Courtney Stephens
Courtney Stephens was happy to leave her doctoral program in theoretical mathematics, but her career plans were an empty set. Then, just days later, after connecting with an energy industry recruiter, she started work as a petroleum analyst at Netherland, Sewell and Associates.
“I didn’t choose the industry—it chose me, and I am forever grateful,” she said.
After NSAI, Stephens moved to Waterous and Co. (now Scotiabank), contributing to various domestic and international mandates as a part of the technical team. In 2005, she took a position as senior engineering technician in Marathon Oil’s Southern Business Unit. Stephens worked on the Barnett Shale team, the southern U.S. exploration team, the North America diversity council and the upstream domestic business development team as a senior commercial analyst.
It was during her tenure at Marathon that her son Nathan was born, an event that would reshape her life and career.
“I asked Marathon HR if I could come back to work one day a week after my son was born, then grow to two days a week, then three and so on. They said no,” Stephens said. “This allowed me to close my chapter with Marathon and to start my own story.”
In 2010, she founded QED Energy Associates, specializing in providing reservoir engineering technicians to the industry. QED provides reservoir engineering tech training, consulting and placement services.
Stephens’ early-career experience as a technician became the foundation of her later entrepreneurial success.
“As a non-engineer at a reservoir engineering consulting firm, I was definitely told that I could only ever be a tech,” she said. “This continued into my second job at Waterous & Co., a boutique investment bank in oil and gas, and although I was still told I could only be a tech, I got to learn about all disciplines and roles within the upstream and corporate finance.”
It was only in her third job at Marathon that she was granted the freedom to be more than “just a tech.” Carri Lockhart, a senior Marathon executive, told her that her degree in math did not limit her in the engineering world.
“The diversity team at Marathon encouraged me that my differences made me a better, more capable leader,” Stephens said. “I now wear the label of ‘Tech’ proudly, as do hundreds of QEDers.”
Now a role model herself, Stephens looks to the example of Lockhart as what a leader should be: “strong, intelligent, and passionately dedicated to justice, what is right and what is good. She was a value creator, an encourager and an advocate for others.”
Stephens defines a great leader as one who seeks to take responsibility, not place blame, when problems arise.
“When mistakes happen, as they do, I try to look at my own responsibility in the matter,” she said. “Did I give my team the proper tools, the proper training, the right resources and time to accomplish the goal? What could I have done better?”
Stephens said her colleagues know that she has their backs and that they can count on her.
“I have asked my team, and they said they like to work with me because I am: ‘knowledgeable, a hard worker that never quits,’ that I am ‘determined, encouraging and positive.’ They say that I ‘strive to make things fun at work’ and that I ‘see them as people.’
“They know that if they need something, I will be there for them,” Stephens said. “I care more about their lives than I ever cared about any business or dollar, and that goes a long way.”
Check out the rest of Hart Energy's 2025 Women in Energy here.
1. I am an only child. T. Boone Pickens was an only child. At the Decision Makers Breakfast at Winter NAPE 2013, he said that when he fell out of bed his parents claimed it was the greatest fall that had ever taken place. I find that I greatly relate to this, and I am sure my son does as well. I talk to my parents all the time; their love and support is essential to me. Even though my son is 17 now, my husband and I are grateful that he still likes us as people, and we are honored to get to spend time with him, adventure with him and watch him accomplish his goals.
2. I am never more comfortable than when I am on stage. I love public speaking and acting, and my first love was always dance. I was Mavette of the Year - 1997, and as an adult I met one of my best friends and QED’s Managing Director of Training, Erin Randolph, at a local dance studio.
3. My husband is British. As an undergrad, Centenary encouraged international travel, even requiring students to spend one semester living in a culture other than one’s own. I spent my intercultural exchange at St. John’s College, Oxford University, where I met friends who introduced me to this handsome Chemical Engineer studying at Imperial College. I fully intended to bring him back to Texas, and I accomplished my goal.