Pioneer Initiates Oil Production from Oooguruk

DALLAS--(Business Wire)--
Pioneer Natural Resources Company (NYSE:PXD) today announced that
production and sales from the Oooguruk Unit on the North Slope have
commenced as scheduled. Pioneer is the first independent to initiate
new field operations on the North Slope and has set a new precedent
for North Slope offshore development by bringing Oooguruk on line in
less than five years. Pioneer (70% working interest owner and
operator) and its partner, Eni (30% working interest owner),
sanctioned the Oooguruk development in early 2006 after drilling three
exploration wells during the winter of 2003.

Pioneer anticipates peak gross production in 2010 of 15,000 to
20,000 barrels of oil per day (BOPD) from approximately 40 development
wells (approximately half of the wells will be producing wells and
half will be injection wells). These wells are expected to be drilled
over the next three years. The gross oil resource potential from these
base development wells is as much as 90 million barrels, before
expansion opportunities. Field life is expected to be 25 to 30 years.

In commissioning the system and evaluating initial production
data, Pioneer expects to initially produce 2,000 to 3,000 gross BOPD
from Oooguruk. Production is expected to be shut in for approximately
45 days this summer for scheduled maintenance on the onshore
third-party processing facility. Thereafter, production will be
reinitiated and is expected to rise as additional wells are brought on
line.

Pioneer is a large independent oil and gas exploration and
production company, headquartered in Dallas, with operations in the
United States, South Africa and Tunisia. For more information, visit
Pioneer's website at www.pxd.com.

Except for historical information contained herein, the statements
in this News Release are forward-looking statements that are made
pursuant to the Safe Harbor Provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements and the
business prospects of Pioneer are subject to a number of risks and
uncertainties that may cause Pioneer's actual results in future
periods to differ materially from the forward-looking statements.
These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, volatility
of commodity prices, product supply and demand, competition, the
ability to obtain environmental and other permits and the timing
thereof, other government regulation or action, the ability to obtain
approvals from third parties and negotiate agreements with third
parties on mutually acceptable terms, the costs and results of
drilling and operations, access to and availability of drilling
equipment and transportation, processing and refining facilities,
Pioneer's ability to implement its business plans or complete its
development projects as scheduled, access to and cost of capital,
uncertainties about estimates of reserves and resource potential, the
assumptions underlying production forecasts, quality of technical
data, environmental and weather risks and acts of war or terrorism.
These and other risks are described in Pioneer's 10-K and 10-Q Reports
and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC").
In addition, Pioneer may be subject to currently unforeseen risks that
may have a materially adverse impact on it. Pioneer undertakes no duty
to publicly update these statements except as required by law.

Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors -- The SEC permits oil and gas
companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only proved
reserves that a company has demonstrated by actual production or
conclusive formation tests to be economically and legally producible
under existing economic and operating conditions. Pioneer uses certain
terms in this release, such as "resource potential" or other
descriptions of volumes of reserves that the SEC's guidelines prohibit
Pioneer from including in filings with the SEC. These estimates are by
their nature more speculative than estimates of proved reserves and
accordingly are subject to substantially greater risk of being
recovered by Pioneer.

Pioneer Natural Resources
Investors:
Frank Hopkins, 972-969-4065
or
Media and Public Affairs:
Susan Spratlen, 972-969-4018

Copyright Business Wire 2008