Feb 22 (Reuters) - U.S. shale oil producers Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD.N) and Coterra Energy (CTRA.N) on Wednesday posted better-than-expected profits for the fourth quarter, as crude prices hovered near multi-year highs following OPEC+ production cuts and sanctions on major oil exporter Russia.

The results matched the industry's huge gains as Brent crude averaged $88.63 per barrel in the fourth quarter of 2022, up 11% from the same period in 2021.

Pioneer's average realized prices of oil in the reported quarter rose to $83.53 per barrel, up 9.4% from a year earlier, while Coterra's average realized price rose 8.8% to $82.26 per barrel of oil from last year.

Pioneer said it would spend between $4.45 billion and $4.75 billion this year, with some $150 million to $200 million dedicated to drilling four Barnett/Woodford formation wells in the Midland Basin, and for an enhanced oil recovery project and adding electric power infrastructure for future operations.

Pioneer anticipates 2023 oil production of 349,000 to 364,000 barrels per day and total oil and gas production of between 659,000 and 687,000 barrels per day. It produced 351,964 barrels of oil per day in 2022, and 649,773 barrels of oil and gas per day last year.

Coterra said its proved reserves were down 17% from a year ago, in line with a warning issued last

 quarter. Its reserves are roughly 78% natural gas, 10% oil and 12% NGLs, the company said in a release on Wednesday.

On an adjusted basis, Coterra earned $1.16 per share, beating Wall Street consensus of $1.10 per share, according to Refinitiv data. Excluding items, Pioneer earned $5.91 per share, above analysts' estimates of $5.77 per share, according to Refinitiv data.



(Reporting by Arshreet Singh in Bengaluru and Liz Hampton in Denver; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Matthew Lewis)