Kayce Bartlett

Owen Stone was the strongest influence in Kayce Bartlett’s career. He set the bar high for her early in life in whatever she did, and let her know he expected her to succeed.​​

Like father, like daughter.

“Looking back, he has always challenged and supported me to be the best I can be, in whatever I wanted to do,” Bartlett said. “I see this now in how I mentor and support others.”

It’s reflected in her ability to pull people together toward a common goal. In 2023, that goal was integrating five E&Ps purchased by Ovintiv into the organization. She led about 100 people in Ovintiv’s operations due diligence and transition teams, coordinating daily with each of the purchased companies’ CEOs.

“Each of the acquired companies was unique and operated differently,” Bartlett said. “I helped set a vision for the team to rally behind, simplifying complex challenges, allowing the team to prioritize where it was needed. I ensured we received the operational data to support communication across all disciplines throughout the integration. My leadership, coupled with a great transition team, led to a successful and safe integration of a $4.3 billion transaction in record time.”

That type of leadership doesn’t just happen. It requires development of a range of skills and the determination to acquire them. For Bartlett, her Ovintiv experience began in 2007 on the company’s midstream team.

“I loved my job but realized that in order to grow in the organization, I needed to diversify my work experience and knowledge,” she said. “I decided that I wanted to work on the reservoir engineering development team, even though reservoir engineering was not my background.”

Leaders both within and outside her organization supported and challenged Bartlett to reach outside her comfort zone and apply for roles that she herself didn’t think she was ready to handle.

“Through all of this, my dad continued to be a sounding board when considering a new opportunity,” Bartlett said. “This was the first step in me realizing that others saw more potential in myself and supported me in ways I never imagined.”

Her first role outside of midstream was as strategic infrastructure planner for the Permian. Just two months later, she was offered the position of water infrastructure manager, providing the opportunity to manage a new team within Ovintiv.

“By taking a leap of faith into a new role, it opened other opportunities that eventually led me to manage the Permian reservoir engineering team,” Bartlett said.

Throughout her career, she has strived to broaden her vision.

“When I first entered the industry, my goals were centered around being the technical expert and resource for the team,” Bartlett said. “I worked hard to understand the big picture, the role I played to contribute to the overall objective and how to communicate effectively with all stakeholders.

“I am still focused on being a technical resource, but my goals have changed to also include my team,” she said. “My current goals are to set a clear vision for the team, create a culture of open mindedness and trust. I focus on building others’ technical competency, while challenging and supporting them to meet the needs of the organization.”

It is technical competency that will propel the oil and gas industry into the future, Bartlett believes.

“Our industry is constantly changing, and I feel that we will see a step change in our technical approach soon,” she said. “At some point, we will hit a limit in how much more we can improve without another technical breakthrough.”

The next step change, she said, will be to increase the overall recovery in existing wells. It could be tertiary recovery to increase recovery factor, more effective restimulation of existing wells, or an as-yet unknown approach to overcome base decline rates.

Technology alone, however, won’t be enough, according to Bartlett.

“Our industry will have to continue to work with the public,” she said, “to educate them on our industry and the benefits of producing a cheap and reliable energy resource.”

Check out the rest of Hart Energy's 2024 Women in Energy here.