ERM Certification & Verification Services Incorporated (“ERM CVS”) was engaged by Pioneer Natural Resources USA Incorporated (“Pioneer”) to provide limited assurance in relation to the information set out below and presented in Pioneer’s 2023 Sustainability Report (the “Report”).
| Engagement summary | |
| Scope of our assurance engagement |
Whether the 2022 data for the following selected indicators are fairly presented within the Report, in all material respects, in accordance with the reporting criteria under Pioneer’s operational control:
Our assurance engagement does not extend to information in respect of earlier periods or to any other information included in the Report. |
| Reporting period |
January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2022 |
| Reporting criteria |
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| Assurance standard and level of assurance |
We performed a limited assurance engagement, in accordance with the International Standard on Assurance Engagements ISAE 3000 (Revised) ‘Assurance Engagements other than Audits or Reviews of Historical Financial Information’ issued by the International Auditing and Standards Board.
The procedures performed in a limited assurance engagement vary in nature and timing from and are less in extent than for a reasonable assurance engagement and consequently, the level of assurance obtained in a limited assurance engagement is substantially lower than the assurance that would have been obtained had a reasonable assurance engagement been performed. |
| Respective responsibilities |
Pioneer is responsible for preparing the Report and for the collection and presentation of the information within it, and for the designing, implementing, and maintaining of internal controls relevant to the preparation and presentation of the Report.
ERM CVS’ responsibility is to provide conclusions to Pioneer on the agreed scope based on our engagement terms with Pioneer, the assurance activities performed and exercising our professional judgement. |
Our conclusion
Based on our activities, as described below, nothing has come to our attention to indicate that the 2022 data and information for the disclosures listed under ‘Scope’ above are not fairly presented in the Report, in all material respects, in accordance with the reporting criteria.
Our assurance activities
Considering the level of assurance and our assessment of the risk of material misstatement of the Report a multi-disciplinary team of sustainability and assurance specialists performed a range of procedures that included, but was not restricted to, the following:
- Evaluating the appropriateness of the reporting criteria for the Report.
- Interviews with relevant staff to understand and evaluate the management systems and processes (including internal review and control processes) used for collecting and reporting the selected disclosures.
- Obtaining an understanding of the procedures performed by the internal audit department in relation to the metrics in scope.
- A review at corporate level of a sample of qualitative and quantitative evidence supporting the reported information.
- An analytical review of the year-end the consolidated 2022 data for the selected disclosures which included testing the completeness and mathematical accuracy of conversions and calculations, and consolidation in line with the stated reporting boundary.
- In-person visit to Pioneer’s headquarters in Irving, Texas to review source data and centralized reporting systems and controls.
- Multiple discussions with key stakeholders, data owners and operational staff to review activity data sources, data acquisition methods including but not limited to meter management, emission calculations, and internal and external data quality controls.
- Assessing the emission factors and assumptions used.
- Reviewing the presentation of information relevant to the scope of our work in the Report to ensure consistency with our findings.
The limitations of our engagement
The reliability of the assured information is subject to inherent uncertainties, given the available methods for determining, calculating, or estimating the underlying information. It is important to understand our assurance conclusions in this context.
For the production data used in the above methane and GHG emissions intensity and flaring intensity metrics, our assurance procedures were limited to confirming the respective calculations with the production data provided by Pioneer that was previously reviewed by its internal audit team.
Our independence, integrity and quality control
ERM CVS is an independent certification and verification body accredited by UKAS to ISO 17021:2015. Accordingly, we maintain a comprehensive system of quality control, including documented policies and procedures regarding compliance with ethical requirements, professional standards, and applicable legal and regulatory requirements. Our quality management system is at least as demanding as the relevant sections of ISQM-1 and ISQM-2 (2022).
ERM CVS applies a Code of Conduct and related policies to ensure that its employees maintain integrity, objectivity, professional competence, and high ethical standards in their work. Our processes are designed and implemented to ensure that the work we undertake is objective, impartial and free from bias and conflict of interest. Our certified management system covers independence and ethical requirements that are at least as demanding as the relevant sections of the IESBA Code relating to assurance engagements.
ERM CVS has extensive experience in conducting assurance on environmental, social, ethical and health and safety information, systems, and processes, and provides no consultancy related services to Pioneer in any respect.
Beth Wyke
Head of Corporate Assurance Services
Malvern, PA
July 24, 2023
ERM Certification & Verification Services Incorporated