(Adds comment, details on Crothers, context)
By Nia Williams
CALGARY, Alberta, Nov 16 (Reuters) - The president of ShellCanada, a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell,is stepping down at the end of this year, less than one monthafter the company cancelled a major oil sands project innorthern Alberta.
In a statement released on Monday, Shell said that LorraineMitchelmore, who spent six years as Shell Canada's president andcountry chair, will be replaced on Jan. 1 by Michael Crothers,who will retain his current role as vice president ofUnconventionals North America.
Last month, Shell pulled the plug on its80,000-barrel-per-day Carmon Creek project, citing "currentuncertainties" and lack of infrastructure to move Canadian crudeto market.
A spokesman for Shell Canada said Mitchelmore's departurehad nothing to do with the decision to halt Carmon Creek.
Mitchelmore said, "My choice to move on to new opportunitiesis largely driven by my desire to spend more time with my twoyoung daughters."
Earlier this month the company launched the Quest project atits Scotford upgrader in northern Alberta, the first in the oilsands to capture and bury carbon emissions.
Her departure comes as the Canadian oil industry grappleswith a prolonged global crude price slump, royalty and climatechange policy reviews by the Alberta government and the U.S.rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline.
Mitchelmore said Shell and Canada's energy industry arewell-positioned to face the future.
Her replacement Crothers, a native of Calgary, trained as achemical engineer and previously worked as Shell's venturemanager and country chair in Ireland.
Before that he spent 10 years in Shell's oil sandsoperations, including a stint as general manager of the Scotfordupgrader, which processes mined bitumen into refinery-readysynthetic crude. (Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Phil Berlowitz)
