Others are talking about direct deals in raw materials (broker who trades wood products, oil trader who also brokers shipping contracts, etc).As to your RE investing.

It may not be included in the initial phase but simply additional land.Have fun searching the oil royalties down there for title!

It didn't stop my wife from objecting, but it made her a lot more comfortable.I explained to my wife that when we were dating I was riding bulls, riding race horses in races, working in an oil derrick 140 feet in the air, etc. 

Some people hate bankers, oil companies, insurance companies, logging, mining, etc.

They might charge more money thus reducing your profit, but are often more well oiled machines and have processes on getting bids out/work done etc.

So they either struck oil on the property, or someone has been eating some of the Colorado Brownies, either way, it is definitely NOT a comp. 

But she changes the oil.

Your options left are OZ's (defer) oil drilling (tax benefits + income) and land conservation easements or mineral rights donations (can be risky but they're very powerful tax advantages).

However, home is heated with oil.

I've heard a lot about Edmonton and the oil sands areas, but I'm wondering if there aren't some other hidden gems out there that you guys could recommend?