Imperial announced that the board of directors has approved the appointment of John Whelan as president. Chairman, president and chief executive officer, Brad Corson (pictured), has declared his plans to retire from Imperial after 42 years of service and following an orderly transition. At the conclusion of the company’s annual meeting of shareholders, Mr. Whelan will assume the role of chairman, president and CEO of Imperial Oil Limited.
Mr. Corson was appointed chairman, president and chief executive officer of Imperial. A native of Woodstock, Illinois, Mr. Corson started his career with ExxonMobil in New Orleans, Louisiana, and has held various technical, operations, commercial and managerial assignments around the world. Prior to his appointment to Imperial, he was president of ExxonMobil Upstream Ventures and vice president of Exxon Mobil Corporation responsible for overseeing ExxonMobil’s global upstream acquisition and divestment programs, including strategic acquisitions in the Permian Basin, Papua New Guinea, Mozambique and Brazil.
Mr. Whelan, a native of St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from Memorial University of Newfoundland. He began his career with ExxonMobil in Drayton Valley, Alberta and has held various technical, project, operations, commercial and management positions in Canada, the United States and Norway. Mr. Whelan returned to Canada and served as Imperial’s vice president of Upstream production. He was appointed Imperial’s senior vice president, leading the upstream organization through a period of record growth, including increased production and reliability at Kearl, the company’s oil sands mining operation.
Courtesy of Imperial Oil.