Pioneer scores record third quarter profit, production soars 40 percent

Pioneer Natural Resources, even excluding a $104.7 million deferred tax benefit, earned $87.1 million in the 2003 third quarter, a new record for the company. Pioneer is looking for even better times ahead.

With an expected $1 billion of cash flow in excess of projected capital spending over the next few years, “we will have the flexibility to fund the development of our exploration successes, acquire additional interests in our core asset areas and retire debt,” Scott Sheffield, Pioneer’s chief executive officer, said Oct. 30.

Pioneer’s daily production soared to 163,314 barrels of oil equivalent in the 2003 third quarter, up 40 percent from the same period last year. In fact, production came in at the high end of company guidance for the recent quarter, due largely to strong performances from Canyon Express and Falcon projects in the Gulf of Mexico, Pioneer said.

In addition, Argentine oil drilling results exceeded expectations while a strengthening Argentine economy boosted sales, the company said. During this year’s fourth quarter, Pioneer said it will record the first sales of Sable oil, which is being produced into storage facilities in South Africa, as well as the first significant sales of oil in Tunisia.

Moreover, in the Gulf of Mexico, Pioneer is expecting deepwater development of the Harrier discovery in the Falcon corridor to move toward first gas production in early 2004. And two additional finds, Tomahawk and Raptor, are on target for tie-back to Falcon and first production during the third quarter of 2004. Also in the deepwater gulf, the Devils Tower discovery is on schedule for first production during next year’s second quarter, Pioneer said.