Scott Douglas Sheffield (born 1952)[2] is an American businessman in the oil and gas industry. He is best known as the founder and former chief executive officer (CEO) of Pioneer Natural Resources.
Scott D. Sheffield | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1952 or 1953 (age 71–72)[1] |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Title | President & CEO, Pioneer Natural Resources |
| Term | August 1997 - December 2016 February 2019 - December 2023 |
| Successor | Timothy Dove Richard Dealy |
| Board member of | The Williams Company, Inc. |
| Spouse | Kimberly Sheffield |
| Children | 5, including Bryan Sheffield |
Early life
editSheffield was born in 1952.[2] He spent his high school years in Tehran, Iran, where his father worked as a petroleum executive.[2] Sheffield studied pre-law, later shifting to Petroleum Engineering at the University of Texas.[1][2] He graduated in 1975.[2]
Career
editAfter graduation, Sheffield began his career as a production and reservoir engineer for Amoco Production Co.[3] He subsequently joined Parker & Parsley as a petroleum engineer in 1979 and was promoted to vice president-engineering in September 1981. In April 1985, he was elected president and director, and on January 19, 1989, he became chairman of the board and CEO.[3]
In August 1997, Pioneer Natural Resources was established through the merger of Parker & Parsley Petroleum Company and MESA Inc, with Sheffield becoming the company's first CEO.[4][1] He oversaw the company into becoming one of the biggest crude producer in Texas.[5]
Between 2010 and 2014, Sheffield helped Pioneer Natural Resources in raising billions of dollars from investors in India, China, and Wall Street.[2] This capital was used to enhance modern drilling and fracking techniques on Pioneer's Permian Basin land. As a result, the company's oil production more than doubled, reaching approximately 90,000 barrels per day, during a period when U.S. oil production increased by 60% to 8.8 million barrels per day.[2]
In 2015, Scott Sheffield publicly advocated for lifting the U.S. crude export ban during the significant oil price crash that occurred the following year.[2]
At the end of 2016, Timothy Dove replaced Sheffield as CEO.[6][1] He remained on the board as executive chairman through 2017, and in 2018 moved to non-executive chairman until returning as CEO in 2019.[3]
In February 2019, Sheffield returned to Pioneer as president & CEO upon the retirement of Timothy Dove.[7] Upon his return, he implemented new return of capital framework for the exploration and production industry; reducing capital spending, scaling back drilling plans, and increasing returns to investors through dividends and share buyback schemes.[5] During his tenure, Pioneer acquired Permian producers Parsley Energy—founded by Sheffield’s son, Bryan—and Double Point Energy in 2021, making Pioneer one of the largest oil producers in Texas.[5] Later in 2021, Sheffield stepped down as president but continued as CEO until 2023.[8]
Sheffield retired the end of 2023 with Richard Dealy succeeding him.[5] From January 2024, he remained on Pioneer's board of directors and as special advisor to the CEO until the merger of Pioneer and ExxonMobil in May.[9]
Sheffield is on the advisory board of L1 Energy and the board of directors of The Williams Company, Inc.[10][11]
Since 2020, Sheffield has ramped up his political contributions to Republican campaigns.[12]
Collusion allegations
editDuring the COVID pandemic, Sheffield petitioned the Texas Railroad Commission to curtail oil production in order to raise oil prices.[12]
In May 2024, during its antitrust review of ExxonMobil's acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alleged that Scott Sheffield had illegally colluded with OPEC and OPEC+, a related cartel of oil-producing countries, to raise oil prices at the expense of U.S. households and businesses.[13] The FTC's complaint cited a quote from Sheffield acknowledging his tactics.[13] Pioneer Natural Resources countered that the FTC misunderstood Sheffield's actions.[9] The FTC reiterated the allegations, citing Sheffield's communications urging production limits.[14] Consequently, the FTC approved the $ 60 billion merger between Exxon and Pioneer Natural Resources in May 2024 but imposed a settlement condition that barred Scott Sheffield from joining Exxon's board after the merger.[14]
According to a report by Politico, Sheffield claimed the FTC leaked information about referring the allegations to the Justice Department.[15] His legal team filed paperwork demanding the FTC drop the complaint and rescind the order barring him from Exxon's board.[14]
Personal life
editSheffield is married to Kimberly, they have five children, and live in Southlake, Texas.[16] The couple also own a property in Santa Fe, New Mexico area.[17]
References
edit- ^ a b c d "Executive Profile: Scott Douglas Sheffield". Bloomberg. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Ball, Jeffrey (2020-06-18). "The "Mother Fracker" Reckons With the Mother of All Oil Busts". Texas Monthly. Archived from the original on 2024-06-05.
- ^ a b c "Document". www.sec.gov. Retrieved 2021-06-28.
- ^ Cropper, Carol Marie (1997-04-08). "Mesa Is to Merge With Parker & Parsley". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2013-02-16.
- ^ a b c d Mc Cormick, Myles; Brower, Derek (2023-03-28). "Pioneer boss Scott Sheffield to retire from US shale group at end of 2023". www.ft.com. Archived from the original on 2023-04-26.
- ^ "Pioneer Natural Resources Company Chairman and CEO Scott D. Sheffield to Retire; Timothy L. Dove Named Successor". www.businesswire.com. 19 May 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
- ^ O’Donnell, Paul (22 February 2019). "Dove to retire; Sheffield returning as CEO". Midland Reporter-Telegram. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
- ^ "Pioneer Natural Resources Announces that Richard P. Dealy Commences Role as Chief Executive Officer". Yahoo! Finance. 2024-01-02. Retrieved 2024-05-04.
- ^ a b The Associated Press (2024-05-02). "FTC bars former Pioneer CEO in Exxon Mobil deal, saying he colluded with OPEC". NPR. Archived from the original on 2024-05-02. Retrieved 2024-05-04.
- ^ "Scott D Sheffield - LetterOne". www.letterone.com. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
- ^ "Leadership Archive". Williams Companies.
- ^ a b Pskowski, By Martha (2024-07-01). "Former Pioneer CEO and Son Make Significant Political Contributions to Trump, Abbott and Christi Craddick". Inside Climate News.
- ^ a b Helman, Christopher (2024-05-02). "FTC Alleges Pioneer CEO Colluded To Boost Oil Prices — Exxon Will Close $65B Acquisition Anyway". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2024-05-02. Retrieved 2024-05-04.
- ^ a b c Eaton, Collin (2024-05-28). "Ex-Pioneer CEO Says FTC Used Him as 'Scapegoat' in Exxon Deal". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 2024-06-01.
- ^ Lefebvre, Ben; Sisco, John (2024-05-28). "Former oil CEO blasts FTC over collusion allegations". Politico. Archived from the original on 2024-05-30.
- ^ Grant, Lauren. "Connect". Petroleum & Geosystems Engineering Department. Retrieved 2021-06-28.
- ^ "A leader of America's fracking boom has second thoughts". www.msn.com. Retrieved 25 June 2019.