Overview
Imperial Oil Limited is a Canadian integrated oil and gas company headquartered in Calgary. Founded in 1880, it explores for and produces crude oil and natural gas, refines petroleum, and distributes and markets fuels and chemical products. Its operations are primarily in Canada and span three segments: Upstream, Downstream and Chemical.[1][2][3][4]
Imperial’s products include gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, lubricants, asphalt and petrochemicals. The company describes its goal as conducting business in an economically, environmentally and socially responsible manner while delivering long-term value. It reported C$47.1 billion in total revenues and other income for 2025 and describes its workforce as more than 5,000 people.[5][6][4][7] [1][2][3][5][4][6][7]
Products & services
Imperial Oil’s petroleum products include gasoline, heating oil, diesel, jet fuel, fuel oil and asphalt. It markets fuels through Esso- and Mobil-branded stations and supplies fuel, asphalt and lubricants to industrial and transportation customers, marketers and resellers. Its upstream output also includes bitumen and synthetic crude oil.[8][9][10] In 2024, gasoline accounted for approximately 48% of petroleum-product sales by volume; heating, diesel and jet fuels together accounted for 38%; lube oils and other products, 10%; and heavy fuel oils, 5%. These are volume shares, not revenue shares.[11]
Imperial markets Mobil lubricants in Canada and offers Mobil Serv to commercial customers. Its Sarnia chemical plant produces polyethylene, naphtha intermediates, vinyl intermediates and aromatics for uses including packaging, construction and vehicle components.[12][13] Customer services include Esso and Mobil retail fueling, app-based payment at participating stations, and Esso Commercial Cardlocks, whose fleet cards can be customized for business customers.[14][15][16] [8][9][10][17][17][17][17][17][11][12][13][14][15][16]
Geographic presence
Imperial Oil’s operations are concentrated in Canada. Its major upstream sites are the Kearl and Cold Lake oil-sands operations in Alberta and its interest in the Syncrude oil-sands operation. Its three refineries are Strathcona in Alberta and Sarnia and Nanticoke in Ontario.[18][19][20][21]
Imperial markets petroleum products throughout Canada through a distribution system that includes terminals and pipelines in Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario. Esso- and Mobil-branded stations number more than 2,000 across Canada. The Nanticoke refinery also serves U.S. markets, but Imperial does not report a country-by-country revenue split. Its principal executive office is in Calgary, Alberta; it does not disclose an employee breakdown by location.[22][23][14][24][25][26] [21][21][21][22][23][25][26][18][19][20][14][24]
Business segments
Imperial Oil reports three business segments. Upstream explores for and produces crude oil, bitumen and natural gas, including production from Kearl, Cold Lake and Syncrude. Downstream refines crude oil into petroleum products and distributes and markets them. Chemical manufactures and markets hydrocarbon-based chemicals and chemical products.[25][27][28][29]
Based on 2025 revenue from customers outside the company, Downstream accounted for approximately 97% of the three segments’ combined revenue, Chemical 2% and Upstream less than 1%. That sales mix understates Upstream’s economic contribution because much of its production is sold to other Imperial businesses and eliminated from consolidated revenue: Upstream generated approximately 52% of combined segment net income, compared with 46% for Downstream and 2% for Chemical. These percentages are calculated from reported segment results and may vary by year.[30] [25][27][28][29][31][31][31][31][31][31][31][30]
Company history
Imperial Oil was formed in London, Ontario, in 1880 by 16 refiners from southwestern Ontario. In 1897, it acquired and began rebuilding the Bushnell refinery in Sarnia. Standard Oil of New Jersey acquired a controlling interest in Imperial the following year.[32][33]
Imperial’s discovery at Leduc No. 1 in 1947 helped usher in Alberta’s modern oil industry. The company later expanded its oil-sands operations: commercial development phases at Cold Lake began in 1985, following earlier pilot work, and its Kearl project began production in 2013.[34][35][18] [32][33][34][35][18]
Sources
- IMPERIAL OIL LTD — Full financial report (2024 Y)
- www.imperialoil.ca[4]
- www.imperialoil.ca[6]
- www.imperialoil.ca[7]
- www.imperialoil.ca[11]
- www.imperialoil.ca[12]
- www.imperialoil.ca[13]
- www.imperialoil.ca[14]
- www.esso.ca[15]
- www.imperialoil.ca[16]
- www.imperialoil.ca[18]
- www.imperialoil.ca[19]
- www.imperialoil.ca[20]
- IMPERIAL OIL LTD — Full financial report (2025 Y)
- www.imperialoil.ca[24]
- www.sec.gov[30]
- www.imperialoil.ca[32]
- www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca[33]
- discoverapega.ca[34]
- static.aer.ca[35]
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