Whitehorse Star, Friday, March 2, 1945

OIL FROM NORMAN WELLS PIPED TO AND REFINED IN WHITEHORSE

Little was it thought when the original "Discovery Well" was drilled in 1928 in the Fort Norman area that, through the exigencies of war, the oil that flowed from there would be piped to Whitehorse, a distance of 595 miles, and refined here.

The transportation of men and equipment over a road more than a thousand miles long was one of the major obstacles encountered and overcome. Camps, warehouses and platforms were constructed and pre-fabricated, barges, tugs assembled and Camp Canol was established.

In June 1942 the U.S. Engineer troops arrived in Waterways, a small frontier town northeast of Edmonton, and the men of the navigation system in Norman Wells on the Mackenzie River.

By the summer of 1943 the water system had been well established, in the meantime another route from Dawson Creek, B.C. to Whitehorse on the Alaska Highway had been opened. This pioneer road was completed in November 1942 and converted into an all-weather military highway by October 1943.

As the transportation systems came into operation crews started from Whitehorse and Norman Wells to construct the Canol access road at both ends. This road was completed in December 31, 1943 and in the following February (1944) the first weld was made in the 595-mile pipeline. On April 30, 1944 the official opening of the refinery was fittingly commemorated.

The Canol project and the Alaska Highway are both outstanding demonstrations of the cordial co-operation of the Canadian and United States governments and of the genuine spirit which has existed between the United States and Canadian people for well over a century.

It is at present being operated by the Standard Oil Co. of Alaska for the United States government.

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