The AEC was created by the Government of Alberta under Premier Peter Lougheed as a mechanism for Albertans to invest in the Syncrude oil sands project.

A restrictive charter, which prevented individual shareholders from acquiring more than one percent of the company and mandated directors be residents of Alberta, ensured control remained within the province.

After the rejection, on 4 December 1964, the Cities group joined to form Syncrude Canada Ltd., whose first president was Frank Keller Spragins (1914–1978) of Imperial.

The first meeting, between company vice-presidents and cabinet ministers was led by Don Getty, and ended with the government group walking out.

The second meeting was between Lougheed and the five company presidents: Spragins of Syncrude, Jerry McAfee of Gulf, Jack Armstrong of Imperial, Gordon Sellars of Cities, and Robert Anderson of Atlantic Richfield.

The Syncrude group agreed grudgingly to the terms, and on Tuesday, 18 September 1973, the government incorporated the Alberta Energy Company.

To increase the viability of the company, the province would sell it the natural gas reserves in the Suffield Block, which hitherto had been off-limits for petroleum exploration.

[6] After the announcement of the plan, Alberta New Democratic Party leader Grant Notley inveighed the proposal for what he believed was its failure to keep the profits from the oil sands in the hands of Albertans.

At a conference at the University of Calgary held by the Committee on Socialist Studies, Notley called the project "the most gigantic sellout in the history of Canada" and told the audience that, were he premier, he would renegotiate the deal.

"[8] On 7 December 1973 in the Alberta Legislature, Don Getty, Minister for Federal and Intergovernmental Affairs, delivered a statement on the AEC.

[10] As the AEC was created to provide a vehicle for Albertan ownership of the oil industry, the Act included strict provisions to keep control of the company within the province.

[12] The nine directors elected to the first board were Mathew M. Baldwin, Edward A. Galvin, M. Earl Lomas, Peter L. Macdonnell, John E. Maybin, Stanley A. Milner, Raymond J. Nelson, Gordon H. Sissons, and J. Harry Tims.

Prior to taking the position, Mitchell was president of the Great Plains Development Company of Canada, a subsidiary of Burmah Oil.

After the introduction of the National Energy Program (NEP) on 28 October 1980, the AEC lobbied the Alberta government to remove the restrictions on its exploration and production activities.

Company executives argued that its limitations, combined with NEP policies, would force it to leave the province to be able to generate profit.

Despite this, the Lougheed government declined to intervene and claimed ex post facto that the proscription on acquisitions applied only to hostile takeovers.

[22] The 1982 Chieftain purchase prompted the AEC to make a share offering, with the aim of raising capital to reduce debt.

Following the 1982 Alberta general election in November, in early December, the government announced it would not purchase its half of the forthcoming offering.

In response to the decision, NDP leader Ray Martin described the move as "like mortgaging your house to pay off your credit cards."

Premier Ralph Klein denied that the move was to help improve the province's financial position in advance of the 1993 Alberta general election held on 15 June.

The genesis of the Alberta Energy Company's merger with PanCanadian Petroleum was the decision in the fall of 2000 by Canadian Pacific Limited to break up its holdings.

The confidential plan, named "Operation Drummond," was approved by the company's president and chairman David P. O'Brien.

On Tuesday, 16 October 2001, Morgan placed a telephone call to O'Brien, who remained PanCanadian's chairman after the breakup, and opened negotiations for a merger.

[31] The new merged company would be called EnCana Corporation, a name Morgan conceived while cross-country skiing with his wife over Christmas.