History

History

A Long and Storied History

A timeline on how PrairieSky Royalty became the largest independently-owned fee simple mineral title holder in Canada.
1676
King Charles II of England grants 948 million acres of land (five times the size of France) to the Hudson's Bay Company. This land, named the Rupert's Land, made up a large portion of modern Canada.
1881
Canadian Pacific Railways (CPR) began construction of the railway from Winnipeg to B.C. In exchange for building the railroad, CPR was granted 25 million acres of land. These lands included the petroleum and natural gas rights.
1886
CPR sold five million acres of land to various land syndicates and returned seven million acres to the federal government as part of a loan settlement. Starting in 1887, the Dominion of Canada no longer granted mines and mineral rights as part of the land sales.
1958
CPR creates Canadian Pacific Oil and Gas Limited and passes all of the mineral title lands to them.
2002
Encana created through merger of PanCanadian Energy Corporation and Alberta Energy Company.
1868
This land is transferred from the Hudson's Bay Company to the Dominion of Canada, in the Rupert's Land Act, in exchange for payment of £300,000 (or $1,500,000) and the retention of 5% of the most arable land in the territory.
1882
CPR was able to select lands from the odd numbered sections in a belt of land 24 miles wide on each side of the CPR railway rights. This created a checkerboard pattern, still widely used in the industry today to describe the lands. Where lands were deemed unfit for settlement, CPR negotiated for other lands that were often far from railway construction.
1905
Irrigation projects were initiated to improve the habitability of lands between Swift Current and Calgary. The checkerboard selection was abandoned in exchange for building a large irrigation system.
1971
PanCanadian Petroleum Limited is created with the amalgamation of Canadian Pacific Oil and Gas Limited and Central Del Rio Oils Limited. They focus on engaging smaller deals, reducing risk and retaining owned land.
2014
PrairieSky successfully completes the acquisition of Range Royalty in December 2014, a best in class private royalty business with exposure to the Viking light oil play in Western Saskatchewan acquiring over 3.5 million acres of royalty lands.
1871
The government began construction on the Intercontinental Railway to unite Canada east to west and encourage settlement in the west.
1883
CPR began drilling for water in hope of improving the land’s suitability for settlement. While drilling for water, Alberta’s first natural gas was discovered, Langevin No. 1.
1912
The CPR began reserving all mines and mineral rights and established its Department of Natural Resources in Calgary.
2014
PrairieSky acquires fee simple mineral title lands and completes its initial public offering.
2015
PrairieSky acquires a substantial portion of Canadian Natural’s royalty assets, gaining unparalleled fee simple mineral title exposure in the Viking light oil play in Western Saskatchewan and royalty interest in multiple resource plays in the Deep Basin of Alberta and British Columbia.
Present
PrairieSky Royalty is the largest fee simple mineral title land owner in Western Canada, including approximately 9.7 million acres of fee simple mineral title lands with petroleum and/or natural gas rights. The rights are held in perpetuity.

PrairieSky Royalty utilizes decades of historical experience with royalty lands to structure customized leasing and royalty transactions to encourage third-party exploration and development on the fee simple mineral title and other royalty lands.
1676
King Charles II of England grants 948 million acres of land (five times the size of France) to the Hudson's Bay Company. This land, named the Rupert's Land, made up a large portion of modern Canada.
1868
This land is transferred from the Hudson's Bay Company to the Dominion of Canada, in the Rupert's Land Act, in exchange for payment of £300,000 (or $1,500,000) and the retention of 5% of the most arable land in the territory.
1871
The government began construction on the Intercontinental Railway to unite Canada east to west and encourage settlement in the west.
1881
Canadian Pacific Railways (CPR) began construction of the railway from Winnipeg to B.C. In exchange for building the railroad, CPR was granted 25 million acres of land. These lands included the petroleum and natural gas rights.
1882
CPR was able to select lands from the odd numbered sections in a belt of land 24 miles wide on each side of the CPR railway rights. This created a checkerboard pattern, still widely used in the industry today to describe the lands. Where lands were deemed unfit for settlement, CPR negotiated for other lands that were often far from railway construction.
1883
CPR began drilling for water in hope of improving the land’s suitability for settlement. While drilling for water, Alberta’s first natural gas was discovered, Langevin No. 1.
1886
CPR sold five million acres of land to various land syndicates and returned seven million acres to the federal government as part of a loan settlement. Starting in 1887, the Dominion of Canada no longer granted mines and mineral rights as part of the land sales.
1905
Irrigation projects were initiated to improve the habitability of lands between Swift Current and Calgary. The checkerboard selection was abandoned in exchange for building a large irrigation system.
1912
The CPR began reserving all mines and mineral rights and established its Department of Natural Resources in Calgary.
1958
CPR creates Canadian Pacific Oil and Gas Limited and passes all of the mineral title lands to them.
1971
PanCanadian Petroleum Limited is created with the amalgamation of Canadian Pacific Oil and Gas Limited and Central Del Rio Oils Limited. They focus on engaging smaller deals, reducing risk and retaining owned land.
2002
Encana created through merger of PanCanadian Energy Corporation and Alberta Energy Company.
2014
PrairieSky acquires fee simple mineral title lands and completes its initial public offering.
2014
PrairieSky successfully completes the acquisition of Range Royalty in December 2014, a best in class private royalty business with exposure to the Viking light oil play in Western Saskatchewan acquiring over 3.5 million acres of royalty lands.
2015
PrairieSky acquires a substantial portion of Canadian Natural’s royalty assets, gaining unparalleled fee simple mineral title exposure in the Viking light oil play in Western Saskatchewan and royalty interest in multiple resource plays in the Deep Basin of Alberta and British Columbia.
Present
PrairieSky Royalty is the largest fee simple mineral title land owner in Western Canada, including approximately 9.7 million acres of fee simple mineral title lands with petroleum and/or natural gas rights. The rights are held in perpetuity.

PrairieSky Royalty utilizes decades of historical experience with royalty lands to structure customized leasing and royalty transactions to encourage third-party exploration and development on the fee simple mineral title and other royalty lands.