Imperial in Canada

History

Imperial formed in 1880 when 16 refiners in southwestern Ontario created The Imperial Oil Co. Ltd. Standard Oil bought a majority interest in Imperial in 1898. On February 13, 1947, Imperial made a landmark discovery of oil at Leduc that marked the beginning of western Canada’s great oil development.

ExxonMobil Canada formed in 1999, when Exxon acquired Mobil Canada.

Learn more about Imperial’s history.

Upstream activities

In our upstream business, we provide reliable and affordable supplies of oil and gas to Canadians. From coast to coast to coast we play a major role in developing Canada's oil and gas resources, including exploring for and producing oil and natural gas and transporting it to our refineries, where we make it into products Canadians use every day.

Canada’s oil sands represent a tremendous source of secure, accessible and affordable energy to help strengthen global energy security. We are deploying next-generation technologies to develop this important resource at our wholly owned Cold Lake and Kearl operations, and at Syncrude, where we hold a 25 percent stake.

We are distinguished for our long-term commitment to research and technology, which is core to our strategy. From inventing Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage technology to drilling Canada’s first horizontal well, many of the technologies foundational to oil sands development were born in our labs. Research and technology create better ways to recover energy resources, reduce environmental impacts and produce new or improved products for Canadians.

Our scientists conduct research and partner with academic experts and scientists at ExxonMobil.

Downstream activities

We are Canada's largest refiner of petroleum products. At our refineries across Canada, including Nanticoke and Sarnia in Ontario and Strathcona in Alberta, we refine raw hydrocarbons into about 650 petroleum products essential to consumers and businesses: gasoline, diesel, heating oil, natural gas, lubricants and chemicals used to make plastics. The products manufactured from hydrocarbons fuel our economies, heat our homes and make our lives easier and more enjoyable. In total, we manufacture and sell about a quarter of the petroleum products used every day by Canadians.

To ensure we are providing the highest quality products to Canadians and the world, we have integrated Responsible Care® into our business practices. Launched in 1985, Responsible Care® guides the safe and environmentally sound management of chemicals and has been adopted in countries around the world.

Our Esso™ and Mobil™ network consists of more than 2,000 stations that keep people moving across Canada.

Safety, security, health and the environment

The safety of our workforce is a company-wide priority and is a value that guides us to strive to achieve a very simple objective – Nobody Gets Hurt.

Our Operations Integrity Management System guides everything we do, from the decisions we make to the way we operate our assets at site. This framework sets clear expectations for managing the hazards inherent in our business, supporting our commitment to excellence in safety, security, health and the environment.

We believe it is everyone’s responsibility to make the management of hazards, risks and safeguards a key focus in their daily activities. This ensures we are operating in the best interests of each other, our families, our contractors, our communities and our shareholders.

Community investment

At Imperial, we seek to contribute to the social and economic progress of the communities where we operate and believe that respecting human rights, managing our impacts and making valued social investments are integral to the success of our business and local communities. The focus areas for our community investments include:

• STEM education
• Indigenous reconciliation
• Environment
• Healthy communities

Each year we invest dollars and volunteer hours to help build stronger communities.

Learn more about our community investment program.