In 1926, George and Paul Halliburton headed north to Turner Valley, Alberta, to establish the Halliburton Oil Well Cementing Company of Canada. As Halliburton marks its centennial in Canada, the milestone offers more than a celebration. It provides a chance to reflect on a legacy built through innovation, resilience, and a deep connection to the communities it serves.
From its earliest operations in 1926 to today’s advanced technologies, Halliburton remains a constant presence in Canada’s energy landscape. The company became a registered Canadian entity in 1929, and it endures as the country’s oldest operating oilfield services provider. The Halliburton Canada story represents one of continuous evolution, shaped by market demands and the ingenuity of its team.
Historic Halliburton cementing equipment that helped shape modern well construction and stimulation practices.
A legacy built on resilience
Alberta had only celebrated two decades as a province when the Halliburton brothers arrived in Turner Valley. They established deep roots that endured throughout the Great Depression and every major milestone in Canadian history. While other service companies folded in economic downturns, Halliburton stayed. In 1951, Halliburton executed Canada’s first hydraulic fracturing operation in Manitoba, two years after its first U.S. application. The operation marked the start of a new era in well stimulation.
Halliburton also set global standards for directional drilling in Canada. Sperry Drilling Services’ research and Geo-Pilot® rotary steerable system optimized drilling performance in harsh environments, delivering optimal drilling efficiency in Alberta’s shale and tight rock formations. The company has drilled over 95% of the nearly 3,000 steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) well pairs drilled to date with ranging technology critical to produce heavy crude oil and bitumen. SAGD allowed oil sands producers to reduce costs from over $100 per barrel in the 1990s to a fraction of that today.
Early Halliburton crews working in Canada’s oilfields during the company’s foundational years.
Offshore excellence in Eastern Canada
While much of Halliburton’s Canadian footprint has its roots in Western operations, its contributions to offshore work in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland played a vital role in the company’s history. Halliburton drilled its first offshore well in Nova Scotia in 1943.
By the late 1990s, Halliburton executed world-record foam cement jobs on the Sable Island project and utilized the GeoPilot rotary steerable system to enable multi-zone completions in both Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. The Sable Island gas project, also decommissioned by Halliburton in 2020, represented a landmark in Canadian offshore development. Today, Halliburton supports offshore operations in Newfoundland with SmartWell® intelligent completions technology, where oil remains a key catalyst of activity.
Modern Arctic drilling operations showcasing Halliburton’s Geo-Pilot® rotary steerable technology, setting new performance benchmarks in extreme conditions.
Market requires adaptations to deliver excellence
Halliburton’s ability to adapt proved central to its Canadian resilience. As market demands shifted, the company strengthened operations to focus on the technologies that would improve operators’ returns the most: directional drilling, hydraulic fracturing, and artificial lift. This strategic shift delivered high-impact technologies like iCruise® intelligent rotary steerable systems and OCTIV® auto frac services. At the same time, Halliburton explored the potential for Canada’s first ZEUS® fracturing services and set a new standard for efficiency in all.
Technology and safety shape a shared journey
From analog cementing logs to AI-driven predictive analytics, Halliburton’s technological evolution has also improved safety.  From the first frac job in 1951 to introducing drilling and completions automation, Halliburton uses innovation to remotely control operations and eliminate personnel from the red zone.
Halliburton’s progress in health, safety, and environmental performance mirrors its technical evolution. From the introduction of Life Rules and Journey Management programs to the achievement of industry-leading Total Recordable Incident Rate reductions, the company has embedded safety into every innovation. Today, Halliburton Canada operates under ISO 14001-certified environmental systems (International Organization for Standardization) and invests in technologies that minimize emissions and water use, proof that stewardship goes beyond a slogan.
Community and sustainability fuel operations
Halliburton’s Canadian story is more than just wells. Relationships play a large part in operational success. The company invests in Indigenous inclusion and engagement programs, and Canadians comprise about 90% of its local workforce. Collaborations with STARS Air Ambulance (Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service), the Calgary Flames Foundation, Make-A-Wish Canada, and the Canadian Energy Executive Association reflect a dedication to community that goes beyond business. In 2024 alone, Halliburton spent $255 million in Canada, which supported local vendors, technology development, and supply chain resilience.
As Halliburton looks ahead, it provides new solutions aligned with Canada’s balanced future energy mix. Carbon capture, utilization, and storage projects demonstrate how the company supports sustainability goals, as does its involvement in key conferences throughout the country.
Halliburton engineers the next century of innovation
The centennial anniversary of Halliburton in Canada provides a launchpad for new technologies that will improve drilling and completions. Priorities include the Alberta Drilling Accelerator to fast-track next-generation tools; expansion of ZEUS fracturing services; and renewed investment in the Edmonton hub for manufacturing and assembly to provide global reach from local expertise.
Halliburton’s 100-year journey in Canada stands as a testament to its ability to adapt, lead, and serve. Whether through innovative offshore projects, efficiency benchmarks, or investments in balanced energy technologies, the company consistently delivers value to customers and communities.
As Halliburton looks to the future, its focus remains unchanged: to provide the best technology, the safest operations, and the strongest collaborations to Canada. The company collaborates and engineers solutions for the next century to maximize its customers’ asset value, power Canada’s energy mix, and strengthen Canada’s global leadership.
     