The Legislature officially resumed on March 2, 1972, and continued until the fourth session was prorogued and dissolved on February 14, 1975, prior to the 1975 Alberta general election.

The Official Opposition was led by former Premier Harry Strom of the Social Credit Party, and subsequently James Douglas Henderson and Robert Curtis Clark.

The Speaker was Gerard Amerongen who would serve in the role until he was defeated in the 1986 Alberta general election.

Energy policy came to the forefront near the end of the fourth session of the Legislature when on January 16 a joint press conference was held by the owners of Syncrude Canada Ltd., a joint venture company created to extract oil from the Athabasca oil sands seeking $1-billion in investment following the withdrawal of Atlantic Richfield or risk the failure of the venture.

[2] Debate over the proposed investment Alberta's news with proponents noting the high costs of development, necessity for domestic oil supplies during the recent 1973 oil crisis, and the risk of stalling future development in the oil sands, while opponents felt the ultimatum was tantamount to blackmail.