Peter Bond is an Australian mining and energy executive, best known as the former Executive Chairman of
Linc Energy and creator of the world's first synthetic crude oil. He is now a director of renewable energy company Infinite Power and ranked among the most influential business executives in Australia in ''Who's Who Business''.
Early life
Bond was raised in
Camden, New South Wales. His father was a truck driver and his mother was a teacher. He finished high school in 1981 and became a metallurgist with
BHP.
Career
After leaving BHP, Bond began buying quarries, and soon started making $17,000 a month trucking coal. He became a millionaire by age 26.
Bond debuted on the Australian ''
BRW'' rich list in 2008 with a net worth of $352,000,000, made it to number 21 on the ''Sunday Mail'' Queensland Top 150 Rich List and peaked as the 10th richest business person in Australia, with a net worth of $572,000,000.
As a metallurgist, Bond always had an interest in mining technology and renewable energy, and in 2005 he took over
Linc Energy, signing a memorandum with
Syntroleum
Syntroleum Corporation was a United States company engaged in development and commercialization of proprietary gas to liquids (GTL) and coal to liquids (CTL) processes known jointly as the Syntroleum Process. Renewable Energy Group acquired the ...
granting a licence to use the company's proprietary
gas-to-liquid
Gas to liquids (GTL) is a oil refinery, refinery process to convert natural gas or other gaseous hydrocarbons into longer-chain hydrocarbons, such as gasoline or diesel fuel. Methane-rich gases are converted into liquid synthetic fuels. Two general ...
technology. This technology was used to build a GTL pilot plant in November 2007 at Linc's Chinchilla facility. The plant was commissioned in August 2008. The first
synthetic crude
Synthetic crude is the output from a bitumen/extra heavy oil upgrader facility used in connection with oil sand production. It may also refer to shale oil, an output from an oil shale pyrolysis. The properties of the synthetic crude depend on the ...
oil was produced in October 2008.
[
]
In 2012, in a world-first, Bond flew 4,000 km across Australia in a jet powered by the fuel produced at Linc Energy's gas to liquid plant in Chinchilla.
[
] The company a signed memorandum of agreement with
BP for its jet fuel and was heralding the ability to produce 250,000 litres of jet fuel a year.
The following year Bond signed a deal with Russian Billionaire
Roman Abramovich to explore gas to liquid opportunities in Russia,
[
] after the two met in a Brisbane restaurant – a meeting which was even covered by major international news outlets, including
Fox News.
[
]
After Linc Energy entered voluntary administration in 2016, following a court case which was later dropped, Bond put his energy into the restoration of
Dunk Island, before starting renewable energy business, Infinite Power.
Personal life
Bond has six children with his ex-wife Louise. He has no relation to Australian business person
Alan Bond
Alan Bond (22 April 1938 – 5 June 2015) was an English-born Australian businessman noted for his high-profile and often corrupt business dealings. These included his central role in the WA Inc scandals of the 1980s, and what was at the time ...
.
Television
Bond appeared on the Australian version of ''
The Secret Millionaire'', a television program in which prominent millionaires go undercover in impoverished communities and give away substantial sums of money to help those in need. Bond’s appearance and $300,000 donation were widely praised as being among the most generous of the series.
[
]
His experience on The Secret Millionaire led him to strike up a friendship with
Russell Crowe
Russell Ira Crowe (born 7 April 1964) is an actor. He was born in New Zealand, spent ten years of his childhood in Australia, and moved there permanently at age twenty one. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maxi ...
and launch a television production company called Rough Diamond. Rough Diamond also included a community foundation which received part of the company's profits.
[
]
Rough Diamond, under Bond's guidance, was best known for producing the documentary series 'Where it all Began' – a series of "Real life, true stories of "the Aussie battlers" who against all odds came out on top".
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bond, Peter
Australian businesspeople
Australian mining businesspeople
Australian mining entrepreneurs
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people