Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
Major James Lowery, who came to Alberta from Ontario in 1905, founded Home Oil Company in 1925, to drill for oil in the Turner Valley oilfields. By 1945 he had built it into the largest independent company in Canada. Robert Arthur Brown Jr., 1914-1972, owner of Federated Petroleums, successfully gained control of Home Oil by secretly buying its shares in 1950 and 1951. In 1955 Home Oil and Federated Petroleums amalgamated, with Brown as president. Extensive exploration was undertaken and a major oilfield was discovered in the Swan Hills. Home Oil also became a major stock holder of Trans-Canada Pipelines. Brown was a founder of the Independent Petroleum Association of Canada. In 1966 Home Oil discovered gas in Yorkshire, England, and in 1968 invested heavily in Alaskan oil stocks. The Alaskan investment did not pay off and resulted in near-bankruptcy for the company. In 1971 Consumers' Gas of Toronto took over Home Oil although Brown remained chief executive until his death.
For further information see The Treasure-seekers : The Men who Built Home Oil / Philip Smith. -- Toronto : Macmillan of Canada, 1978.