Oil prices will likely climb to the $90 a barrel to $100 a barrel range by this summer, Scott Sheffield, chief executive officer of shale producer Pioneer Natural Resources said on Thursday during a quarterly conference call.

Brent futures were around $82 a barrel, while U.S. crude futures CLc1 were trading around $75.63 a barrel. WTI, the U.S. benchmark, was up 2.2% for the day, but well below levels seen last year when it topped $100 a barrel for parts of the summer.

Shares of Pioneer were up just a fraction in morning trading around $205.90 each.

Rival Coterra Energy, which also held a conference call on Thursday, said it expected its oil volumes to grow by about 2% this year, while its gas output would decline 1% versus the prior year.

Shale companies have been pulling back on gas activity as prices this week fell below $2 per mmBTU, the lowest since 2020. Gas-focused producer Chesapeake said it planned to drop three drilling rigs this year and reduce well completions activities.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Liz Hampton in Denver Editing by Bernadette Baum)