(Reuters) – Pioneer Natural Resources Co reported a five-fold jump in first-quarter profit on Wednesday 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.
(Reporting by Ruhi Soni in Bengaluru and Liz Hampton in Denver; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
