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Alberta Scenery Photo Tour
Photo: Oil Pumps - Petroleum Industry
© Leanne
Guenther, used with permission
This photo shows an oil pump with the Rocky Mountains in the background and a grain field in the foreground. When driving through Alberta, you'll notice that many of the oil pumps you see are in farm fields.
The petroleum industry ("oil and gas") is Alberta's main industry accounting for over half of the value of the province's total exports (in 2005). Nearly one in every six workers in Alberta is employed directly or indirectly in the province's energy related industries.
Alberta is one of the world's leading producers of oil and gas. Surprisingly to many Americans, the main supplier of oil to the United States is not the Middle East -- it's Canada! And the center of the Canadian industry is Alberta. Canada's reserves are developed by Alberta's oil and gas industry in some of the most challenging and varied conditions on the globe -- temperature extremes, permafrost, muskeg, and vast distances all provide challenges that the industry must overcome.
I had trouble deciding whether a close up of an oil pump or a nice scenic picture would be more appropriate for things like school reports on Alberta -- my daughter preferred the close up and I liked the scenic view, so I decided to include both.
Petroleum Industry information and coloring page
© Leanne
Guenther, used with permission
This photo shows a nice close up of an oil pump just outside of Calgary, Alberta.