Peter Bawden
| Peter Colwell Bawden | |
|---|---|
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| Member of the Canadian Parliament for Calgary South |
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In office 1972–1979 |
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| Preceded by | Patrick Morgan Mahoney |
| Succeeded by | John William Thomson |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
January 1, 1929 Toronto, Ontario |
| Died | February 28, 1991 (aged 62) Calgary, Alberta |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Political party | Progressive Conservative |
| Children | Jennifer Bawden |
| Alma mater | Upper Canada College |
| Occupation | businessman, federal politician |
| Profession | oil executive |
Peter Colwell Bawden, OC (January 1, 1929 – February 28, 1991) was a prominent Canadian oilman, cabinet minister, former Member of Parliament and in 1990 was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Bawden was elected to the Canadian House of Commons representing the riding of Calgary South, the heart of Canada’s oil industry. A Progressive Conservative, he was re-elected in 1974.
He was honored in 1990 as an Officer of the Order of Canada for being "largely responsible for pioneering oil and gas drilling in the Arctic Circle and for the international transfer of Canadian expertise and technology in this field". Peter Bawden was the first drilling contractor to drill in the Canadian Arctic Islands where the harsh and remote environment demanded special logistical planning.
Mr. Bawden built one of the world’s largest privately owned oil and gas drilling companies consisting of a large fleet of offshore and land rigs operated from offices worldwide, working closely with Shell and Dome Petroleum, among others. He moved to Alberta in the fall of 1950 and founded Peter Bawden Drilling in 1952 shortly after his arrival in Calgary. As a land drilling contractor he began by expanding on shore operations throughout North America, from the Arctic to the Gulf of Mexico, to Norway, Algeria, Australia, New Guinea, Indonesia, Philippines, Guatemala, Venezuela, Colombia and Madagascar.
A notable contribution of the Bawden organization was the development of Canadian oilfield expertise and technology in many parts of the world. Bawden’s first offshore assignments began in 1968 off the coast of Australia where the company operated that continent’s first self-containing platform rigs. In the North Sea, Bawden Drilling became the largest development-drilling contractor in the United Kingdom. They also had large platform rig operations off the California coast, in the Persian Gulf and off the coast of Malaysia. Bawden set many industry records including drilling a deviated well -11,324 feet in eighteen days from a fixed platform in the North Sea. Other notable rigs were located in the middle of the Pasadena Raceway and behind the Beverly Hills high school.
Peter Bawden committed his life to the search for oil, gas and geothermal energy. Geothermal Drilling was a Bawden specialty with over 20 years of experience in the challenging tapping of hot water and steam reservoirs. Bawden won numerous industry awards for its emphasis on safety. The company also received the Canadian Export Award in 1985 and Export Achievement Awards in the years 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985 and 1986.
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