Pioneer Natural Resources Explained

Pioneer Natural Resources Company
Industry:	Petroleum industry
Hq Location:	Irving, Texas, U.S.
Fate:	Acquired by ExxonMobil
Production:	617e3BOE per day (2022)
Revenue:	(2022)
Net Income:	US$7.845 billion (2022)
Assets:	US$35.740 billion (2022)
Equity:	US$22.541 billion (2022)
Num Employees:	2,213 (December 2023)
Footnotes:	^[1]

Pioneer Natural Resources Company, headquartered in Irving, Texas, was a company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration. It operated in the Cline Shale, which is part of the Spraberry Trend of the Permian Basin, where the company was the largest acreage holder.^[1] In May 2024, the company was acquired by ExxonMobil.

As of December 31, 2022, the company had 2.376e9BOE of proved reserves, of which 41% was petroleum, 23% was natural gas liquids, and 28% was natural gas. In 2022, the company produced 649e3BOE per day, of which 58% was petroleum, 23% was natural gas liquids, and 19% was natural gas.^[1]

History

Pioneer Natural Resources was created in 1997 by the merger of Parker & Parsley Petroleum Company and MESA Inc., owned by Thomas Boone Pickens.^[2]

In May 2016, CEO and chairman Scott D. Sheffield was succeeded by Timothy Dove. Sheffield returned to the roles in 2019 after Dove's retirement.^{[3] [4]} In January 2024, Richard P. Dealy was named as CEO.^[5]

Divestitures and acquisitions

Examples of acquisitions by Pioneer include the 2004 acquisition of Evergreen Resources for $2.1 billion, the 2021 acquisitions of Parsley Energy for $4.5 billion and DoublePoint Energy for $6.4 billion, and the acquisition of Carmuse Industrial Sands in 2012 for $297 million.^{[6] [7] [8] [9]}

	Year	Acquisition / Divestiture	Buyer / Seller	Price	Description of Assets	Ref(s).
1		Acquisition	Evergreen Resources Inc.	$2.1 billion in cash and stock	Natural gas assets in Colorado	^[10]
2		Acquisition	Carmeuse Industrial Sands	$297 million	Producer of Hickory frac sand
3		Divestiture	Sinochem Group	$1.7 billion	40% interest in approximately 207,000 net acres (84,000 net hectares) leased in horizontal Wolfcamp Shale	^[11]
4		Divestiture	Caelus Energy Alaska	$550 million	Interests in Alaska. In 2002, Pioneer made discoveries in its offshore Oooguruk field, west of Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. In 2008, Pioneer became the first independent operator to produce oil on the Alaska North Slope.	^[12] ^[13]
5		Divestiture	Linn Energy	$340 million	Non-producing assets in the Hugoton Basin	^[14]
6		Divestiture	Enterprise Products Partners	$2.15 billion	Midstream joint venture with Reliance Industries for assets in the Eagle Ford Group. JV was formed in 2010.	^[15] ^[16]
7		Acquisition	Devon Energy	$3.35 billion	28,000 acres in the Midland Basin	^[17]
8		Divestiture	Undisclosed	$266 million	2,000 acres in Martin County, Texas	^[18]
9		Acquisition	Parsley Energy	$7 billion in stock	Assets in the Permian Basin
10		Acquisition	DoublePoint Energy	$6.4 billion in cash and stock	Assets in the Midland Basin

Acquisition by ExxonMobil

In May 2024, in the largest merger in the petroleum industry in 20 years, Pioneer was acquired by ExxonMobil, making ExxonMobil the largest producer of shale gas in the Permian Basin.^{[19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27]}

Approval for the transaction from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was accompanied by a consent order alleging that former Pioneer CEO Scott D. Sheffield colluded with OPEC to raise oil prices and making the merger conditional on Sheffield's being barred from joining ExxonMobil's board of directors or serving as an advisor to Exxon after the merger.^{[28] [29]}

Antitrust lawsuit

In January 2024, a class action lawsuit was filed by drivers in three US states accusing Pioneer, along with seven other oil and gas producers, of an illegal price fixing scheme to constrain production of shale oil that led to American drivers paying more for gasoline than they would have in a competitive market.^{[30] [31]} In May 2024, plaintiffs asked for the communications records of former CEO Scott Sheffield.^[32]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Pioneer Natural Resources Company 2022 Form 10-K Annual Report . U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
2. News: Mesa Is to Merge With Parker & Parsley . Carol Marie . Cropper . . April 8, 1997.
3. Pioneer Natural Resources Company Chairman and CEO Scott D. Sheffield to Retire; Timothy L. Dove Named Successor . . May 19, 2016.
4. News: February 22, 2019 . Pioneer Natural Resources CEO to retire . .
5. Pioneer Natural Resources Announces that Richard P. Dealy Commences Role as Chief Executive Officer . . January 2, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240102144938/https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240102914539/en/ . 2024-01-02 . live.
6. Pioneer and Evergreen Announce $2.1 Billion Merger . . May 4, 2004.
7. Pioneer Natural Resources Announces Bolt-On Acquisition of DoublePoint Energy in the Midland Basin . . April 1, 2021.
8. Pioneer Natural Resources Completes Acquisition of Parsley Energy Following Stockholder Approvals . . January 12, 2021.
9. Pioneer Natural Resources Announces Closing of Carmeuse Industrial Sands Acquisition . . April 2, 2012.
10. News: Pioneer and Evergreen in $2.1 Billion Energy Merger . . May 4, 2004.
11. Pioneer Natural Resources Announces Closing of $1.7 Billion Horizontal Wolfcamp Shale Transaction with Sinochem . . May 31, 2013.
12. Pioneer Natural Resources Announces Sale of Alaska Subsidiary to Caelus Energy Alaska for $550 Million . . October 25, 2013 .
13. News: Pioneer sells Alaska holdings for $550M . . October 25, 2013.
14. LINN Energy Announces $340 Million Acquisition From Pioneer Natural Resources . . August 4, 2014.
15. Pioneer Natural Resources Announces $1.15 Billion Eagle Ford Shale Joint Venture with Reliance Industries . June 24, 2010.
16. Pioneer Natural Resources Announces Sale of Eagle Ford Shale Midstream Business for $2.15 Billion . . June 1, 2015.
17. Pioneer Natural Resources Company to Acquire Approximately 28,000 Midland Basin Acres for $435 Million and to Add 5 Horizontal Rigs During the Second Half of 2016 . . June 15, 2016.
18. Pioneer Natural Resources Company Announces Sale of Northeastern Martin County Acreage for $266 Million . . March 15, 2017.
19. ExxonMobil Completes Acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources . . May 3, 2024.
20. News: Exxon Mobil completes $60 billion deal for Pioneer Natural . Arunima . Kumar . . May 3, 2024.
21. Web site: Shale Firms Jump on Report of Exxon’s Interest in Pioneer . 2023-04-10 . Yahoo Finance . en-US.
22. Web site: 2023-10-11 . Exxon Mobil to buy Pioneer Natural for $59.5 billion, doubling down on fossil fuels as energy prices surge . 2023-10-11 . PBS News Hour. en-us.
23. Web site: Morenne . Collin Eaton and Benoît . Exxon to Buy Pioneer in $60 Billion Deal to Create Shale Giant . 2023-10-11 . WSJ . en-US.
24. News: Exxon Mobil to buy Pioneer Natural for $59.5 billion, doubling down on fossil fuels as energy prices surge . . October 11, 2023.
25. News: Collin . Eaton . Benoît . Morenne . Exxon to Buy Pioneer in $60 Billion Deal to Create Shale Giant . . October 11, 2023 . subscription.
26. News: Wolfcamp shale graduates to 'world class' play . . August 12, 2013.
27. Web site: Midland Basin Map . . November 15, 2016.
28. News: . FTC bars former Pioneer CEO in Exxon Mobil deal, saying he colluded with OPEC . . 2024-05-02.
29. Web site: Pequeño IV . Antonio . FTC Will Approve Exxon’s $60 Billion Merger With Pioneer—With One Caveat . . May 2, 2024.
30. Web site: Scarcella . Mike . 2024-01-16 . Drivers sue US shale oil producers over alleged price-fixing scheme . . https://web.archive.org/web/20240121051029/https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/drivers-sue-us-shale-oil-producers-over-alleged-price-fixing-scheme-2024-01-16/ . 2024-01-21 . live.
31. Web site: Kennedy . Charles . 2024-01-16 . Lawsuit Accuses U.S. Shale of Cartel Behavior . OilPrice.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20240116195209/https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Lawsuit-Accuses-US-Shale-of-Cartel-Behavior.html . 2024-01-16 . live.
32. News: Consumers demand ex-Pioneer CEO records in shale-oil antitrust lawsuit . Mike . Scarcella . . May 9, 2024.