Risk Tiers

Tier 1: Avoid

“Avoidance” is the best description of our approach and overall strategy for landscape and biodiversity conservation during the development of drilling locations, well pads and associated tank batteries. Wherever feasible, we refrain from operating in protected areas. We seek to use our broad industry experience to provide environmentally responsible solutions. Pioneer teams engage with national, state and local government organizations and regulators; partner with researchers, consultants and universities; and source and explore new technologies to apply progressive solutions to protect habitats and species. For years, we have taken stewardship lessons learned from our prior operations in Alaska, Colorado, Canada and the Gulf of Mexico, applying them to the Permian Basin.

Risk Tool

In addition to our desktop review, which is detailed in our Biodiversity Stewardship Commitment, we have developed tools to further evaluate potential environmental risks. These supplementary risk tools include, but are not limited to, sensitive areas, estimated depth to groundwater, soil permeability, regulatory considerations and proximity to potential receptors. Potential receptors could include water wells, residential areas, public areas or other areas warranting further review, based on aerial imagery. Use of these available tools ensures that our construction and operational activities avoid sensitive areas, while also reducing the risk for additional environmental impacts.

Tier 2: Minimize

Pioneer Water Management Wildlife Mitigation Plan

PWM uses several measures to protect wildlife, including siting decisions, preconstruction reconnaissance and wildlife impact avoidance measures. The PWM Wildlife Mitigation Plan outlines additional mitigation actions to support our overall mission to drive continued environmental stewardship. Under the PWM Wildlife Mitigation Plan, in-field observations drive corrective measures, including the training to recognize wildlife issues and respond appropriately. Wildlife observations during inspections are logged to monitor wildlife presence and changes over time. All workers and contractors are trained in, or informed of, the following:

• Identification of species of interest
• Who to contact when a wildlife issue is observed
• Prohibited actions, including the harassment/collection of any wildlife
• Limitation or elimination of unnecessary lights
• Rules on speed limits and designated smoking areas
• The PWM Wildlife Mitigation Plan, which provides our employees an adaptive management approach to make informed decisions on wildlife observations

Reducing Our Footprint

As Pioneer operations grow in the Permian Basin, our sustainable development practices allow us to drill many more wells on the same well pad than previously possible. Multi-well pads present opportunities to mitigate risks and impacts, while supporting our overall sustainability strategies and goals. Needing only one quarter of an acre per well translates to, in some cases, more than an 80% reduction in surface impacts. Decreasing the area of impact by pad construction and reducing the need for additional roadways limits surface impact and habitat fragmentation.

Similar to decreasing pad sizes, as lateral lengths extend, the number of wells required to capture the resource decreases. We are studying how to achieve an optimal number of wells per pad to accommodate needed well spacing, reduce our surface impact and boost capital efficiencies.

As the number of wells drilled on each well pad increases, and the length of those wells increases, the number of spills, habitat risk, truck traffic and waste generated decreases.

MULTI-WELL PADS AND LONGER LATERALS

By increasing the number of wells per pad and the lengths of those wells, we can decrease the magnitude of surface risks and impacts such as these:

Tier 3: Restore

Pad Reclamation

Pioneer’s pad reclamation program evaluates our horizontal well site inventory to find eligible pad downsizing opportunities based on operational criteria. Excess pad material can be harvested and reused in new site construction, offsetting the volume demand from new material sourcing, which has resulted in more than 14 tons of material reused.

Surface Reclamation

Pioneer is committed to minimizing and reclaiming surface areas impacted by our operations. After removing well production equipment, we work to return locations back to landowners.

Achievements:

• Reduced our overall footprint and risk of spills and environmental exposure in the field by completely removing surface equipment from well sites, including pumping units, flowlines and other production equipment
• Removed surface flowlines to eliminate the potential for fluid releases and recycled poly material
• Increased native reseeding efforts in areas impacted by our operations

Native Seed Program

Native seeding offers many ecological benefits to pollinators and West Texas grassland species. Pioneer continues to work with Texas A&M University-Kingsville to collect ecologically representative native seeds from large areas where we are the surface landowner. We have identified four distinct native seed mixes applicable across Pioneer’s operational areas. Our drilling and construction groups utilize these native seed mixes to reclaim surface land where possible.

Tier 4: Offset

Conservation Agreement

Pioneer is a founding contributor of the Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances (CCAA) for the pre-listing conservation of the lesser prairie chicken. CCAAs are formal, voluntary agreements between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and one or more parties. In the case of the lesser prairie chicken, the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA), an association of 24 U.S. states and Canadian provinces, formed a partnership with wildlife management agencies in the five lesser prairie chicken states of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas to formalize and fund a CCAA, representing over $65 million in initial conservation enrollments from oil and gas industry members who adopted the CCAA. By working under the CCAA, Pioneer can select locations that minimize or avoid impact to our operations.

In the limited areas where habitat avoidance is not possible, the CCAA program allows Pioneer to generate habitat impact offsets while maintaining our development plans and promoting lesser prairie chicken conservation. Prior to the USFWS listing the lesser prairie chicken as endangered, Pioneer enrolled an additional 11,865 acres into the lesser prairie chicken CCAA. Pioneer will continue to work with regulators, agencies, WAFWA leadership, industry partners and our agricultural community partners to ensure long-term success of the lesser prairie chicken population. For additional information, see the Range-wide Oil and Gas Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances for the Lesser Prairie Chicken 2021 Annual Report.

Endangered Species

Although endangered species could potentially affect our ability to operate in certain areas, Pioneer continues to protect threatened species by:

• Utilizing CCAAs for protecting threatened and endangered species like the lesser prairie chicken
• Working to avoid surface water resources

Well Plugging and Facility Retirement

As older wells become less economical, oil and gas operators must decide how to decommission or retire those assets. In most circumstances, Pioneer chooses to retire uneconomic wells from service as opposed to selling them to another operator. To us, this means prioritizing stewardship. Since 2021, Pioneer has plugged over 1,100 wells.