Mr Johnston will commence with DBP on 6 April 2010. Previous CEO Stuart Hohnen will move to a new role as non-executive Chairman of the DBP Board.

Mr Hohnen said “We look forward to the significant contribution Mr Johnston can make to the leadership of the DBP team and to the development of DBP’s business, based on his extensive international energy industry experience.”

Mr Johnston comes from a 20 year career with Shell, including his previous role as Vice President Strategy Portfolio and Planning with Shell Upstream International. He has a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Nottingham and an MBA from London Business School.

Trading under the name DBP Transmission, the company manages the Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline, which is the only natural gas pipeline connecting the Carnarvon Basin at Western Australia’s North West Shelf with industrial, commercial and residential customers in Perth and the surrounding region. The pipeline runs from the Burrup Peninsula, near Dampier, to Bunbury in the southwest of the state. The total length of the mainline is 1,596 km, with laterals totalling 258 km.

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DBP Transmission is owned by the consortium comprising DUET, Alcoa and Prime Infrastructure.