Exxon, Pioneer CEOs’ Emails, Texts May Be Withheld, Judge Says

A Delaware judge declined to order former Pioneer Natural Resources Co. CEO Scott Sheffield to release text messages and emails related to the Texas-based energy exploration and production company’s sale to ExxonMobil Corp.

A pension fund had sought the communications among other internal files regarding the $60 billion sale that closed in May 2024. ExxonMobil wasn’t named as a defendant in the lawsuit, filed in February 2024 in the Delaware Chancery Court.

The emails and text messages between Sheffield and ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods from June 2023 through October 2023 aren’t essential to the fund’s investigation of potential wrongdoing, ...