in North America. The Province of Ontario transformed from oil into a leading producer of hydro-electricity in North America. A very tight correlation; more than 40% of food production costs are energy costs. Contrary to what far too many people think, farmers and energy workers put food on their tables and provide energy to create the electricity for their Teslas and lattes. Globally, humans now produce and consume 95 million barrels of oil per day. More than 10 million Americans work in the oil and gas industry; that is more than 7% of the total workforce; and they make an average of $115,000 a year. That is more than 2.5X what the average U.S. worker makes across all industries. In Canada, it is a similar situation. Mankind continues to transition from the 3rd Industrial Revolution to the 4th Industrial Revolution that merges amazing new technologies: 3D Printing, Artificial Intelligence, The Internet of Things, Nanotechnology, Graphene, Cloud Computing, and about three dozen other impressive and futuristic technologies. The farmers and petroleum workers of the past would certainly be impressed.
Time continues to move forward; it is still quiet and peaceful when walking the large farm fields around Petrolia. Many of the majestic Victorian-style homes built in town during the oil boom decades are now impressive, national historic sites. The air is fresh and the area is full of history. My dad and I still often talk about all things farming; the newest technology with tractors and equipment, crop yields and markets, and the dynamic price of soybeans, corn and fertilizer. We drive the roads admiring the different farms; he keenly remembers the brilliant and tough history and families of many. For generations they had helped each other survive and thrive. It is always a good reminder that we are all connected to both the past and the future.?On or off the farm, I hope we can meet future challenges, build a better world, and fulfill the brilliant dreams and hopes of these ancient farmers. They expect us to build on their hard work and sacrifice. If they could only see how far we have come. We now stand on the shoulders of giants.