Pioneer Natural Resources Company (NYSE:PXD) today announced that the Company has entered into a purchase and sale agreement with a wholly-owned subsidiary of OMV AG to sell all of the stock of Pioneer's Tunisia subsidiaries for cash proceeds of $866 million, subject to normal closing adjustments.

"I want to personally thank all of our London and Tunisian employees for the value that they have created for our shareholders since we acquired the Tunisia assets nine years ago,” said Scott D. Sheffield, Pioneer’s chairman and chief executive officer. “I also want to thank ETAP (Entreprise Tunisienne d'Activités Pétrolières) and the Tunisian government for being one of the best joint-venture partners and host governments that Pioneer has had the privilege to work with.”

The financial and operating results related to Pioneer's Tunisia activities will be reflected as discontinued operations for the quarter and year ending December 31, 2010 and all prior periods presented in the company's December 31, 2010 Form 10-K. Net production from the Tunisia subsidiaries averaged approximately 5,400 barrels oil equivalent per day during 2010.

Pioneer has stated that it plans to use the proceeds from this sale to fund its activity in the Eagle Ford and Permian Basin plays in the U.S.

The transaction has an effective date of January 1, 2011 and is expected to close during the first quarter of 2011.

About Pioneer Natural Resources Co.

Pioneer Natural Resources Company is a large independent oil and gas exploration and production company, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, with operations primarily in the United States.

About OMV

OMV, one of Austria's largest industrial companies, is active in international exploration and production, refining and marketing, and gas marketing and trading.