After college, Sheffield worked for Amoco Corp and later joined his father-in-law's oil company and became CEO five years later. That company would become Pioneer Natural Resources. On his return, he made Permian oil its sole focus: putting natural gas processing, oilfield services and South Texas shale assets on the block. He also embraced an emerging philosophy that emphasized shareholder returns over rapid production gains, rejecting a plan to more than quadruple Pioneer's oil production by 2026. Two of Sheffield's most significant insights were the major role technology would play in reshaping U.S. oil production and the recognition that big oil companies would eventually control the Permian, he said.

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Persons: Scott Sheffield, Eduardo Munoz, Texas oilman Scott Sheffield, Dan Pickering, Sheffield's, Bryan Sheffield, Scott, Boone, Daniel Yergin, Sheffield, Darren Woods, he's, Doug Sheridan, He's, Bruce Vincent, Bryan, Arathy Somasekhar, Gary McWilliams, Marguerita Choy Organizations: Natural Resources Company, REUTERS, Rights, Natural Resources, Sheffield, Exxon Mobil, Pickering Energy Partners, SCHOOL Oil, Atlantic Richfield Co, Tehran school's American, Formentera Partners, Amoco Corp, Energy, Exxon, DoublePoint Energy, EnergyPoint Research, Swift Energy, Thomson Locations: New York, Texas, U.S, TEHRAN, Atlantic Richfield, Iran, Tehran, West Texas, Boone Pickens, South Texas, Sheffield, Houston