Company: IMO
Filing Date: 2025-02-19
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0000049938-25-000015
Chunk: 39

Company: IMPERIAL OIL LTD
Filing Date: 2025-02-19
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1
Chunk 39
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 to Canada lands and the Atlantic offshore can apply for a SDL if a discovery is made. If granted, the SDL holds the lands indefinitely subject to certain conditions. The holder may then apply for a production licence in order to produce petroleum or natural gas from the licenced land. 

Project approval 

Approvals and licences from relevant provincial or federal governmental or regulatory bodies are required for the company to carry out, or make modifications to, its oil and gas activities. The project approval process for major projects can involve, among other things, environmental assessments (including relevant mitigation measures), stakeholder and Indigenous consultation and input regarding project concerns, and public hearings. Approval may be subject to various conditions and commitments arising through these processes. 

Approval of large energy projects may be impacted by the environmental assessment framework under Canada's Impact Assessment Act (IAA). The IAA includes broader consideration for social, health, economic and gender-based impacts, the impact on Canada’s climate change commitments (including a requirement under the Strategic Assessment for Climate Change to provide a credible plan for the project to deliver net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050), reliance on strategic and regional assessments and adjusted regulatory review timelines. In October 2023, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the new federal assessment scheme was unconstitutional in part. In November 2024, Alberta referred the constitutionality of the amended Impact Assessment Act to the Court of Appeal of Alberta. The impact of this legislation is not fully apparent, but it may impact the cost, manner, duration and ability to advance large energy projects and project expansions. 

Environmental protection 

The company regards protecting the environment in connection with its various operations as a priority. The company is subject to extensive environmental regulations in Canada that apply to all phases of exploration, development, operation, and final closure. These requirements cover the management and monitoring of potential environmental impacts during active operations, including practices for land disturbance, wildlife protection, specifications for equipment operation and material storage and limitations on discharges to the environment. It also includes conducting environmental surveys and collecting operational measurements and sampling to confirm that practices are adequately protecting the environment. These regulations also specify the actions and requirements for final reclamation, abandonment and closure of facilities. The company works in cooperation with government agencies, industry associations and communities to address existing, and to anticipate potential, environmental protection issues. The company also maintains extensive operating procedures, processes and emergency response plans to address environmental risks at its operations. 

As discussed in "Item 1A. Risk factors” in this report, compliance with existing and potential future government