Shell Canada's shares were originally independently traded on the
Toronto Stock Exchange. The company was 78% owned by Royal Dutch Shell which in 2006 launched an $8.7-billion takeover of the 22% of Shell Canada that it didn't own. In March 2007 the shareholders of Shell Canada Ltd. accepted a $45.00 per share cash offer from Royal Dutch Shell plc. This acquisition was primarily driven by the desire of the parent company to take total control of its Canadian division's
unconventional resources, specifically the
oil sands. The move was unanimously approved by the independent members of the board of directors. In 2003, Royal Dutch Shell had appointed a British executive, and former chairman of Shell in the UK,
Clive Mather, as president and CEO of Shell Canada. &
Morris. As a consequence of the stock acquisition by Royal Dutch Shell, all Shell Canada executives holding stock options benefitted. Shell Canada announced on Mather's retirement from the company shortly after the acquisition was completed that his total pay package for his final year (2006–2007) was $4.9 million including bonuses, stock options and pension contributions and that on leaving the company, Mather was additionally eligible for a lump sum payment equal to his annual gross salary. His total benefit in that year was, therefore $9.8 million of which some $5 million was from exercised stock options, making him one of the highest remunerated employees in
Royal Dutch Shell. In 2006, Shell Canada acquired the oil sands developer BlackRock Ventures Inc. for $2.4 billion. As part of this deal, Shell acquired the Orion oil-sands project near
Cold Lake, Alberta. In May 2012, Shell announced that it has put the project up for sale. In 2007, the company invested $20 million into an expansion at the
Brockville Lubricant Plant. In January 2019, it announced plans to invest a further $16 million towards new equipment that will increase production and efficiency. In November 2015, the
Shell Canada Quest Energy project began commercial operations. Part of the Athabasca Oil Sands Project, it involves
Shell as the major shareholder (60%),
Chevron Canada Limited (20%), and Marathon Canadian Oil Sands Holding Limited (20%). It is identified as being the first commercial-scale
CCS project, proposing to reduce CO2 emissions in Canada by 1 million tonnes per year. In April 2017, the company completed an expansion project at the
Scotford refinery, growing hydrocracker production by 20%. ==Management and employees==