HONOURING CLAY RIDDELL
Before a pre-season game at the Saddledome on Monday, the Calgary Flames paid tribute to co-owner Clay Riddell, who passed away last weekend.
It was almost 20 years ago when I first met Clay Riddell and the encounter still stands out.
At an energy investment forum luncheon, I was seated at a table with several gregarious CEOs who promoted the prospects and fortunes of their companies.
Sitting next to me was the CEO of Paramount Resources, who let the others talk first. He later struck up a low-key but intriguing conversation with me about the complexities of the natural gas business.
It was only later that I realized Riddell’s success — his company’s and his own fortune — dwarfed the rest of the table.
You wouldn’t have known it from the way he sat back and listened.
I won’t pretend to have known Riddell well — he died Saturday at the age of 81 after a short illness — but others who did say that was a typical exchange.
“He was very understated, not looking for the limelight, but was highly successful. He could relate well with anybody,” says Charlie Fischer, who first met Riddell in the 1980s as they both operated independent oil and gas companies.
Ken King, CEO of Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corp., says this encounter mirrors one he had with Riddell before the oilman agreed to become a coowner of the Calgary Flames in 2003.
“What you just described is what I saw and his partners saw since the moment he joined us,” King says.
“Everyone else was talking and he’s generally listening and if you wanted to have a quiet chat with him, he’d be happy to do so. But he wouldn’t be clamouring for attention or trying to command any rooms.
“But when he spoke, he had a lottosay.”
Born on a farm near Treherne, Man., Riddell graduated with a bachelor of science degree in geology from the University of Manitoba in 1959 before heading west to Alberta.
He worked as an exploration geologist with Chevron Standard and later started his own consultancy, but is best known for founding Paramount in 1976.
After taking the company public two years later, he set to work building a successful independent producer through smart, strategic exploration work.
Riddell enjoyed success finding shallow gas in northeastern Alberta, according to the Canadian Petroleum Hall of Fame, making large discoveries and later exploring in the North.
He was one of several key figures involved in the formation of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, created by the union of the Canadian Petroleum Association and the Independent Petroleum Association of Canada in 1992.
Fischer and Riddell both came from the side representing independent Canadian companies that were joining forces with larger producers and integrated players to create a unified voice for the sector.
In 1993, Riddell became CAPP chairman and remained active in the industry’s evolution over the next 25 years.
Aside from running Paramount, the business spun out Paramount Energy Trust (which later became Perpetual Energy Inc.) and Trilogy Energy Trust last decade.
Until May 2015, he served as CEO of Paramount — where his son Jim is now at the helm—and stayed on as chair. Riddell was also chair of Perpetual Energy, where his daughter Sue Riddell Rose serves as CEO. (Her husband, Mike Rose, is chief executive of Tourmaline Oil Corp.)
Riddell was inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame last year.
While many other independent producers stumbled or were swallowed up during the past four decades, Riddell showed an ability to adapt. His company emerged from the shadow of the NE Pin the 1980 s to thrive during the 1990s, then the era of income trusts, and the oil price collapse of 2014.
According to Forbes magazine, the self-made “Canadian oil baron” was worth an estimated $1.2 billion earlier this year.
“It shows that an independent guy can do things, that you don’t have to be a great big corporation to be able to build a strong enterprise,” says veteran oilpatch journalist Gordon Jaremko.
“It’s kind of uncanny, (his) ability to anticipate change, to be there at the forefront when it’s happening, rather than just being one of the herd riding up. He was at the front of the pack.”
Others in the industry tell similar tales.
They cite Riddell’s understanding of the sector for his success, but also his willingness to take calculated risks and make strategic moves.
“He could make big bets, he could see around the corner,” says veteran oilman Jim Gray, who co-founded Canadian Hunter Exploration.
Wilf Gobert, who met Riddell as a research analyst back in the 1970s when Paramount went public and now serves on the company’s board, considers him a visionary in the Canadian energy industry.
“As time goes on and more people look at his career, not only as a geologist and public oil company person, but in his contributions to the community through philanthropy, he is going to be one of the icons of the last 40 or 50 years,” says Gobert.
Riddell owned several restaurants over the years, and was active in local sports and community organizations.
He moved into the spotlight to become a co-owner of the Calgary Flames in August 2003, before the team made its run to the Stanley Cup finals the following year.
King remembers asking Riddell — a season-ticket holder — to considering getting involved as an owner. The next day, the geologist was on board.
“He was interested, less in the business of sports and more ... in ensuring the Flames’ stability,” King says. “His partners were damn happy to have him. He fit that group as though he’d always been there.”
Riddell also built a legacy through his philanthropy.
Along with his wife, Vi, who died in 2012, they made large donations to post-secondary education and health care institutions across the country.
In 2013, he donated $15 million, creating the Vi Riddell Children’s Pain and Rehabilitation Centre at the Alberta Children’s Hospital.
Riddell was also integral in the creation of the Shaw Charity Classic PGA Tour Champions golf event.
“He shared his success, not because he wanted recognition or thanks. He helped others because it was the right thing to do,” says Saifa Koonar, CEO of the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation.
“He never lost sight of what’s most important, which is taking care of family and our community.”
Sitting at the table next to Riddell almost two decades ago, I would never have known any of these things. He wasn’t one to boast about his accomplishments.
But Clay Riddell left an indelible mark, one the city and the industry won’t soon forget.
He was very understated, not looking for the limelight, but was highly successful. He could relate well with anybody.