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Crude oil prices likely will climb to ~$100/bbl by this summer and end the year in the low 90s, Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD) CEO Scott Sheffield said Thursday during the company’s post-earnings conference call.
Sheffield nevertheless reiterated that capital discipline will remain the priority, and Pioneer’s (PXD) shareholders have not changed their view on that.
“We had a record year in 2022… about $8.4B in free cashflow,” the CEO said on the call. “We returned $8B of it back to the investors in regard to both dividends and buybacks… [so] no change at all.”
Pioneer (PXD) will target FY 2023 oil production of 357K-372K bbl/day, with the midpoint 4% higher than 2022’s exit rate and 3.5% higher than the nearly 352K bbl/day full-year daily volume, while total production is seen rising to 670K-700K boe/day from 662K boe/day in Q4 and nearly 650K for FY 2022.
The company plans to spend $4.45B-$4.75B on capital projects this year, up from $3.8B in 2022; Sheffield said the 2023 range includes growing its rig total to 24-26 and assuming prices for equipment, supplies and labor will rise ~10%.
Pioneer Natural (PXD) shares ended little changed Thursday after reporting better than forecast Q4 adjusted earnings but below-consensus sales totals.
