Pioneer Natural Resources Co. reported a five-fold jump in first-quarter profit on May 4 and raised its dividend, as the U.S. shale producer benefited from soaring energy prices following the Ukraine crisis.
The Dallas, Texas-based firm boosted its quarterly dividend by 95% to $7.38 per share.
Producers are prioritizing shareholder returns over production ramp-ups, even as Western sanctions on Russia sent crude prices to 14-year-highs during the quarter. U.S. WTI settled at $107.81 on Wednesday, up 64% from a year ago.
The biggest U.S. oil producer, Exxon Mobil Corp., tripled the size of its buyback program last week.
Pioneer's adjusted profit rose to $1.98 billion, or $7.74 per share, in the quarter ended March 31, from $396 million, or $1.77 per share, an year earlier.
Last week, Pioneer said its first-quarter production averaged 355,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) and 638,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) compared with 281,000 bopd and 474,000 boepd, a year earlier.
Pioneer's results mirrored those of rivals Devon Energy, Diamondback Energy and Coterra Energy, which raised their shareholder payouts on Monday after posting better-than-expected surges in profit.
Recommended Reading
US Raises Crude Production Growth Forecast for 2024
2024-03-12 - U.S. crude oil production will rise by 260,000 bbl/d to 13.19 MMbbl/d this year, the EIA said in its Short-Term Energy Outlook.
Iraq to Seek Bids for Oil, Gas Contracts April 27
2024-04-18 - Iraq will auction 30 new oil and gas projects in two licensing rounds distributed across the country.
Oceaneering Won $200MM in Manufactured Products Contracts in Q4 2023
2024-02-05 - The revenues from Oceaneering International’s manufactured products contracts range in value from less than $10 million to greater than $100 million.
E&P Highlights: Feb. 5, 2024
2024-02-05 - Here’s a roundup of the latest E&P headlines, including an update on Enauta’s Atlanta Phase 1 project.
CNOOC’s Suizhong 36-1/Luda 5-2 Starts Production Offshore China
2024-02-05 - CNOOC plans 118 development wells in the shallow water project in the Bohai Sea — the largest secondary development and adjustment project offshore China.