Imperial appoints new president; CEO Brad Corson announces retirement

Imperial (TSE: IMO, NYSE American: IMO) today said the board of directors has approved the appointment of John Whelan as president, effective April 1, 2025. Chairman, president and chief executive officer, Brad Corson, 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 on May 8, 2025, Mr. Whelan will assume the role of chairman, president and CEO of Imperial Oil Limited.

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Chairman, president and chief executive officer, Brad Corson, has declared his plans to retire from Imperial after 42 years of service and following an orderly transition. (Photo: Business Wire)

“On behalf of the Imperial board of directors, I would like to thank Brad Corson for his incredible leadership and dedication over the past five years,” said Lead Director David Cornhill. “Brad steered the company through the challenges of the global pandemic, with the organization emerging to deliver the strongest financial years in company history. During his tenure, Imperial achieved repeated records for upstream production and exceptional downstream performance, delivering significant shareholder value through unprecedented share price appreciation and cash returns through record share repurchases and dividend growth.”

“Importantly, Brad has also positioned the company and its employees for future competitive success with strategic projects, including growth projects at Kearl and Cold Lake, the Strathcona renewable diesel facility and Low Carbon Solutions business, and as a founding member of the Pathways Alliance initiative to reduce emissions from oil sands operations.”

“John brings extensive experience at both Imperial and on global ExxonMobil portfolios to successfully deliver exceptional operational performance and enhanced competitiveness, which will build on this strong momentum and continue to grow shareholder value going forward, and we welcome him back to Imperial,” Cornhill added.

Mr. Corson was appointed chairman, president and chief executive officer of Imperial on January 1, 2020. A native of Woodstock, Illinois, Mr. Corson started his career with ExxonMobil in 1983 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 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.