Pioneer, ConocoPhillips, Chesapeake Execs Eye Single-digit Growth in US Shale

“We’re not going to chase growth like we all did over the last 10 years. We’re going to limit our growth to 5% long-term,” Pioneer Natural Resources CEO Scott Sheffield said during a CERAWeek panel focused on U.S. shale.

Madison

Ratcliff

Hart Energy

Thu, 03/10/2022 - 12:00 PM

Scott Sheffield, Tim Leach, Nick Dell'Osso, CERAWeek

S&P Global's Raoul LeBlanc sat down with Tim Leach (ConocoPhillips), Scott Sheffield (Pioneer Natural Resources) and Nick Dell'Osso (Chesapeake Energy) to discuss balancing growth in North American shale at CERAWeek. (Source: Madison Ratcliff / Hart Energy)

HOUSTON—Although major shale operators have the capacity to expand growth largely and rapidly over the next few years, most are limiting themselves to single-digit growth, according to panelists at the CERAWeek by S&P Global conference on March 9.

“We’re not going to chase growth like we all did over the last 10 years. We’re going to limit our growth to 5% long-term,” said Scott Sheffield, CEO of Pioneer Natural Resources Co. “That keeps the cycle in check, it doesn’t put pressure on the entire service industry. Cost escalates indefinitely, and then we create too much supply, then we have a downturn.”

To survive the most recent market downturn during the pandemic, Sheffield said Pioneer made two “very accretive" acquisitions in the Midland Basin, first with the acquisition of Parsley Energy, then the acquisition of DoublePoint Energy. Both multibillion-dollar transactions closed in 2021.