James Edward Burns is an international business executive, board chairman and investor with more than 30 years of experience building businesses, leading major strategic transactions and creating value across the global energy, infrastructure and capital markets sectors. Throughout his career he has advised sovereign governments, structured cross-border public and private market transactions, and served on boards across North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. He has worked directly with management teams, institutional investors and government stakeholders on financings and strategic initiatives representing billions of dollars in enterprise value.
As a founding member of Shell’s Global LNG Trading organisation, James helped establish the commercial, risk management and governance frameworks that supported the growth of one of the world’s leading LNG businesses. During his tenure at Shell, he led and supported strategic transactions and commercial negotiations alongside major global industry participants including Qatar LNG, RasGas, Nigeria LNG, Oman LNG, Tokyo Gas, Mitsubishi and Repsol. He later created and led Shell’s LNG Fuel Business in the Americas, served as Division President of Clean Energy & Innovation, and developed the commercial strategy for key infrastructure assets including the Elba Liquefaction Project.
In 2014, James established the LNG platform that became part of New Fortress Energy (NASDAQ: NFE), securing $60 million in project financing and developing an opportunity pipeline representing approximately $750 million of future investment. He was then recruited to lead Transfuels LLC (Blu LNG), ENN Group’s North American LNG platform, following a significant underperformance of approximately $300 million of invested capital. James consolidated four operating businesses under a unified commercial strategy, streamlined operations and materially reduced losses, preventing a potential $1 billion investor write-off and preserving significant shareholder value.
Most recently, James served as Senior Advisor to the Petroleum Authority of Brunei Darussalam. Acting on behalf of the Government, he advised on hydrocarbon strategy, fiscal policy and LNG commercialisation, and led negotiations for major energy developments representing more than $2 billion of potential investment. James currently serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hearthstone Capital, a privately held investment company operating as a family office platform for strategic investments in real estate, energy and select private equity opportunities.
James maintains an active governance footprint, having held board leadership and director roles with TMT Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ), Petrolia Energy Corporation, Bon Natural Life (NASDAQ), Playmaker IQ, Bow Energy Ltd. (TSX Venture) and Fortress Energy Partners. His experience spans mergers and acquisitions, project finance, capital raising, corporate restructuring and long-term value creation.
James is a NACD Board Leadership Fellow with executive education credentials from Harvard, Stanford and INSEAD, complementing his Executive MBA in International Business from the University of Houston. He is also a member of the Harvard Business Review Advisory Council.
