Women in Energy: Christina Kitchens, 3P Energy Capital

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Between founding 3P Energy Capital and advising on energy litigation and governance matters on the side, Christina Kitchens brings a no-nonsense work ethic to the oil and gas industry.

Her family was widely involved in oil and gas, so she also became involved in the field at an early age. She designed layouts for oilfield services supply catalogs in high school, and she started an oilfield hot shot services firm while attending college full time and working another job.

Despite her family’s “ups and downs” industry experiences, Kitchens was drawn into energy finance after steering clear of the space as a young professional, and later she shifted into energy capital as she saw opportunities develop in the marketplace. Amid the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, she created 3P Energy Capital to provide capital and advisory services to the energy industry.

“Launching 3P Energy Capital in the midst of COVID-19 is my most substantial career milestone yet,” Kitchens said. “I had been vetting plans for nearly a year and thinking about the future of energy capital and its opportunities and challenges. 3P was launched to get ahead of what I felt to be an evolving energy segment and to create tangible value for our clients, partners and the industry.”

All roads lead back to energy

“Having seen and experienced the energy industry’s hardships in the ’80s and ’90s, I went into banking specifically to diversify away from the field. While I was at Citibank, an internal mentor convinced me to get involved in an oil- and gas-lending project, feeling it was a good fit. If not for that, I may have never made the jump. I am glad I made the move as I’ve had a great time in this space, and I can’t imagine doing anything else.”

Family office relationships

“Our family office practice has been the most interesting development with its unanticipated exponential growth via our deep relationships that existed ahead of 3P’s launch. We discovered the more we teamed up with family offices, the more offices reached out to 3P inquiring on ways we could work together on their energy assets, A&D activities, allocation goals and investment objectives.”

Stepping up to the challenge

“I am the first to raise my hand to take on tough projects and more responsibility. At times, I have an initial stage of ‘What the hell did you just take on?’ but then resolve to figure it out. As a result of this willingness to take on more, I have built three energy finance divisions, along with portfolio management, petroleum engineering groups, commodity trade desks, syndication services, other specialized lending, an investment bank and ESG finance products.”

Lift and lead

“I will not say I’ve not had an issue [as a woman in energy], but none that could not be resolved with thoughtfulness and perhaps a bit of charm. When confronting issues, I try to lift others, lead with empathy and persuade without belittling or defeating. That being said, I have been told I don’t suffer fools gladly by my peers, staff and leadership on more than a few occasions. I will intervene in situations where I see wrongdoing, dishonesty or bullying—I simply can’t tolerate it.”

Click here for a full list of “25 Influential Women in Energy” honorees for 2022.