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Pioneer, Oil Production Up 10% (162 Mbpd) in The 3rd Quarter

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   |    Friday,October 13,2017

Pioneer Natural Resources Company announced that production for the third quarter of 2017 was 276 thousand barrels oil equivalent per day (MBOEPD), an increase of 17 MBOEPD, or 6% from the second quarter of 2017. Total oil production for the quarter was 162 thousand barrels per day (MBPD), an increase of 15 MBPD, or 10% from the second quarter of 2017.

Total Spraberry/Wolfcamp and horizontal Spraberry/Wolfcamp oil production increased 11% and 15%, respectively, compared to the second quarter of 2017, both driven by the Company's successful Spraberry/Wolfcamp horizontal drilling program. Total natural gas liquids (NGL) production for the third quarter was 57 MBPD and total gas production for the third quarter was 340 million cubic feet per day.

Third quarter production was negatively impacted by 3,500 barrels oil equivalent per day (BOEPD) due to i) the effects of Hurricane Harvey on the Company's Spraberry/Wolfcamp and South Texas operations and ii) unplanned downtime at the third-party facility where gas from the Company's West Panhandle field in Texas is processed.

The production lost from these curtailments was mostly gas and NGLs. Adjusting for the lost production related to the hurricane and the unplanned downtime at the third-party gas processing plant, Pioneer's third quarter production would have been at the top end of Pioneer's production guidance range of 274 MBOEPD to 279 MBOEPD.

The following areas of Pioneer's Texas operations were adversely impacted by Hurricane Harvey:

Spraberry/Wolfcamp - Pioneer's Spraberry/Wolfcamp facilities in West Texas were not damaged by the hurricane. This field produces oil and associated liquids-rich gas.

The liquids-rich gas includes NGLs that are separated from the gas at various third-party Permian Basin gas processing plants and transported to third-party facilities in Mont Belvieu, Texas, for fractionation. These fractionation facilities sustained flood-related interruptions from Hurricane Harvey.

As a result, the Permian Basin gas processing plants had to curtail NGL shipments to Mont Belvieu from late August through mid-September, which limited the amount of liquids-rich gas production the plants could receive from producers in Permian Basin fields. The impact to Pioneer's Spraberry/Wolfcamp production was a loss of approximately 1,300 BOEPD for the third quarter, with most of this loss being gas and NGLs.

South Texas - No significant damages were incurred at Pioneer's facilities in South Texas. The Company produces oil, condensate and associated liquids-rich gas in this area. Production was shut in and fracture stimulation operations ceased on new wells for safety reasons when the storm hit the area on August 25. Production was brought back on line and fracture stimulation operations resumed during the first half of September after the storm passed. The impact to Pioneer's third quarter production in the Eagle Ford Shale and other nearby fields was a loss of approximately 900 BOEPD.

In addition to the aforementioned hurricane impacts, Pioneer's third quarter production was impacted by unplanned downtime at the Sunray, Texas, gas processing plant, which is owned by a third party, where the liquids-rich gas from Pioneer's West Panhandle field in Texas is processed into gas and NGLs.

Pioneer had to shut in all production from the West Panhandle field (approximately 8 MBOEPD) in mid-September after the Sunray plant incurred significant damage due to a fire. The impact to third quarter production was approximately 1,300 BOEPD, with most of this loss being gas and NGLs. Repairs to the Sunray plant are underway, but it is expected to be several months before the plant can be placed back into service. As a result, the third party and Pioneer are making modifications to their respective facilities to enable field production to resume, with the gas volumes being rerouted to the third party's Spearman, Texas, gas processing facility. The Company expects these modifications to be completed and production to resume in late October or early November.

Despite the lost production during the third quarter related to the hurricane and unplanned downtime at the third-party gas processing plant, Pioneer continues to expect full-year 2017 production growth to be within its targeted growth range of 15% to 16% (269 MBOEPD to 271 MBOEPD). In addition, oil production for full-year 2017 continues to be targeted within a range of 156,000 barrels oil per day (BOPD) to 158,000 BOPD, or an increase of 17% to 18% compared to 2016


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