With a goal to celebrate an industry that has given so much to our province, the Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors marks today as Oil and Gas Awareness Day in Alberta.

It recognizes the Leduc No. 1 oil discovery on February 13th 1947, marking the 70th anniversary of that discovery this year, which attracted many people to our province to seek new opportunities

Association President Mark Scholz says the goal of today is to get Albertans to take a few moments to recognize all of the things we use thanks to the energy we produce.

"If they're sitting in their office, if they're taking their kids to hockey practice. The fuel in our vehicles, our cellphones, the petrochemical industry that is tied to those that, which makes 90% of the products we often use everyday. Let's just recognize how important this industry is, and what it has accomplished for our high standard of living."

Scholz says 2016 was the worst year the oil and gas industry has ever experienced when looking at records dating back to 1972.

Scholz says he believes it's important to recognize the contributions the Oil and Gas industry has made not only for Albertans

"I think we have to look at this as a Canadian industry, it's important to Canada as a whole. One of the things we're really happy to see is that right now we have 27 municipalities that are recognizing February 13th. And I think at the end of the day, let's just reflect on how important this industry is."

He notes we're starting to see some recovery in the industry, but we need to be cautiously optimistic.

After getting over 1,300 signatrues on their Oil Respect Campaign the Provincial Government has taken notice, and Energy Minister Marg McCuaig-Boyd was in Leduc this morning to celebrate the industry.

You can learn more about Leduc No. 1 by clicking on the link. http://www.leducnumber1.com/history.html