Frozen Trees / Album: S3: Peace River-Looking Ahead
Winter in Alberta has been known to be brutally hard, especially for the crews working outdoors on the rigs. But seeing this picturesque, frozen area after a snow storm, makes it seem like a magic forest instead. | Enlarge photo
Above Alberta / Album: S3: Peace River-Looking Ahead
The landscape of Alberta is best appreciated from the air. The many forests and natural lakes make this area among the most beautiful in North America. | Enlarge photo
Spring Mud / Album: S3: Peace River-Looking Ahead
Spring brings warmer temperatures and melts not only the ice and snow, but everything in its path. The earth turns to a mud so severe that the Province closes roads until the weather warms enough to dry the mud. | Enlarge photo
Peace River Oil / Album: S3: Peace River-Looking Ahead
This map shows the area of Peace River in Northern Alberta. The oil reserves in Peace River have proved to be among the most prolific in Canada. | Enlarge photo
John's Core / Album: S3: Peace River-Looking Ahead
Drilling Cores, from deep underground, are the culmination of much of John's work in Peace River. Boxes of cores displayed here are inspected by Geologist, Charlie Moxham, to give John valuable insight on where to drill. | Enlarge photo
Paul Randell / Album: S3: Peace River-Looking Ahead
Paul Randell, with decades of experience behind him, calls many of the shots for multiple rigs from Penn West headquarters in Calgary, throughout the drilling seasons. | Enlarge photo
Farmer's Sleigh / Album: S3: Penn West's-Bonanza Rig 6
The oil rigs are located in what once was only farmland. Many farmers are still in the area and, in this part of the country with very snowy winters, sometime the old ways are the best ways. | Enlarge photo
Oil Patch Sunset / Album: S3: Penn West's-Bonanza Rig 6
It is nice to see a beautiful Alberta sunset, to counter the oil and snow and the very muddy landscape. Since the land is so flat in this part of the country the sunsets seem extra wide and expansive. | Enlarge photo
Alberta Landscape / Album: S3: Penn West's-Bonanza Rig 3
Pumpjacks can be seen all over Alberta and are a testament to how much oil is in the ground there. These strange looking pump oil by mechanical means and are an integral the Alberta landscape. | Enlarge photo
Penn West's Plan / Album: S3: Penn West's-Bonanza Rig 3
For 2012, Penn West Petroleum set out on their most ambitious plan yet. To drill more than 200 wells in less than 100 days. The plan included wells in the Pembina & Wellesden oilfields as well as in the Peace River area. | Enlarge photo
Busting a Move / Album: S3: Penn West's-Bonanza Rig 3
Blowing off steam is an essential part of some days on the Oil Patch. Cody Wilson, Driller on Rig 3, does this by dancing and likes his crew to join in, shown here busting a move here in the doghouse. | Enlarge photo
Staking a Claim / Album: S3: Penn West's-Bonanza Rig 6
A sign post is necessary in this flat landscape to mark the spot where the drilling will happen. Here, Bonanza Drilling has staked the spot where Rig 6 will drill. | Enlarge photo
Saving the Day / Album: S3: Penn West's-Bonanza Rig 3
Some days the dog bites you, but some days, you bite the dog. Logan Wild, left, and Cody Wilson, right, sometimes join forces to get the job done, and when together, their is no stopping these Oil Rig pros. | Enlarge photo
The Magic Touch / Album: S3: Penn West's-Bonanza Rig 3
Logan Wild lays his hand on a drill string and can feel vibrations of what's happening deep underground. This skill and many others, along with years of Oil Patch experience, make Logan a sought after Drilling Supervisor. | Enlarge photo
Bridge Repair / Album: S2: Special Delivery
The Canyon Creek bridge was rumoured to have shifted out of place. In fact, traffic wear and tear had eroded patches of the winter road. Here the road crew repairs the damage. | Enlarge photo
Getting Started / Album: S2: MGM Start to Finish
MGM's John Williams (second from right) and Kellie Leedham (right) lead the morning safety meeting, before the construction crew heads out to haul water from the Mackenzie River. | Enlarge photo
Arctic Dusk / Album: S2: LTD on Location
During production of season one, LTD Director Stavros Stavrides and Cameraman Sylvestre Guidi capture dusk in the Arctic. | Enlarge photo
Victory / Album: S2: Ice Crossing
Four days behind schedule the rathole rig is drilling the conductor hole on site. Better later than never! | Enlarge photo
Ice Road / Album: S2: Frozen Highways
In season one, MGM’s base camp was a 160km ice-highway-ride from Inuvik, and 300km above the Arctic Circle. | Enlarge photo
Snowy View / Album: S2: MGM Site - The Scenic View
This region, which normally gets much less snow than cities like Montreal and Calgary, was hit with over 75 additional inches this winter of 2010-2011. | Enlarge photo
