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Pioneer Natural Resources CEO Earns $5.5M In 2008

The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Pioneer Natural Resources Co., an independent oil and gas company, raised its chief executive's 2008 total compensation by 7 percent in a year when the company's stock lost 67 percent of its value, according to an Associated Press calculation of figures disclosed in a regulatory filing.

The Irving, Texas-based company gave Scott Sheffield a pay package of about $5.5 million, up from the $5.1 million he received in 2007.

The bulk of his compensation came from stock options and restricted stock awards valued at $3.13 million when they were granted Feb. 12, 2008. These awards are worth less today as the company's share price has shed more than 48 percent since their grant date.

Sheffield's salary rose about 13 percent to $956,000, compared with $850,000 the prior year. His bonus climbed to $1.24 million, up from the $1.15 million received in 2007. He also received $128,046 in "other" compensation, which included $118,615 in company contributions to his retirement and deferred compensation plans.

The Associated Press formula is designed to isolate the value the company's board placed on the executive's total compensation package during the past fiscal year. It includes salary, bonus, performance-related bonuses, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the year.

The calculations don't include changes in the present value of pension benefits, and they sometimes differ from the totals companies list in the summary compensation table of proxy statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which reflect the size of the accounting charge taken for the executive's compensation in the previous fiscal year.