JANUARY 9, 2006 – SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – Pioneer Drilling Company (AMEX: PDC) today announced that Wm. Stacy Locke, President and Chief Executive Officer, will be participating in the Pritchard Capital Partners Energize 2006: Reality & Opportunity Conference to be held in San Francisco, California, January 9-13, 2006. The Pioneer Drilling presentation is scheduled for Thursday, January 12, 2006 at 11:15 a.m. Pacific Time.

Mr. Locke will also be participating in the Sidoti & Company Third Annual Palm Beach Emerging Growth Institutional Investor Forum to be held in Palm Beach, Florida, January 17-18, 2006. The Pioneer Drilling presentation is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time on January 18.

A copy of Pioneer Drilling’s January 2006 corporate slide presentation can be viewed and downloaded from the Company’s website at www.pioneerdrlg.com on the investor relations  home page.

Pioneer Drilling provides land contract drilling services to independent and major oil and gas operators drilling wells in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and in the Rocky Mountain region. Its fleet consists of 54 land drilling rigs that drill in depth ranges between 6,000 and 18,000 feet.