Ranger Oil Limited was a Canadian independent petroleum company that operated between 1950 and 2000. Ranger was founded as the Maygill Petroleum Company Limited with the aim to develop oil leases in the Steveville, Alberta area. In 1954, Jack Piece (1924–1991), originally of Montreal, acquired control of the company and renamed it West Maygill Gas and Oil Limited. In 1956, Maygill purchased an American company Pierce had founded, the Ranger Oil Company, and in 1958 renamed itself Ranger Oil (Canada) Limited. Over the subsequent decades, Pierce built Ranger into one of Canada's most successful independent producers. During the 1970s and 1980s, Ranger played an active role in the development of the North Sea. In 2000, Canadian Natural Resources acquired Ranger.
History
Formation
Maygill Petroleum
Ranger Oil's history began on 31 December 1948 when Orville V. Birkinshaw, Arthur Desilets, and Arthur Weich took out a petroleum license on Reservation No. 739 in near Steveville, Alberta. Initially, the trio had intended to acquire a lease on land near Wardlow, but Minister of Lands and Mines N. Eldon Tanner convinced them otherwise. In 1950, James William Maynard befriended the three men and acquired a 25 percent stake in the reservation. Maynard then partnered with Herbert Hyman Gillespie (1903–1992) to form a new company to manage the holding of Reservation 739 as well as Maynard's other properties in Red Deer, Turner Valley, Leduc, and Crossfield. On 21 August 1950 they incorporated Maygill Petroleum Company Limited. Simultaneously, Desilets and Weich formed Matlo Oils Limited to manage their share; Birkinshaw was also an officer of this company. In September 1950 the Maygill and Matlo sold a 50 percent interest in the lease to Sweetgrass Oil Company. On 12 January 1951, the Sweetgrass Maygill No. 1 will was spudded. In March a second well, No. 1A, was drilled 100 feet to the west and found gas.
Ranger Oil Company (Wyoming) On 12 April 1950, the Ranger Oil Company formed as a Wyoming corporation with a capitalisation of $100,000. Directors of the new company were Jack M. Pierce, John W. Agnew, William D. Miller, Roy Armstrong, and Edward S. Halsey, all of Lusk, Wyoming. The company was named after the Ranger Hotel on Main Street, Lusk, which was visible from the office where the founders met. Over the ensuing years Ranger acquired substantial holdings in Niobrara County and Converse County.
Pierce gains control
At Maygill's 1954 Annual General Meeting, held of 8 March at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto, Jack M. Pierce was elected to the board of directors. At some point in the early 1950s Pierce had moved to Calgary after having worked in the United States since 1948. The following month, on 13 April, Pierce submitted a proposal to the board whereby he would trade his working interest in 1,160 acres in Wyoming for 415,000 Maygill shares along with an issue of share warrants due one year from the date of issue. Pierce also proposed the company change its name and increase the number of directors to the maximum of 11. The following day the board moved to accept Pierce's proposals. Chairman of the Board O. V. Birkinshaw also proposed to consolidate the company's 3,180,000 shares into 318,000, and put forth the new name West Maygill Gas and Oil Limited. At a shareholder meeting in May, all proposals were written into the company's bylaws. In December 1954, Burkinshaw resigned as president, but stayed with the company as secretary-treasurer. George von Brevern, a Toronto economist, was appointed president. Brevern remained in the position only until July 1955, when the board appointed Pierce president. By the end of 1955, West Maygill had 24 producing wells.
In October 1956, Maygill announced that it had acquired control of the Ranger Oil Company from American Leduc Petroleums Limited of New York City. Ranger thus became an American subsidiary of Maygill. Following the takeover, Jack M. Pierce, Roy Chamberlain, John W. Agnew, J. D. Mason, and Dr Peter C. Badgley were elected directors.
At the 1958 Annual General Meeting, held on Thursday 26 June in Calgary, shareholders voted unanimously to change West Maygill's name to Ranger Oil (Canada) Limited. The change came into effect on 5 August of that year, while the trading name changed on 10 September. The new name did not entail any corporate changes.
Development and growth
Canada
In the 1960s Ranger acquired lands in three major producing areas. In 1964 it partnered with a group of companies to acquire four parcels in the Mitsue field, and in 1966 joined Wainoco Oil Company to acquire land in South Rainbow. Later, in 1968, it acquired holdings in the Zama field.