Mr Thompson was appointed as a director in November 2009. He is Chairperson of the Safety, Health, Environment, Community & Sustainability Committee, and is a member of the Finance & Investment Committee and the Remuneration Committee. Mr Thompson was, from 2004 until his retirement in 2007, Executive Vice President Commercial for The Mosaic Company, one of the world’s largest fertiliser companies, with sales of US$9 billion and some 8,000 employees, which is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Prior to that, he was engaged for 30 years in the steel industry from 1974–2004 in various roles at Cargill, Inc of Minnesota, United States, leading to the position of President of Cargill Steel Group from 1996–2004. During that period, Mr Thompson also served for a time as Co-Chairman of the North Star BlueScope Steel joint venture, and was a member of various industry boards, including AISI (American Iron and Steel Institute), SMA (Steel Manufacturers Institute) and MSCI (Metals Service Center Institute). He is currently a director of Hawkins, Inc, and serves as Chairman of the Board of Visitors of the University of Wisconsin School of Education. Mr Thompson has a BS from the University of Wisconsin Madison.

Petroleum industry