A strict focus on a basin that brought the family success, a devotion to capital discipline, and continued innovation-namely though horizontal drilling-has ensured the father-son executive duo success in their respective careers even through industry downturns. "Wall Street hated the Permian basin for 30 years" because it was seen as boring with no upside, recalled Scott Sheffield, Pioneer Natural Resources Co. executive chairman and the firm's chief executive officer from August 1997 through December 2016, during a Permian plenary session at CERAWeek by IHS Markit in Houston on Mar. 7. He noted Time Magazine in the 1950s said the Spraberry was the most uneconomical oil field in the world, and now, as one of the world's largest oil fields, firms are flocking to it. Pioneer has a 785,000-acre position in Spraberry, which was built over decades through property acquisitions, mergers, and exploratory efforts.