Pioneer Natural Resources Co. is seeking to curb its exposure to natural gas basis discounts at the Waha Hub in West Texas, according to the firm’s COO Richard Dealy.

Spot and futures prices at the Permian Basin hub increasingly have been trading at a discount to U.S. benchmark Henry Hub amid saturated takeaway capacity out of the basin. Waha prices even flipped negative for a brief period in late October.

Dealy addressed the issue during a conference call to discuss the producer’s third quarter 2022 earnings.

With regard to Waha forward prices, Dealy said, “obviously they’re trading at a discount” to New York Mercantile Exchange Henry Hub, SoCal Citygate “and other places…”

Pioneer, for its part, has sought to cap its exposure to Waha pricing to about 25%...