Obsidian Energy Ltd. (previously Penn West Exploration Ltd., Penn West Petroleum and Penn West Energy Trust) is a mid-sized Canadian oil and natural gas production company based in Calgary, Alberta.

For a while it was one of the S&P/TSX 60, the sixty largest companies on the Toronto Stock Exchange. From 2005-2011 it was a Canadian royalty trust (CANROY), and reached a peak market capitalization in January 2008 of approximately US $9.5 billion. In the 2012 Forbes Global 2000, Penn West Petrpoleum, Obsidian Energy’s predecessor, was ranked as the 1086th largest public company in the world.

The company experienced operational and financial difficulties when crude oil prices fell significantly in 2014. As a result, the company underwent a significant restructuring with the majority of the assets sold over the next two years to reduce debt.

Obsidian’s oil and gas fields are located in Alberta, along the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, a region which is one of the world’s largest petroleum reserves. Production comes from three key areas in Alberta: the Pembina Cardium, the Peace River oil sands, and the Alberta Viking. Total production in 2017 is expected to average approximately 31,000 bbl equivalent per day.

On 26 June 2017, Penn West Petroleum changed its name to Obsidian Energy.

Obsidian is responsible for 0.02 % of global industrial greenhouse gas emissions from 1751 to 2016.

Traded as:           TSX: OBE

Industry:              Oil and natural gas

Founded:             Calgary, Alberta, Canada (1979)

Headquarters:    Headquarters in Calgary; oil and gas wells throughout western Canada

Products:             Oil and natural gas

Website:              www.obsidianenergy.com