Bill Townsend

Bill Townsend is the general manager of external affairs and joint venture at INPEX. He leads a team of 30 and is responsible for managing the company’s government and community relations, corporate social responsibility, Aboriginal affairs, regulatory approvals, communications, media relations and joint venture management. Mr Townsend joined INPEX in 2006 and is a member of the Ichthys LNG Project Executive Committee.

Beginning his career as a US Navy submarine officer, Mr Townsend entered the oil and gas industry in 1994 as a business advisor to BP Russia, based in Moscow. Further commercial and external affairs assignments with BP followed and included the Shah Deniz gas project in Azerbaijan and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline project in Georgia, as well as additional roles with BP in the Caspian region.

Mr Townsend holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Northwestern University, and an MBA from Dartmouth College.