We Gambled Everything: The Life and Times of an Oilman

by Arne Nielsen, Peter C. Newman (Foreword by)

Overview

"We gambled everything-our careers, our fortunes, the future of our nation-and every day brought new discoveries. It was like living on a frontier."-Arne Nielsen The memoir of Canadian petroleum industry leader Arne Nielsen is not a conventional business biography. During his six decades in the business, he witnessed critical events in the oil industry that influenced Canada's economic history. From rain-soaked tents on the Arctic barren land to the luxurious New York offices of a multinational oil company, Arne Nielsen's expansive knowledge of geology and the oil industry made him one of the most influential and well-known figures of his time. His memoir provides crucial details and unique perspectives on events that will be of interest to the next generation of oil industry executives as well as to consumers, economists, and ecologists.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780888646552
Publisher:	The University of Alberta Press
Publication date:	11/07/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
File size:	10 MB

About the Author

Arne Nielsen was a petroleum geologist and senior corporate executive. He discovered the Pembina Cardium oil field near Devon, Alberta in 1953. Arne Nielsen became President and GM of Mobil Oil Canada, then Chairman and CEO of Canadian Superior Oil, and was twice Chairman of the Canadian Petroleum Association. He was co-architect of the energy policies adopted by the Mulroney government after the contentious National Energy Program. He lived in Calgary, Alberta, until his death in 2013.

Table of Contents

Foreword: How Arne Nielsen Made His Own Luck ix

Preface xv

Acknowledgements xix

Abbreviations xxi

Part 1 Early Years

1 My Parents 7

2 Life on the Farm 9

3 The Larger World 19

4 The Army 27

5 University 37

6 From the Tower to the Field 57

7 Professional Life 59

Part 2 Exploration

8 Before Pembina 77

9 Discovering Pembina 79

10 Pembina's Impact 97

11 Oh, Saskatchewan! 99

Part 3 Executive and "Politician"

12 The Corporate Fast Track 109

13 Leading Mobil Oil Canada 117

14 Sable Island 123

15 My Political Initiation 735

16 Political Tools 143

17 The Lougheed Years 151

18 Behind the Bamboo Curtain 159

19 Chinese Petroleum Frontiers 169

20 The Famous Lawsuit 179

21 Canadian Superior 197

22 The National Energy Program 197

23 The Alternative Energy Program 207

24 The Homecoming 213

25 New Frontiers 221

Part 4 Retirement and Beyond

26 With the Independents 231

27 Shiningbank and the Energy Trusts 239

28 Lessons Learned 245

29 Allies and Advocates 253

Epilogue 263

Index 265

Editorial Reviews

"Arne Nielsen, 87, is a Petroleum Hall of Famer. Nielsen was 'chief executive politician' of Mobil Oil Canada, as he puts it; discoverer of the Pembina No. 1 field at Drayton Valley, Alta.; twice chairman of the Canadian Petroleum Association; famed foe of the National Energy Program. His career spanned the biggest energy boom in history - a 'golden age,' Nielsen calls it." Holly Doan, Blacklock's Reporter
#5 on the Calgary Herald's Bestsellers list for the week of December 14, 2012.
"Arne - everyone refers to him by his first name - is lucid, insightful and passionate. A member of the Canadian Petroleum Hall of Fame, his lively anecdotes and candid assessments of the many battles he survived fill his biography." David Finch, Calgary Herald
#1 on the Calgary Herald's Bestsellers list for the week of January 12, 2013.
#7 on the Calgary Herald's Bestsellers list for the week of March 23, 2013.
"Author Nielsen is a former CEO of a major oil company in Canada. During his 60-year career in the Canadian petroleum business, he discovered a major oil field in Alberta and helped develop the energy policies adopted by the Mulroney government. In this memoir he stresses political aspects of the petroleum industry, offering an insider's perspective on the motivations and machinations of key figures behind the scenes." Book News Inc., 2013
"The oil industry is a tumultuous one, one that often calls for risk. We Gambled Everything is a memoir from Arne Nielsen who offers his insights.... [It] is a fascinating tale..." Midwest Book Review, June 2013
#1 on the Calgary Herald's Bestsellers list for the week of June 9, 2013.
"The author, a prominent retired Canadian oil geologist and senior industry executive, captures in his memoirs the excitement of oil discoveries on the Alberta and Saskatchewan plains during the 1940s and '50s. [H]e shares the excitement of locating the multibillion barrel Pembina oilfield in 1953, that has become one of the most productive fields in North America. Nielsen analyzes the changes in Canadian federal energy policies that have dramatically affected the level of oil and gas investment, exploration, and development in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, eastern Canada off shore, and in the Northwest Territories."—Allan Edward Ingelson, Great Plains Research, Vol. 24, No. 2
#1 on the Calgary Herald Bestseller list.—Calgary Herald

From the Publisher

Arne - everyone refers to him by his first name - is lucid, insightful and passionate. A member of the Canadian Petroleum Hall of Fame, his lively anecdotes and candid assessments of the many battles he survived fill his biography.

Calgary Herald - David Finch

Arne Nielsen, 87, is a Petroleum Hall of Famer. Nielsen was 'chief executive politician' of Mobil Oil Canada, as he puts it; discoverer of the Pembina No. 1 field at Drayton Valley, Alta.; twice chairman of the Canadian Petroleum Association; famed foe of the National Energy Program. His career spanned the biggest energy boom in history - a 'golden age,' Nielsen calls it.

Blacklock’s Reporter - Holly Doan