Martin J Houston

Mr Martin Houston is a petroleum geologist by training, and is responsible for overseeing BG's businesses in the Americas and Australia, in addition to its global LNG activities. He has extensive international experience from a wide variety of technical, commercial and management roles and has played a leading role in developing the Group's LNG business.

In an international energy industry career spanning more than 30 years Martin Houston has conducted business in over 40 countries. More than half of this time has been spent living in foreign locations including Trinidad and Tobago, Singapore, the Philippines and the US. He's managed all forms of enterprise in the energy industry and has established a strong external reputation in the international gas business.

He sits on the National Petroleum Council of the US and the Board of Americas Natural Gas Alliance, an industry advocacy body which seeks to promote the use of natural gas in the US. He is also a member of Accenture's Global Energy Board, an industry think-tank committed to understanding global energy needs in the coming decade and beyond. He is the Regional Vice President for the Americas on the executive committee of GIIGNL, the 40-year-old LNG importers' forum which includes all of the key buyers of LNG from around the world. He is on the Houston-based Board of Advisors of the US-Arab Chamber of Commerce that serves as a liaison between prominent government and private trade development agencies, associations and academic institutions in the US and the MENA region.

From 2004 to 2009, Mr Houston was a non-Executive Director of Severn Trent plc, at the time, a FTSE 100-integrated water and environmental company. He is a former Director of SIGTTO, the international organisation representing gas tanker and gas terminal operators worldwide. He has been involved in the UK government's Trade Advisory Board for North Africa and the Middle East and has worked closely with foreign and the UK governments to promote both sustainable development initiatives and export opportunities for UK plc. He previously sat on the Board of the Egyptian British Business Council, which, under the auspices of the Prime Ministers of both countries, promoted "better business" between Egypt and the UK.

He was the first recipient of the CWC LNG Executive of the Year award in 2011 and for the last two years has been listed in Tradewinds' global shipping industry Power 100. Finally, he is a Companion of the Institution of Gas Engineers and Managers and a Fellow of the Geological Society of London. As a lover of opera, he sits on the Advisory Board of the Royal Opera House. Other interests include golf, shooting and riding his Harley Davidson on sunny days. He has been married to Jane for 30 years and has two daughters, Charlotte (21) and Emily (18).