Board of Directors

Bruce G McKay

BSc (Hons), FAICD, FIEAust
Non-Executive Chairman

Bruce McKay has over 40 years’ experience in the oil and gas and resources industries. He commenced his career with Esso Australia where he worked for more than 23 years in exploration, operations and executive management in Australia and overseas. At the culmination of his career with Esso and Exxon affiliates, he held the positions of General Manager Production for Esso Australia and Chief Executive Officer of Delhi Petroleum. Subsequently he was Director of Personnel at Telstra and then was appointed Chief Executive and Head of School of the Australian Graduate School of Engineering Innovation in 1994. From 1996 to 2002 he was on the Board of Normandy Mining, then Australia’s largest gold mining company. From 1997 to 2010 Bruce was Non-executive Chairman of AWE Limited, which achieved considerable success with its growth from start-up to an ASX100 company. More recently he has been Non-executive Chairman of Epic Energy (gas pipelines), Digitalcore (technology services) and KUTh Energy (geothermal). He is currently chairman of the Advisory Board of Management for the Australian School of Petroleum at Adelaide University. He is an Honorary Life Member of APPEA where he was Chairman between 1991-92. He is also a member of AAPG and PESA.

During the last four years, Bruce McKay was Non-Executive Chairman of publicly listed companies AWE Ltd (until November 2010) and KUTh Energy (until January 2014).

Brendan Brown

BSc, BE (Hons), MBA (Melb), F.Fin
Managing Director

Brendan Brown has 25 years’ experience in the oil and gas and finance industries. He commenced his career as an engineer with BHP Petroleum, where he was involved in various projects and operations including the Jabiru, Challis, Skua and Griffin oil field developments. He has also been a successful analyst and corporate adviser with ANZ Investment Bank. Prior to establishing IPB Petroleum in 2009, Mr Brown was General Manager Finance and Business Development at Nexus Energy where he was responsible for managing the group’s corporate activities and financing functions and the negotiation and maintenance of its key commercial arrangements.

Philip Smith

BSc Physics (Hons), Msc Geophysics, Grad Dip App Fin & Inv
Technical Director

Philip Smith was appointed as the Technical Director in October 2010. He has over 30 years’ experience working as an Exploration Geoscientist and commenced his career in London with Phillips Petroleum and Kufpec before coming to Australia to join Woodside Petroleum Limited and then BHP Petroleum Limited (now BHP Billiton Limited). Philip’s positions in his 15 years with BHP Petroleum Limited were in senior technical and managerial roles, mainly involved in offshore basins around Australia. He was involved in oil and gas discoveries in Elang, Laminaria, Maple and Argus. Later he joined Nexus Energy Limited where he was responsible for building the exploration portfolio and was involved in the Longtom and Crux appraisal and development projects.

Geoffrey King

BSc (Hons)
Non-Executive Director

Geoffrey King was appointed to the Board in February 2013 as a Non-Executive Director and is also a member of the Audit Committee. He brings over 30 years’ experience within the oil and gas industry, having commenced his career with Esso Australia. Geoff then joined BHP Petroleum where he held a number of management positions and was directly involved in oil and gas discoveries at Macedon, Pyrenees, Montara, Argus and Gwydion. He was the Vice President of Exploration Australia/Asia for four (4) years with BHP Billiton and has experience in offshore basins around Australia. With his wealth of knowledge in the Australian market, Mr King also has experience in the oil and gas sector in the United States and South East Asia. He brings a particular insight into the area of exploration in the Browse Basin.

Company Secretary

Martin Warwick

BSc BBus MBA, CPA CA
Company Secretary

Martin Warwick, a professional Accountant and company advisor, brings substantial experience and skill to this position, having served as Company Secretary for Templeton Global Growth Fund Limited (ASX:TGG) for over 8 years until his appointment as Non-Executive Director in July 2014. Martin’s credentials include being an Associate of the Governance Institute of Australia, and the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators and a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.