exv99w1

Exhibit 99.1

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


*Contacts:*		Joyce M. Schuldt, Executive VP & CFO
		Pioneer Drilling Company
		210-828-7689

		Ken Dennard / ksdennard@drg-e.com
		Lisa Elliott / lelliott@drg-e.com
		DRG^&E / 713-529-6600

Pioneer Reports Results for its
Third Quarter and Nine Month Reporting
Year Ended December 31, 2007

February 27, 2008 — SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS — Pioneer Drilling Company, Inc. (“Pioneer” or the “Company”) (AMEX-PDC) reported financial results for the quarter and nine months ended December 31, 2007. As previously announced, the Company changed its fiscal year end from March 31 to December 31, resulting in a nine month reporting year from April 1,2007 to December 31, 2007.

Net income for the three months ended December 31, 2007 (the “Third Quarter”) was $14.8 million, or $0.29 per diluted share, compared with net income of $11.8 million, or $0.23 per diluted share, for the three months ended September 30, 2007 (the “Second Quarter”) and net income of $24.0 million, or $0.48 per diluted share, for the three months ended December 31, 2006. Net income for the nine months ended December 31, 2007 was $39.6 million, or $0.79 per diluted share, compared to net income of $67.0 million, or $1.34 per diluted share, for the nine months ended December 31, 2006. The Third Quarter net income was impacted by a $0.04 per diluted share income tax benefit related to the completion of our federal income tax audit, certain tax benefits recognized for our investment in Colombia and a lower statutory tax rate for Colombian earnings as compared to the U.S. statutory tax rate.

Revenues for the Third Quarter were $104.6 million compared with $106.5 million for the Second Quarter and $112.4 million for the third quarter of 2006. The Third Quarter benefited from the increase in revenue generated by the start-up of operations in Colombia which was offset by the decrease in U.S. revenues of $9.3 million for the quarter over sequential quarter and $16.9 million for the quarter over the same quarter last year. For the nine months ended December 31, 2007, revenue increased $1.1 million to $313.9 million from $312.8 million for the comparable nine months in 2006 due to the advent of Colombian operations, the addition of an average of 7 rigs which were offset by an 8% decline in rig utilization rates and a decrease in average revenues of $621 per day.

Contract drilling costs for the Third Quarter were down $1.5 million over the Second Quarter primarily due to the decline in utilization rates offset by higher than normal supplies, repair and maintenance costs for the start-up of Colombian operations. When compared to the same quarter last year, drilling costs were up $6.5 million primarily due to the increase in the number of rigs in our fleet, the addition of our Colombian operations and higher supplies, repairs and maintenance costs in our U.S. operations. The increase in our fleet, both domestically and internationally, resulted in a $0.6 million increase in depreciation quarter over sequential quarter, $2.7 million increase over the same quarter last year, and $10.7 million increase for the nine month period ended December 31, 2007 over the same nine months in 2006.

General and administrative expenses increased $0.6 million quarter over sequential quarter, $1.7 million over the same quarter last year, and $3.0 million for the nine month period ended December 31, 2007 over the same nine months in 2006, primarily due to additional compensation-related costs and professional fees associated with enhancing the Company’s corporate operations to meet the demands of expanding both internationally and into other oilfield service sectors.

EBITDA⁽¹⁾ for the Third Quarter increased $1.7 million to $35.1 million from $33.4 million in the Second Quarter, noting that the Second Quarter was impacted by at $2.6 million write down of a receivable related to a customer bankruptcy. Third Quarter EBITDA was impacted by the revenue contribution from Colombia which was offset by higher supplies, repairs and maintenance costs. Cash flows from operations for the nine months ended December 31, 2007 increased 21% to $115.5 million compared to the same nine months in 2006.

Wm. Stacy Locke, President and CEO, commented, “We are pleased with our results for the third and final quarter of our reporting year. We’ve maintained solid margins despite experiencing some softness in the market. Our strong U.S. operations continue to provide a solid base for the expansion opportunities we are currently undertaking. Our Colombian operations are performing well with a contribution to pretax income of $1.6 million for the Third Quarter. Most of our international start-up expenses are behind us, we have commenced operations of our third rig in Colombia and we expect to add two more rigs this year.”

Mr. Locke continued, “We are also happy to report that the previously announced acquisition of WEDGE Well Services, L.L.C., WEDGE Wireline Services, Inc. and WEDGE Fishing and Rental Services, L.L.C. is progressing nicely. The acquisition of these oilfield service businesses, along with our international expansion, represents the next phase in our growth strategy and will transform Pioneer beyond a pure play land driller. We are on track to close the acquisition within the next week. Upon closing the acquisition, we will follow with another conference call to provide more detailed information related to the acquisition.”

Pioneer Conference Call

Pioneer’s management team will hold a conference call today, Wednesday, February 27, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time (9:00 a.m. Central), to discuss these results. To participate in the call, dial (303) 262-2125 at least 10 minutes before the conference call begins and ask for the Pioneer Drilling conference call. A replay of the call will be available approximately two hours after the call ends and will be accessible until March 5, 2008. To access the replay, dial (303) 590-3000 and enter the pass code 11108554#.

Investors, analysts and the general public can listen to the conference call over the Internet by accessing Pioneer’s Web site at http://www.pioneerdrlg.com. To listen to the live call on the Web, please visit Pioneer’s Web site at least 10 minutes early to register, download and install 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 provides land contract drilling services to independent and major oil and gas operators drilling wells in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kansas and in the Rocky Mountain region and internationally in Colombia. Its fleet consists of 69 land drilling rigs that drill in depth ranges between 6,000 and 18,000 feet. The Company has also announced plans to acquire the well services, wireline services and fishing and rental services, comprised of 60 workover rigs, 45 wireline units and fishing and rental tools, respectively, from affiliates of WEDGE Group Incorporated.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements, non-GAAP Financial Measures and Reconciliations

Statements we make in this press 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. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to the pending acquisition and its closing date. Our actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, could differ materially from those we express in this press release as a result of a variety of factors, including general economic and business conditions and industry trends, the continued strength or weakness of the contract land drilling industry in the geographic areas in which we operate, decisions about onshore exploration and development projects to be made by oil and gas companies, the highly competitive nature of our business, the availability, terms and deployment of capital, the availability of qualified personnel, and 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, the terms of and ability to obtain permanent financing for the acquisition of the Wedge companies, difficulty in integrating the services of the Wedge companies into Pioneer in an efficient and effective manner; challenges in achieving strategic objectives; the risk that our markets do not evolve as anticipated; and the potential loss of the services of key employees of the Wedge companies . We have discussed these factors in more detail in our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2007 and in our Form 10-Qs for the quarters ended June 30, 2007 and September 30, 2007. These factors are not necessarily all the important factors that could affect us. Unpredictable or unknown factors we have not discussed in this press release, in our annual report on Form 10-K or in our quarterly

reports on Form 10-Q could also have material adverse effects on actual results of matters that are the subject of our forward-looking 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 press 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 below.


(1)		We define EBITDA as earnings before interest income (expense), taxes, depreciation and amortization. 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 income to EBITDA can be found later in the release. 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.

- Tables to Follow -

PIONEER DRILLING COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations
(in thousands, except per share data)


	Three Months Ended									Nine Months Ended						Year Ended
	December 31,						Sept. 30,			December 31,						March 31,
	2007			2006			2007			2007			2006			2007
				(unaudited)						(audited)			(unaudited)			(audited)
Revenues:
Contract drilling	$	104,589		$	112,421		$	106,516		$	313,884		$	312,831		$	416,178


Costs and Expenses:
Contract drilling		65,159			58,659			66,645			195,596			164,017			224,423
Depreciation		16,661			13,969			16,093			48,852			38,120			52,856
General and administrative		4,399			2,743			3,844			11,564			8,516			11,123
Bad debt expense		(15	)		800			2,627			2,612			800			800

Total operating costs		86,204			76,171			89,209			258,624			211,453			289,202


Operating income		18,385			36,250			17,307			55,260			101,378			126,976


Other income (expense):
Interest expense		(1	)		(9	)		(14	)		(16	)		(73	)		(73	)
Interest income		808			836			731			2,401			2,947			3,828
Other		97			13			11			129			50			57

Total other		904			840			728			2,514			2,924			3,812


Income before taxes		19,289			37,090			18,035			57,774			104,302			130,788

Income tax expense		(4,512	)		(13,102	)		(6,255	)		(18,129	)		(37,341	)		(46,609	)


Net earnings	$	14,777		$	23,988		$	11,780		$	39,645		$	66,961		$	84,179


Earnings per share:
Basic	$	0.30		$	0.48		$	0.24		$	0.80		$	1.35		$	1.70

Diluted	$	0.29		$	0.48		$	0.23		$	0.79		$	1.34		$	1.68


Weighted average number of shares outstanding:
Basic		49,651			49,603			49,651			49,645			49,598			49,603
Diluted		50,188			50,146			50,205			50,201			50,148			50,132

PIONEER DRILLING COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
(in thousands)


	December 31, 2007		March 31, 2007
Assets
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$	76,703	$	84,945
Receivables, net		47,370		57,698
Contract drilling in progress		7,861		9,837
Deferred income taxes		3,670		2,175
Inventory		1,180		—
Prepaid expenses		5,073		3,653

Total current assets		141,857		158,308

Net property and equipment		417,022		342,901
Deferred income taxes		573		—
Other assets		760		286

Total assets	$	560,212	$	501,495


Liabilities and Equity
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	$	21,424	$	18,626
Prepaid drilling contracts		1,933		—
Accrued expenses		18,693		15,593

Total current liabilities		42,050		34,219
Other non-current liability		254		346
Deferred taxes		46,836		38,821

Total liabilities		89,140		73,386
Total shareholders’ equity		471,072		428,109

Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity	$	560,212	$	501,495

PIONEER DRILLING COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(in thousands)


	Nine Months Ended						Year Ended
	December 31,						March 31,
	2007			2006			2007
				(unaudited)
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net earnings	$	39,645		$	66,961		$	84,179
Adjustments to reconcile net earnings to net provided by operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization		48,852			38,120			52,856
Allowance for doubtful accounts		2,612			800			800
Loss on dispositions of property and equipment		2,809			5,183			5,760
Stock-based compensation expense		3,157			2,474			3,061
Deferred income taxes		5,947			4,474			10,653
Change in other assets		(519	)		15			20
Change in non-current liabilities		(92	)		44			(41	)
Changes in current assets and liabilities		13,044			(22,995	)		(25,759	)

Net cash provided by operating activities		115,455			95,076			131,530


Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds from exercise of options		107			64			174
Excess tax benefit of stock option exercises		54			8			27

Net cash provided by financing activities		161			72			201


Cash flows from investing activities:
Purchases of property and equipment		(126,158	)		(116,638	)		(144,507	)
Proceeds from sale of property and equipment		2,300			5,070			6,547

Net cash used in investing activities		(123,858	)		(111,568	)		(137,960	)


Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents		(8,242	)		(16,420	)		(6,229	)

Beginning cash and cash equivalents		84,945			91,174			91,174

Ending cash and cash equivalents	$	76,703		$	74,754		$	84,945

PIONEER DRILLING COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES
Operating Statistics
(in thousands)
(Unaudited)


	Three Months Ended									Nine Months Ended						Year Ended
	December 31,						Sept. 30,			December 31,						March 31,
	2007			2006			2007			2007			2006			2007

Revenues by contract:
Daywork contracts	$	95,265		$	108,808		$	98,925		$	292,617		$	302,273		$	399,188
Turnkey contracts		1,930			—			2,195			4,979			—			3,445
Footage contracts		7,394			3,613			5,396			16,288			10,559			13,545

Total	$	104,589		$	112,421		$	106,516		$	313,884		$	312,832		$	416,178


Drilling costs by contract:
Daywork contracts	$	58,309		$	55,726		$	61,129		$	179,521		$	156,480		$	211,334
Turnkey contracts		1,000			—			1,427			3,168			—			2,615
Footage contracts		5,850			2,933			4,089			12,907			7,538			10,474

Total	$	65,159		$	58,659		$	66,645		$	195,596		$	164,018		$	224,423


Drilling margin by contract (2):
Daywork contracts	$	36,956		$	53,082		$	37,796		$	113,096		$	145,793		$	187,854
Turnkey contracts		930			—			768			1,811			—			830
Footage contracts		1,544			680			1,307			3,381			3,021			3,071

Total	$	39,430		$	53,762		$	39,871		$	118,288		$	148,814		$	191,755


EBITDA (1)	$	35,143		$	50,232		$	33,411		$	104,241		$	139,548		$	179,889


Reconciliation of drilling margin and EBITDA to net earnings:

Drilling margin	$	39,430		$	53,762		$	39,871		$	118,288		$	148,814		$	191,755

General and administrative		(4,399	)		(2,743	)		(3,844	)		(11,564	)		(8,516	)		(11,123	)
Bad debt expense		15			(800	)		(2,627	)		(2,612	)		(800	)		(800	)
Other income (expense)		97			13			11			129			50			57


EBITDA		35,143			50,232			33,411			104,241			139,548			179,889

Interest income (expense), net		807			827			717			2,385			2,874			3,755
Income tax expense		(4,512	)		(13,102	)		(6,255	)		(18,129	)		(37,341	)		(46,609	)
Depreciation		(16,661	)		(13,969	)		(16,093	)		(48,852	)		(38,120	)		(52,856	)


Net earnings	$	14,777		$	23,988		$	11,780		$	39,645		$	66,961		$	84,179


(1)		See EBITDA footnote on Page 4 of this press release.

(2)		Drilling margin represents contract drilling revenues less contract drilling costs. Pioneer believes that drilling margin is a useful measure for evaluating its financial performance, although it is not a measure of financial performance under generally accepted accounting principles. However, drilling margin is a common measure of operating performance used by investors, financial analysts, rating agencies and Pioneer’s management. A reconciliation of drilling margin to net earnings is included in the operating statistics table above. Drilling margin as presented may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures reported by other companies.

PIONEER DRILLING COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES
Operating Statistics
(Unaudited)


	Three Months Ended									Nine Months Ended						Year Ended
	December 31,						Sept. 30,			December 31,						March 31,
	2007			2006			2007			2007			2006			2007

Average number of rigs		67.0			62.3			67.3			66.7			59.6			60.8
Utilization rate		86	%		98	%		90	%		89	%		97	%		95	%

Revenue days by contract:
Daywork contracts		4,877			5,312			5,196			15,203			15,084			19,995
Turnkey contracts		49			—			42			118			—			81
Footage contracts		417			260			321			968			643			854

Total		5,343			5,572			5,559			16,289			15,727			20,930


Average revenues per day:
Daywork contracts	$	19,534		$	20,483		$	19,039		$	19,247		$	20,039		$	19,964

Turnkey contracts	$	39,388		$	—		$	52,262		$	42,195		$	—		$	42,531

Footage contracts	$	17,731		$	13,896		$	16,810		$	16,826		$	16,421		$	15,861

All contracts	$	19,575		$	20,176		$	19,161		$	19,270		$	19,891		$	19,884


Average costs per day:
Daywork contracts	$	11,956		$	10,491		$	11,765		$	11,808		$	10,374		$	10,569

Turnkey contracts	$	20,408		$	—		$	33,976		$	26,847		$	—		$	32,284

Footage contracts	$	14,029		$	11,281		$	12,738		$	13,334		$	11,723		$	12,265

All contracts	$	12,195		$	10,527		$	11,989		$	12,008		$	10,429		$	10,723


Drilling margin per day (3):
Daywork contracts	$	7,578		$	9,993		$	7,274		$	7,439		$	9,665		$	9,395

Turnkey contracts	$	18,980		$	—		$	18,286		$	15,347		$	—		$	10,247

Footage contracts	$	3,703		$	2,615		$	4,072		$	3,493		$	4,698		$	3,596

All contracts	$	7,380		$	9,649		$	7,172		$	7,262		$	9,462		$	9,161


(3)		Drilling margin per revenue day represents average revenue per revenue day less average cost per revenue day.

PIONEER DRILLING COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES
Capital Expenditures
(in thousands)


	Three Months Ended						Nine Months Ended				Year Ended
	December 31,				September 30,		December 31,				March 31,
	2007		2006		2007		2007		2006		2007

Capital expenditures:

Routine rigs	$	5,570	$	6,523	$	5,585	$	16,029	$	11,637	$	17,832

Average per revenue day	$	1,077	$	1,171	$	1,005	$	1,002	$	740	$	852


Discretionary:
Rig upgrades	$	8,843	$	518	$	7,016	$	20,237	$	16,734	$	19,917
Iron roughnecks and topdrives		3,375		—		6,397		11,748		—		3,602
Spare equipment		773		1,185		2,603		5,534		6,631		8,457
Other		1,359		3,266		1,295		3,555		5,406		9,022

Total discretionary	$	14,350	$	4,969	$	17,311	$	41,073	$	28,771	$	40,999


Tubulars	$	2,740	$	46	$	6,621	$	11,219	$	11,825	$	13,942


Total routine, discretionary and tubulars	$	22,660	$	11,538	$	29,517	$	68,320	$	52,233	$	72,773


New-builds and acquisitions		3,012		19,981		20,941		59,718		64,970		74,457


Total capital expenditures	$	25,672	$	31,519	$	50,458	$	128,038	$	117,203	$	147,229

PIONEER DRILLING COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES
Rig Information


	Rig Type
	Mechanical		Electric		Total Rigs

Rig horsepower ratings:
550 to 700 HP		6		—		6
750 to 900 HP		15		2		17
1000 HP		17		12		29
1200 to 1500 HP		3		14		17

Total		41		28		69


Rig drilling depth ratings:
Less than 10,000 feet		8		2		10
10,000 to 13,900 feet		30		7		37
14,000 to 18,000 feet		3		19		22

Total		41		28		69

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