Inpex Americas, a Houston-based subsidiary of Japanese oil and gas supplier Inpex Corporation, has appointed Masatoshi Nishi as vice president of venture and business development.
Nishi will focus on startup investment and business incubation in his new job. He joined Inpex in 2013 in Tokyo and held roles in areas including digital transformation and operational support.
In 2022, Nishi moved to the US as VP of digitalisation and climatetech, before becoming VP of technical, new venture and business in May 2023.
Previously, Nishi spent more than 20 years at another oil and gas producer, Schlumberger, across various positions encompassing personnel, operations, sales and field engineering.
Founded in 1941, Inpex is the largest oil and gas producer in Japan. The firm conducts oil exploration and production across 20 countries.
Like other energy conglomerates, Inpex launched a plan to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, with the first goal being to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 30% by 2030. It has backed startups including electrochemical technology developer OcoChem and lithium-ion battery producer TeraWatt Technology.