The Town of Okotoks will be donating a historic cable tool spudder rig to the Oilfield Equipment Museum in Edmonton.
This piece of oilfield heritage is currently located in Pisttoo Park beside the Okotoks Art Gallery. The move is scheduled for the week of June 17-21 to accommodate future work in the area as part of the Downtown’s Next Chapter project.
The Okotoks Petroleum Association originally donated the rig to the Town in 2004.
Although saddened to see this important artifact leave Okotoks, Garry Hagen, past president of the association, said, “We are pleased that it will be at the Oilfield Equipment Museum where people can continue to learn about the importance of oil for Alberta and to all Canadians.”
The Town and the association have been working for more than two years to find a suitable regional location, including a potential move to the Turner Valley Gas Plant. When a regional site couldn’t be secured, the search went provincial.
The Edmonton Oilfield Technical Society’s Oilfield Equipment Museum immediately took interest as the rig is the type of machinery used in Alberta during the early 1900s to drill for oil, gas and occasionally water. This rig was active in Montana in the 1920s.
“The museum is thrilled to accept this vintage rig to their collection,” said museum president Brandon Forbes. “We look forward to getting it in place and on display for all to see.”
Established in 1979, the Oilfield Equipment Museum was created to recognize the major role the petroleum industry played, and plays, in the prosperity of Alberta. The museum displays over 130 years of historic equipment related to seismic and exploration, drilling, production, well completion, oilfield transportation and pipelining.
