Permian Basin heavyweight Pioneer Natural Resources Co.’s executive team sees a possible drilling ban on federal property as the biggest exposure facing the oil and gas industry if Joseph R. Biden Jr. hangs on to win the presidency, management said Thursday.

Assuming that Republicans maintain a majority in the Senate, there “should be no effect with regard to taxes going forward,” CEO Scott Sheffield told analysts during a third quarter earnings call.

“The big unknown for people that own federal acreage is will he stop giving drilling permits?” Sheffield asked. He noted that Biden has pledged not to ban hydraulic fracturing (fracking), “but he can do other things like stop giving drilling permits, which would affect New Mexico, Wyoming and the Gulf of Mexico in...