People | People-Promotion | People-Retirement

Pioneer CEO Sheffield to Retire; COO Dove to Take Helm

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   |    Thursday,May 19,2016

Pioneer Natural Resources Company announced that Scott D. Sheffield will retire as the Company’s chief executive officer effective Dec. 31, 2016.

Pioneer’s board of directors approved a transition plan under which the Company’s president and chief operating officer, Timothy L. Dove, will succeed Sheffield as the Company’s president and chief executive officer upon his retirement. Sheffield will continue as executive chairman of the Company's board of directors through Dec. 31, 2017, at which time he will retire as an executive and employee of the Company but remain on the board.

Lead Director Ken Thompson commented: "Scott Sheffield has truly been a visionary leader in the energy industry. For more than 30 years, he guided Pioneer and its predecessor companies to build one of the premier oil shale resource companies in the United States. Despite the challenges facing the energy industry today, Pioneer is in excellent financial shape with great assets and a strong, experienced leadership team in place. Pioneer’s corporate culture is second to none thanks to Scott, and it shows in our people, assets, balance sheet and top-tier performance."

What started as a $32 million company in 1985 has grown to a $28 billion company today. With Sheffield at the helm, Pioneer and its predecessor, Parker and Parsley Petroleum Company, built a legacy position in the heart of the Spraberry/Wolfcamp Field in the Permian Basin during the 1980s and 1990s. Pioneer advanced into successful upstream ventures around the globe, but ultimately the Company found its greatest success by returning to its roots in the Permian Basin and bringing technological advances to the Spraberry/Wolfcamp Field, thus making the field the second largest oil field in the world.

Sheffield is recognized for his leadership in bringing an end to the domestic oil export ban last year, four decades after its adoption in the U.S. His tenure at Pioneer will be remembered for its well-timed strategic decisions, financial discipline, solid growth and strong management teams with attention to seamless leadership transitions, particularly as it relates to his own successor.

Sheffield said: "Tim’s strategic thinking and depth of experience was critical to our efforts to transform the Company into a leading developer of U.S. onshore unconventional resources. I am confident he is the best person to serve as Pioneer’s next CEO. His leadership skills, operational knowledge, keen financial mind and work ethic will ensure we continue to enhance shareholder value. With more than 30 years of industry experience each, Tim and the other members of our Management Committee are one of the best and most cohesive management teams in the business."

Dove added: "It is the ultimate honor to succeed Scott Sheffield. He laid a solid foundation on which we have built one of the most successful independent E&P companies. Pioneer has a special culture with talented people who give us a competitive advantage. With more than 20,000 drilling locations in some of the best rock in the world, we have the assets and people to continue to achieve top-tier performance in the coming years."

Sheffield intends to spend his time with his five children and 10 grandchildren and pursue his favorite hobbies of tennis, golf, fishing, skiing and hunting. He and his wife, Kimberley, will permanently reside in Santa Fe, N.M.