SAN ANTONIO, Texas, November 5, 2009 – Pioneer Drilling Company, Inc. (NYSE Amex : PDC) today reported financial and operating results for the three months ended September 30, 2009.

Third Quarter 2009 Results

Net loss for the third quarter was $9.2 million, or $0.18 per share, compared with a net loss for the second quarter of 2009 (“the prior quarter”) of $6.3 million, or $0.13 per share. Net income for the third quarter of 2008 (“the year-earlier quarter”) was $24.2 million, or $0.48 per diluted share.

Revenues for the third quarter were $74.4 million, compared with $69.1 million for the prior quarter and $174.2 million for the year-earlier quarter. EBITDA(1) for the third quarter was $15.2 million, compared to $17.9 million for the prior quarter and $64.7 million for the year-earlier quarter.

First Nine Months of 2009 Results
Net loss for the nine months ended September 30, 2009 was $14.8 million, or $0.30 per share, compared with net income of $55.2 million, or $1.09 per diluted share for the nine months ended September 30, 2008. Revenues for the first nine months of 2009 were $244.3 million, compared with $440.2 million for the same period last year. EBITDA for the first nine months of 2009 was $60.9 million, compared to $154.3 million for the comparable period in 2008.

Operating Results
Revenues for the Drilling Services Division were $48.1 million for the third quarter, a 5% increase from the prior quarter. During the third quarter, the utilization rate for our drilling rig fleet averaged 35%, flat with the prior quarter and down from 96% utilization in the year-earlier quarter. Average drilling revenues per day increased 4% and average operating costs per day increased 22% in the third quarter, compared to the prior quarter, due to a shift to more turnkey contracts and an increase in our Colombian operations which represented a larger portion of our drilling services operating results. Both turnkey contracts and our Colombian operations have higher average revenue and operating costs per day when compared to daywork contracts in the U.S. The overall increase in average revenues per day was partly offset by the impact of the expiration of six long-term drilling contracts during the third quarter which were earning relatively high daywork revenue rates.

The expiration of these contracts also contributed to a 27% decrease in Drilling Services margin(2) per day to $5,623 in the third quarter as compared to $7,723 in the prior quarter. Revenues for the Production Services Division increased $2.9 million from $23.4 million in the second quarter to $26.3 million in the third quarter. Production Services margin(2) increased 14% to $9.6 million, compared to $8.5 million in the prior quarter. Margin as a percentage of revenue increased one basis point to 37% from the prior quarter. Currently, 65 of Pioneer’s 74 workover rigs have crews assigned and are operating or being actively marketed, while the remaining nine workover rigs are idle with no crews assigned.

Our third quarter operating results reflect the positive impact of a $1.3 million bad debt recovery relating to a customer’s past due account receivable balance for which we had previously established an allowance for doubtful accounts in December 2008.

“In our Drilling Services Division, activity has improved in the conventional drilling regions, and there is increasing demand for our rigs in the domestic shale regions and in certain international markets,” said Wm. Stacy Locke, President and CEO of Pioneer Drilling. The current environment continues to be challenging, but we were successful in obtaining new drilling contracts to offset the impact of six drilling rigs that came off long-term drilling contracts during the third quarter. Utilization remained flat during the third quarter and is showing modest improvement at 38% currently as we begin the fourth quarter.

“Because of increasing activity in the shale regions and international markets, we are focused on improving utilization and drilling margins by pursuing new opportunities in these regions, and we are selectively upgrading our drilling rigs to optimize our ability to meet the demand. During the third quarter, we expanded our operations in the Marcellus Shale to three drilling rigs, all of which are currently operating, and we are marketing numerous additional drilling rigs in the area. Likewise, in the Bakken Shale, we activated a third rig in early October, have a fourth rig mobilizing to begin a new contract today, and will have a fifth rig beginning operations next week. We see additional rig opportunities in the Bakken for next year. Rig demand is also improving in the Eagle Ford and Haynesville Shale regions where we are already active. “In the international arena, we have five drilling rigs in Colombia, all of which are currently operating. We have also moved two 1,500 horsepower drilling rigs to Houston to prepare them for international opportunities in Latin America.

“In our Production Services Division, pricing remained competitive through the third quarter, but we see improvement in demand as reflected in the 12% increase in revenues in the third quarter over the prior quarter.” continued Mr. Locke. “During the third quarter, we expanded our well servicing operations in the Williston Basin, Fayetteville Shale and Louisiana as well as our wireline operations in the Marcellus Shale, Haynesville Shale and Louisiana. All of these regions have good near-term growth opportunities.”

“On October 5, 2009, we completed an amendment to our credit facility. The terms of the amended credit facility provide us with more financial covenant flexibility and the ability to pursue our growth objectives,“ Locke said.

Pioneer’s working capital was $73.0 million at September 30, 2009, up from $70.0 million at June 30, 2009 and $64.4 million at December 31, 2008. Our cash and cash equivalents were $53.3 million at the end of the third quarter, up $9.6 million from the prior quarter and up $26.5 million from December 31, 2008. For the nine months of 2009, cash equivalents increased primarily due to cash provided by operations of $110.3 million, offset by $67.1 million of property and equipment expenditures and $17.1 million of debt payments. We have $56.0 million of borrowing availability on our recently amended senior secured revolving credit facility, with $257.5 million due at maturity on August 31, 2012.

Conference Call
Pioneer’s management team will hold a conference call today at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time (10:00 a.m. Central Time), to discuss these results. To participate in the call, dial 480-629-9692 at least 10 minutes early and ask for the Pioneer Drilling conference call. A replay will be available approximately two hours after the call ends and will be accessible until November 12. To access the replay, dial (303) 590-3030 and enter the pass code 4176067 #.

The conference call will also be available on the Internet at Pioneer’s Web site at www.pioneerdrlg.com. To listen to the live call, visit Pioneer’s Web site at least 10 minutes early to register and download any necessary audio software. An archive will be available shortly after the call. For more information, please contact Donna Washburn at DRG&E at (713) 529-6600 or e-mail dmw@drg-e.com.

About Pioneer
Pioneer Drilling Company provides contract land drilling services to independent and major oil and gas operators in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kansas, the Rocky Mountain and Appalachian regions and internationally in Colombia through its Pioneer Drilling Services Division. The Company also provides workover rig, wireline and fishing and rental services to producers in the U.S. Gulf Coast, Mid-Continent, Rocky Mountain and Appalachian regions through its Pioneer Production Services Division. Its fleet consists of 71 land drilling rigs that drill at depths ranging from 6,000 to 25,000 feet, 74 workover rigs (sixty-nine 550 horsepower rigs, four 600 horsepower rigs and one 400 horsepower rig), 61 wireline units, and fishing and rental tools.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements,

Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Reconciliations

Statements we make in this news release that express a belief, expectation or intention, as well as those that are not historical fact, are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Our actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, could differ materially from those we express in this news release as a result of a variety of factors, including general economic and business conditions and industry trends, risks associated with the current global economic crisis and its impact on capital markets and liquidity, the continued strength or weakness of the oil and gas production industry in the geographic areas in which we operate including the price of oil and natural gas in general, and the recent precipitous decline in prices in particular, and the impact of commodity prices and other factors upon future decisions about onshore exploration and development projects to be made by oil and gas companies and their ability to obtain necessary financing, the highly competitive nature of our business, difficulty in integrating the services of acquired companies, including the production services businesses of WEDGE, Competition, Paltec and Pettus in an efficient and effective manner, the availability, terms and deployment of capital, the availability of qualified personnel, changes in, or our failure or inability to comply with, government regulations, including those relating to the environment, the economic and business conditions of our international operations, challenges in achieving strategic objectives, and the risk that our markets do not evolve as anticipated. We have discussed many of these factors in more detail in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008. These factors are not necessarily all the important factors that could affect us.

Unpredictable or unknown factors we have not discussed in this news release, or in our annual report on Form 10-K could also have material adverse effects on actual results of matters that are the subject of our forwardlooking statements. All forward-looking statements speak only as the date on which they are made and we undertake no duty to update or revise any forward-looking statements. We advise our shareholders that they should (1) be aware that important factors not referred to above could affect the accuracy of our forward-looking statements and (2) use caution and common sense when considering our forward-looking statements.

This news release contains non-GAAP financial measures as defined by SEC Regulation G. A reconciliation of each such measure to its most directly comparable GAAP financial measure, together with an explanation of why management believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information to investors, is provided in the following tables.

 (1) We define EBITDA as earnings (loss) before interest income (expense), taxes, depreciation, amortization and impairments. Although not prescribed under GAAP, we believe the presentation of EBITDA is relevant and useful because it helps our investors understand our operating performance and makes it easier to compare our results with those of other companies that have different financing, capital or tax structures. EBITDA should not be considered in isolation from or as a substitute for net income, as an indication of operating performance or cash flows from operating activities or as a measure of liquidity. A reconciliation of net earnings (loss) to EBITDA to EBITDA measures reported by other companies. In addition, EBITDA does not represent funds available for discretionary use.

(2) Drilling Services margin represents contract drilling revenues less contract drilling operating costs. Production Services margin represents production services revenues less production services operating costs. We believe that Drilling Services margin and Production Services margin are useful measures for evaluating financial performance, although they are not measures of financial performance under GAAP. However, Drilling Services margin and

Production Services margin are common measures of operating performance used by investors, financial analysts, rating agencies and Pioneer management. A reconciliation of Drilling Services margin and Production Services margin to net earnings (loss) is included in the tables to this press release. Drilling Services margin and Production Services margin as presented may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures reported by other companies.

June 30,

2009 2008 2009 2009 2008

Revenues:
Drilling services $ 48,084 $ 124,297 $ 45,720 $ 165,170 333,587
Production services 26,282 49,948 23,400 79,156 106,602
Total revenue 74,366 174,245 69,120 244,326 440,189

Costs and Expenses:
Drilling services 35,315 70,342 28,437 107,880 198,115
Production services 16,638 25,025 14,906 50,260 53,871
Depreciation and amortization 26,952 24,225 26,069 78,467 61,924
Selling, general and administrative 8,892 12,840 8,951 27,870 32,712
Bad debt (recovery) expense (1,409) (260) 30 (1,713) (216)
Total costs and expenses 86,388 132,172 78,393 262,764 346,406
Income (loss) from operations (12,022) 42,073 (9,273) (18,438) 93,783

Other (expense) income:
Interest expense (1,839) (3,773) (1,728) (5,555) (9,612)
Interest income 43 205 55 182 995
Other 222 (1,551) 1,140 847 (1,389)
Total other expense (1,574) (5,119) (533) (4,526) (10,006)
Income (loss) before income taxes (13,596) 36,954 (9,806) (22,964) 83,777
Income tax benefit (expense) 4,406 (12,760) 3,547 8,133 (28,619)
Net earnings (loss) $ (9,190) $ 24,194 $ (6,259) $ (14,831) $ 55,158

Earnings (loss) per common share:
Basic $ (0.18) $ 0.49 $ (0.13) $ (0.30) $ 1.11
Diluted $ (0.18) $ 0.48 $ (0.13) $ (0.30) $ 1.09
Weighted average number of shares outstanding:
Basic 49,845 49,791 49,826 49,831 49,780
Diluted 49,845 50,449 49,826 49,831 50,426

Nine months ended

September 30,

PIONEER DRILLING COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations
(in thousands, except per share data)
(unaudited)

September 30,
Three months ended
September 30, 2009 December 31, 2008

ASSETS (unaudited) (audited)

Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents $ 53,305 $ 26,821
Receivables, net of allowance for doubtful accounts 70,828 99,423
Deferred income taxes 4,336 6,270
Inventory 4,855 3,874
Prepaid expenses and other current assets 3,250 8,902
Total current assets 136,574 145,290
Net property and equipment 617,254 627,562
Intangible assets, net of amortization 26,539 29,969
Other long-term assets 18,626 21,658
Total assets $ 798,993 $ 824,479 

LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY

Current liabilities:
Accounts payable $ 16,680 $ 21,830
Current portion of long-term debt 2,093 17,298
Prepaid drilling contracts - 1,171
Accrued expenses 44,779 40,619
Total current liabilities 63,552 80,918
Long-term debt, less current portion 260,259 262,115
Other long term liabilities 6,054 6,413
Deferred income taxes 65,325 60,915
Total liabilities 395,190 410,361
Total shareholders' equity 403,803 414,118
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity $ 798,993 $ 824,479 

PIONEER DRILLING COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

(in thousands)

2009 2008

Cash flows from operating activities:
Net earnings (loss) $ (14,831) $ 55,158

Adjustments to reconcile net earnings (loss) to net cash provided by operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization 78,467 61,924
Allowance for doubtful accounts (1,237) 270
Gain on dispositions of property and equipment (84) (512)
Stock-based compensation expense 5,561 2,924
Deferred income taxes 7,527 10,700
Change in other assets 1,061 355
Change in non-current liabilities (1,169) (329)
Changes in current assets and liabilities 35,006 (4,735)
Net cash provided by operating activities 110,301 125,755 

Cash flows from investing activities:
Acquisition of WEDGE - (313,606)
Acquisition of Competition Wireline - (26,770)
Acquisition of other production services businesses - (6,520)
Purchases of property and equipment (67,058) (99,794)
Purchase of auction rate securities - (16,475)
Proceeds from sale of property and equipment 608 2,712
Proceeds from insurance recoveries 36 2,638
Net cash used in investing activities (66,414) (457,815)

Cash flows from financing activities:
Debt repayments (17,060) (44,404)
Proceeds from issuance of debt - 319,500
Debt issuance costs (77) (3,319)
Proceeds from sale of common stock - 672
Purchase of treasury stock (31) -
Excess tax benefit (reductions) for stock option exercises (235) 250
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities (17,403) 272,699
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents 26,484(59,361)
Beginning cash and cash equivalents 26,821 76,703
Ending cash and cash equivalents $ 53,305 $ 17,342

PIONEER DRILLING COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES

September 30,
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(in thousands)
(unaudited)
Nine months ended

 June 30,
2009 2008 2009 2009 2008

Drilling Services Division:
Revenues $ 48,084 $ 124,297 $ 45,720 $ 165,170 $ 333,587
Operating costs 35,315 70,342 28,437 107,880 198,115
Drilling services margin (1) $ 12,769 $ 53,955 $ 17,283 $ 57,290 $ 135,472
Average number of drilling rigs 71.0 67.7 70.7 70.6 67.1
Utilization rate 35% 96% 35% 41% 90%
Revenue days 2,271 6,017 2,238 7,805 16,528
Average revenues per day $ 21,173 $ 20,658 $ 20,429 $ 21,162 $20,183
Average operating costs per day 15,550 11,691 12,706 13,822 11,987
Drilling services margin per day (2) $ 5,623 $ 8,967 $ 7,723 $ 7,340 $ 8,196

Production Services Division:
Revenues $ 26,282 $ 49,948 $ 23,400 $ 79,156 $ 106,602
Operating costs 16,638 25,025 14,906 50,260 53,871
Production services margin (1) $ 9,644 $ 24,923 $ 8,494 $ 28,896$ 52,731

Combined:
Revenues $ 74,366 $ 174,245 $ 69,120 $ 244,326 $ 440,189
Operating Costs 51,953 95,367 43,343 158,140 251,986
Combined margin $ 22,413 $ 78,878 $ 25,777 $ 86,186 $ 188,203
EBITDA (3) $ 15,152 $ 64,747 $ 17,936 $ 60,876 $ 154,318

PIONEER DRILLING COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES

Operating Statistics (in thousands, except average number of drilling rigs, utilization rate and revenue day information)(unaudited)

Nine months ended

September 30, September 30,
Three months ended

(1) Drilling services margin represents contract drilling revenues less contract drilling operating costs. Production services margin represents production services revenue less production services operating costs. Pioneer believes that Drilling services margin and Production services margin are useful measures for evaluating financial performance, although they are not measures of financial performance under generally accepted accounting principles. However, Drilling services margin and Production services margin are common measures of operating performance used by investors, financial analysts, rating agencies and Pioneer’s management. A reconciliation of Drilling services margin and Production services margin to net earnings (loss) is included in the table below. Drilling services margin and production services margin as presented may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures reported by other companies.

(2) Drilling services margin per revenue day represents the Drilling Services Division’s average revenue per revenue day less average operating costs per revenue day.

(3) We define EBITDA as earnings (loss) before interest income (expense), taxes, depreciation, amortization and impairments. Although not prescribed under GAAP, we believe the presentation of EBITDA is relevant and useful because it helps our investors understand our operating performance and makes it easier to compare our results with those of other companies that have different financing, capital or tax structures.

EBITDA should not be considered in isolation from or as a substitute for net earnings (loss) as an indication of operating performance or cash flows from operating activities or as a measure of liquidity. A reconciliation of net earnings (loss) to EBITDA is included in the table below. EBITDA, as we calculate it, may not be comparable to EBITDA measures reported by other companies. In addition, EBITDA does not represent funds available for discretionary use.

June 30,
2009 2008 2009 2009 2008

Combined margin $ 22,413 $ 78,878 $ 25,777 $ 86,186 $ 188,203
Selling, general and administrative (8,892) (12,840) (8,951) (27,870) (32,712)
Bad debt recovery (expense) 1,409 260 (30) 1,713 216
Other income (expense) 222 (1,551) 1,140 847 (1,389)
EBITDA 15,152 64,747 17,936 60,876 154,318
Depreciation and amortization (26,952) (24,225) (26,069) (78,467)(61,924)
Interest income (expense), net (1,796) (3,568) (1,673) (5,373) (8,617)
Income tax benefit (expense) 4,406 (12,760) 3,547 8,133 (28,619)
Net earnings (loss) $ (9,190) $ 24,194 $ (6,259) $ (14,831) $ 55,158

PIONEER DRILLING COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES

Reconciliation of Combined Drilling Services Margin and Production Services Margin and EBITDA to Net Earnings (Loss)

Three months ended Nine months ended (in thousands)(unaudited)

September 30, September 30,

Budget
Year Ending
June 30, December 31,
2009 2008 2009 2009 2008 2009

Capital expenditures:

Drilling Services Division:
Routine rigs $ 1,026 $ 3,736 $ 1,788 $ 6,710 $ 11,557 $ 13,100
Discretionary 1 4,932 15,211 5,455 26,450 47,929 47,100
Tubulars 92 - 1,102 2,062 1,050 5,000
New-builds and acquisitions - 11,531 - - 13,365 -
Total Drilling Services Division capital expenditures 16,050 30,478 8,345 35,222 73,901 65,200

Production Services Division:
Routine 1,283 2,460 1,023 4,019 3,403 5,800
Discretionary 2 85 819 90 456 1,029 2,200
New-builds and acquisitions 729 13,614 246 5,454 22,443 7,000
Total Production Services Division capital expenditures 2,297 16,893 1,359 9,929 26,875 15,000

Actual and budgeted capital expenditures 18,347 47,371 9,704 45,151 100,776 80,200
Budgeted capital expenditures approved in 2008 that will be incurred in 2009 8 94 - 8,778 19,310 - 19,310
$ 19,241 $ 47,371 $ 18,482 $ 64,461 $ 100,776 $ 99,510

September 30,

Three months ended

PIONEER DRILLING COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES

Capital Expenditures (in thousands)
September 30, Nine months ended (unaudited)

Mechanical Electric Total Rigs

Drilling Services Division:
Drilling rig horsepower ratings:
550 to 700 HP 6 - 6
750 to 900 HP 1 4 2 16
1000 HP 1 8 12 30
1200 to 2000 HP 3 16 19
Total 41 30 71

Drilling rig depth ratings:
Less than 10,000 feet 8 2 10
10,000 to 13,900 feet 3 0 7 37
14,000 to 25,000 feet 3 21 24
Total 41 30 71

Production Services Division:
Workover rig horsepower ratings:
400 HP 1
550 HP 69
600 HP 4
Total 74
Wireline units 61
Fishing & Rental Tools Inventory $15 Million

Drilling Rig, Workover Rig and Wireline Unit Information

PIONEER DRILLING COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES

Rig Type