PROSPECTING To keep the pipeline of opportunities full, Pioneer’s geoscientists continually pursue new prospects utilizing the Company’s extensive seismic database. During 2001, Pioneer acquired leases on 24 new acreage blocks in the Gulf of Mexico, 15 in the deepwater and nine on the shelf, acquired leases on 3.8 million acres in Tunisia, and invested in new 3-D seismic data. Pioneer plans to continue to focus its exploration efforts in the Gulf of Mexico and Africa and is expanding its exploration program to include Canada where it has historically focused on developing existing fields.