Canada oil lobby picks Shell executive as president

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Canada's main energy industry lobby group said on Thursday it has hired the top executive at Royal Dutch Shell's Canadian unit as its new president, replacing Pierre Alvarez.

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, which represents 130 energy firms operating in the country, named industry veteran David Collyer to its top job.

Collyer, an engineer by trade, is currently president and country chairman at Shell Canada.

He takes the position with Canada's energy sector under close scrutiny from governments, environmental groups and aboriginal communities, which are questioning the impact of more than $100 billion (50 billion pounds) of investments in the country's oil sands and growing cross-border oil and gas trade.

Collyer is slated to start at CAPP on September 15.

Alvarez, who led the organization for nine years, announced his retirement in May.

(Reporting by Jeffrey Jones; Editing by Peter Galloway)