Antero Midstream Corp (AM) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the Antero Midstream third-quarter 2025 earnings call. (Operator Instructions) And as a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

大家好，歡迎參加 Antero Midstream 2025 年第三季財報電話會議。（操作說明）再次提醒，本次會議正在錄音。

It is now my pleasure to introduce to you Dan Katzenberg, the Director of Finance. Thank you, sir. Please go ahead.

現在我很高興向大家介紹財務長丹‧卡岑伯格。謝謝您，先生。請繼續。

Thank you for joining us for Antero Midstream's third-quarter investor conference call. We'll spend a few minutes going through the financial and operating highlights, and then we'll open it up for Q&A. I would also like to direct you to the homepage of our website at www.anteromidstream.com, where we have provided a separate earnings call presentation that will be reviewed during today's call.

感謝您參加 Antero Midstream 第三季投資者電話會議。我們將花幾分鐘時間回顧財務和營運方面的要點，然後進行問答環節。我還想引導您訪問我們網站的主頁 www.anteromidstream.com，我們在那裡提供了單獨的收益電話會議演示文稿，我們將在今天的電話會議上進行回顧。

Today's call may also contain certain non-GAAP financial measures. Please refer to our earnings press release for important disclosures regarding such measures. Joining me on the call today are Michael Kennedy, CEO and President of Antero Midstream; Justin Agnew, CFO of Antero Midstream; and Brendan Krueger, CFO of Antero Resources.

今天的電話會議可能還會涉及一些非GAAP財務指標。有關這些指標的重要披露信息，請參閱我們的盈利新聞稿。今天與我一起參加電話會議的有 Antero Midstream 的執行長兼總裁 Michael Kennedy；Antero Midstream 的財務長 Justin Agnew；以及 Antero Resources 的財務長 Brendan Krueger。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Mike.

這樣，我就把電話交給麥克了。

Thanks, Dan. Good morning, everyone. In my comments, I will discuss our 2025 capital budget and strategic initiatives. Justin will then walk through our financial results for the quarter.

謝謝你，丹。各位早安。在我的發言中，我將討論我們2025年的資本預算和策略性舉措。接下來，賈斯汀將詳細介紹我們本季的財務表現。

Let's start on slide number 3, titled Investing in the core of the Marcellus Shale. The maps on this page depict the core outline as we knew it upon Antero Resources' 2013 IPO compared to where we see it today. as step-out development has proved up acreage over the last decade, the core boundaries continue to expand in the Marcellus, along with improving well results.

讓我們從第 3 張幻燈片開始，標題是「投資馬塞勒斯頁岩的核心」。本頁地圖展示了安特羅資源公司2013年上市時的核心區域輪廓與現今的輪廓對比。過去十年間，隨著外延開發不斷擴大油氣田面積，馬塞勒斯頁岩的核心區域邊界持續擴展，油井產量也持續提高。

These results have driven an increase in organic leasing program at AR and an expansion of AM's infrastructure. This organic expansion of both AR and AM is a core initiative at both entities and positions us well for the structured change in natural gas demand over the next several years.

這些成果推動了 AR 有機租賃計劃的成長以及 AM 基礎設施的擴張。AR 和 AM 的這種有機擴張是這兩個實體的核心舉措，使我們能夠更好地應對未來幾年天然氣需求的結構性變化。

During the quarter, AR acquired approximately $260 million of assets in this core area. This included transactions acquiring working and royalty interests, which were already gathered by AM as well as additional core acreage.

本季度，AR 在該核心領域收購了約 2.6 億美元的資產。這包括收購 AM 已獲得的作業權益和特許權使用費權益的交易，以及額外的核心面積。

The acreage acquisition was undedicated to a midstream provider and results in 10 additional locations dedicated to AM. Along with the grassroots leasing program, this brings the total locations acquired year-to-date and dedicated to AM approximately 80 locations, more than offsetting the 2025 development plan.

此次收購的土地未指定給中游服務提供者，因此新增了 10 個專門用於 AM 的地點。加上基層租賃計劃，今年迄今收購並專門用於 AM 的地點總數約為 80 個，足以抵消 2025 年的發展計劃。

Looking at AM's capital investment. During the third quarter, we invested $51 million, bringing our year-to-date capital investment to $133 million or approximately 75% of our total budget at the midpoint of guidance. This capital included significant investments in water assets to expand and connect the southern end of the Marcellus Shale. This investment provides development flexibility and unlocks significant low-cost inventory across the liquid-rich midstream corridor.

考察AM的資本投資。第三季度，我們投資了 5,100 萬美元，使我們今年迄今的資本投資達到 1.33 億美元，約占我們預期中位數總預算的 75%。這筆資金包括對水利資產的大量投資，用於擴大和連接馬塞勒斯頁岩的南端。這項投資提供了開發靈活性，並釋放了富含液體的中游走廊中大量低成本庫存。

I also want to touch on some new initiatives on the dry gas portion in West Virginia of our acreage, highlighted in blue on slide number 4. With only a small investment by AM, AR is now planning to drill its first dry gas Marcellus pad in over a decade. This pad is located on existing infrastructure with underutilized midstream capacity that AM acquired in 2022. This pad highlights the speed the market Antero can deliver on a coordinated basis with Antero Midstream and significant dry gas optionality.

我還想談談我們在西維吉尼亞州的土地上乾氣部分的一些新舉措，這些舉措在第 4 張幻燈片中以藍色突出顯示。在 AM 的少量投資下，AR 現在計劃鑽探十多年來的第一個馬塞勒斯乾氣井平台。該平台位於AM於2022年收購的現有基礎設施上，利用了未充分利用的中游產能。該平台突顯了 Antero 與 Antero Midstream 協調合作，能夠以極快的速度交付市場產品，並擁有豐富的乾氣選擇權。

Our midstream infrastructure will allow AR to immediately access local markets as proof of concept for future in-basin demand growth from data centers and power generation projects or if local basis were to tighten. This dry gas development results in attractive rates returned for AM and, more importantly, significant upside to our previous acquisition that was valued on a PDP-only basis.

我們的中游基礎設施將使 AR 能夠立即進入本地市場，以此作為未來盆地內資料中心和發電專案需求成長的概念驗證，或在本地市場基差收緊的情況下也能發揮作用。這項乾氣開發為 AM 帶來了可觀的收益，更重要的是，它為我們先前僅按 PDP 估值的收購帶來了巨大的收益。

In summary, we continue to remain active in our expansion efforts, leveraging our existing assets to drive growth and capitalize on the structure change in demand for natural gas.

總而言之，我們將繼續積極推動擴張工作，利用現有資產推動成長，並掌握天然氣需求結構變化帶來的機會。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Justin.

接下來，我會把電話交給賈斯汀。

Thanks, Mike. I'll start with our third quarter financial results on slide number 5. During the third quarter, gathering and compression volumes increased by 5% year over year, driven by another quarter of uptime availability over 99%. Adjusted EBITDA was $281 million, which is a 10% increase year over year. This was driven primarily by an increase in gathering, processing and freshwater delivery volumes.

謝謝你，麥克。我將在第5張投影片上開始介紹我們第三季的財務表現。第三季度，由於正常運轉時間連續第二季超過 99%，集輸和壓縮量較去年同期成長 5%。調整後 EBITDA 為 2.81 億美元，年增 10%。這主要是由於收集、加工和淡水輸送量的增加所致。

Freshwater delivery volumes increased by almost 30% year over year, while operating just one completion crew, which is a testament to the significant completion efficiencies achieved over the last year. This EBITDA growth, combined with declining capital resulted in free cash flow after dividends of $78 million, which was a 94% increase compared to last year. We utilized this free cash flow for share repurchases and debt reduction which drove our leverage down to 2.7 times as of September 30.

淡水輸送量年增近 30%，而僅營運一個完井作業隊，證明了過去一年中完井效率的顯著提高。EBITDA 的成長，加上資本的減少，使得股息後的自由現金流達到 7,800 萬美元，比去年增加了 94%。我們將這筆自由現金流用於股票回購和債務削減，截至 9 月 30 日，我們的槓桿率降至 2.7 倍。

I'll finish my comments on slide number 6, titled Balance Sheet Strength and Flexibility. Over the last year, we've reduced our absolute debt by approximately $175 million and taken our leverage down wells to half a turn. This credit improvement resulted in credit ratings upgrade from Moody's and ability to refinance our nearest maturity notes that were due in 2027.

我將在題為「資產負債表實力和靈活性」的第 6 張投影片上完成我的評論。過去一年，我們減少了約 1.75 億美元的絕對債務，並將槓桿率降至半圈。信用狀況的改善使我們獲得了穆迪的信用評級提升，並使我們能夠為即將於 2027 年到期的近期到期票據進行再融資。

This transaction, which was upsized due to significant demand, extended the maturity to 2033 at the same 5.75% coupon. Pro forma for this refinancing, we have over $870 million of liquidity and no near-term maturities. Our balanced approach to debt reduction and share repurchases has allowed us to reduce our financing costs, further compounding the growth in free cash flow after dividends.

由於市場需求旺盛，此交易規模擴大，將到期日延長至 2033 年，票面利率仍為 5.75%。根據此次再融資的預期情況，我們擁有超過 8.7 億美元的流動資金，並且近期沒有到期債務。我們採取平衡的債務削減和股票回購策略，降低了融資成本，進一步提高了股利後的自由現金流。

In summary, AM's balance sheet is in the strongest position since our IPO over a decade ago. Our capital investments continue to deliver consistent free cash flow, which we expect to further expand as we head into 2026. This expanding free cash flow positions us well to return additional capital to shareholders and continue to expand our growth opportunities across both the liquids-rich and dry gas portions of our asset base.

總而言之，AM的資產負債表處於自十多年前IPO以來最強勁的水平。我們的資本投資持續帶來穩定的自由現金流，我們預計隨著我們邁入 2026 年，這一數字將進一步成長。不斷增長的自由現金流使我們能夠更好地向股東返還更多資本，並繼續擴大我們在富含液體和乾燥天然氣資產基礎中的成長機會。

With that, operator, we are ready to take questions.

操作員，我們現在可以開始回答問題了。

(Operator Instructions) Jeremy Tonet, JPMorgan.

（操作說明）傑里米·托內特，摩根大通。

I Just wanted to turn to the topic of in-basin demand, specifically as it relates to the potential for behind-the-meter opportunities in. I believe Antero talked about being in discussions there and looking at this. I'm just trying to get a sense for, I guess, how near or later term, this is. Just trying to get a feel for that and whether customers are looking for prices [pin] to just in-basin? Or is Henry Hub part of the conversation? Wondering how this all mixes together?

我想談談盆地內需求的話題，特別是它與表後定價機會之間的關係。我相信Antero提到他們正在就此進行討論和研究。我只是想了解一下，這究竟是近期還是遠期的事情。我想了解一下，客戶是否希望價格僅限於盆地內？或者亨利·哈布也參與了討論？想知道這一切是如何融合在一起的嗎？

Yeah, this is Brendan. Just to touch on the in-basin demand and behind the meter. I think we've talked about it in the past, Antero Resources is one of the largest consumers of power in the state of West Virginia at the Sherwood complex. So we've talked about it in that light in the past where you could go behind the meter, that would accomplish a couple of things. One, it would reduce overall operating costs for Antero Resources on the power side of things.

是的，這是布倫丹。簡單談談流域內需求和表後需求。我想我們以前討論過這個問題，Antero Resources 是西維吉尼亞州舍伍德綜合設施最大的電力用戶之一。所以過去我們也從這個角度討論過，你可以走到儀表後面，那樣就能達到幾個目的。第一，這將降低 Antero Resources 在電力方面的整體營運成本。

And then secondly, you'd obviously free up incremental grid power if you were to go behind the meter in that scenario. So obviously, it takes a lot of different parties to work through solutions such as that. So no time frame on our end, still analyzing, still having discussions around opportunities like that.

其次，在這種情況下，如果你採用電錶後供電方式，顯然可以釋放出額外的電網電力。顯然，要找到這樣的解決方案，需要許多不同的參與者。所以，我們這邊還沒有具體的時間表，仍在分析，仍在討論類似的機會。

And then in addition, we've mentioned in the past, but we do feel the Antero family is very well positioned. As it relates to data center opportunities to the extent they take hold in the state of West Virginia, I think Antero Resources produces about 40% of the natural gas production in the state. Highly integrated with AM, Antero Midstream has the water system that is invested about $600 million in. So a significant water system, which can be helpful in power infrastructure. So a lot of good attributes between the two parties that we think could play out well, but still ongoing discussions at this point and no set time frame.

此外，正如我們之前提到的，我們認為安特羅集團的處境非常有利。就資料中心在西維吉尼亞州的發展機會而言，安特羅資源公司在該州的天然氣產量約佔40%。安特羅中游公司與安特羅資源公司高度整合，擁有投資約6億美元的水處理系統。因此，一個重要的供水系統，對電力基礎建設大有裨益。雙方有很多共同的優點，我們認為這些優點可能會帶來好的結果，但目前仍在討論中，還沒有確定的時間表。

Got it. Understood. And on this Sherwood behind-the-meter potential project here, what are the specific, I guess, hurdles at this point that would stop, I guess, moving forward?

知道了。明白了。那麼，關於舍伍德的這個電錶後潛在項目，目前有哪些具體的障礙會阻止項目向前推進？

There's just a lot of different pieces to it as it relates to equipment availability and making sure you have the right agreements in place from a power perspective with utilities in that area. So I think still quite a bit of hurdles just to get something across the finish line. So again, no near-term announcements expected on that as we sit here today.

這其中涉及許多不同的方面，例如設備可用性，以及確保從電力角度與該地區的公用事業公司達成正確的協議。所以我覺得要完成某件事，還是有很多障礙需要克服。所以，就目前來看，近期內預計不會有任何相關公告。

Got it, thank you. And then as regards to the underutilized assets that fit quite nicely given the dynamics there. Just wondering, are there other I guess, pockets across your footprint where the same potential could unfold going forward where there's underutilized assets that could step into new production that provides the strong accretion?

明白了，謝謝。至於那些未充分利用的資產，考慮到其中的動態，它們也相當契合。我只是好奇，在您的業務範圍內，是否還有其他一些區域，例如一些未充分利用的資產，可以投入新的生產，從而帶來強勁的成長，這些區域未來也可能展現出同樣的潛力？

Yeah. Antero Midstream was early in doing all these bolt-on acquisitions is really consolidated to play. And so we bought the Crestwood asset, which is the dry gas kind of portion in 2022, bought Summit as well in 2024, which is kind of in that more lean gas area.

是的。Antero Midstream 很早就進行了這些補充收購，從而真正鞏固了其市場地位。因此，我們在 2022 年收購了 Crestwood 資產（屬於乾氣部分），並在 2024 年收購了 Summit（屬於稀氣部分）。

So those two areas and those comprise a significant amount of acreage, probably about 150,000 acres in total are all underutilized right now from both high pressure and compression perspective. So a lot of availability there for Antero Resources to develop into Antero Midstream's underutilized capacity.

因此，這兩個區域（總共約 15 萬英畝）目前在高壓和壓縮方面都沒有充分利用。因此，Antero Resources 可以利用其未充分利用的產能，開發 Antero Midstream 的資源。

Ivan Scotto, UBS.

瑞銀集團的伊凡·斯科托。

I wanted to ask about the 10 undeveloped locations that AR acquired. What kind of capital or infrastructure spend is needed on your end for connectivity to those locations?

我想問一下AR收購的10個未開發地塊的情況。貴方需要投入多少資金或基礎設施才能連接到這些地點？

Not very material. I mean, it's within our core areas. So generally, when I think about it, and this is just a good rule of thumb, it's about $1 million per well when you think about it from an LP and water. And then it's already tied into compression in HP. So incrementally, maybe $10 million.

不太重要。我的意思是，這屬於我們的核心領域。所以總的來說，我仔細想想，這只是個大概的經驗法則，從液化石油氣和水的角度來看，每口井的成本大約是100萬美元。而且，這還牽涉到高壓的壓縮問題。所以逐步增加，也許可以達到 1000 萬美元。

Okay. Got it. And then just based off of your free cash flow growth and leverage of 2.7 times, how should we think about capital allocation priorities moving forward?

好的。知道了。那麼，僅根據您的自由現金流成長和 2.7 倍的槓桿率，我們應該如何考慮未來的資本配置優先事項？

Yeah. Good question. I think for now, we're still focused on debt reduction and repurchasing shares. We've got a fairly balanced approach year-to-date. It's obviously ebbed and flowed a little bit on a quarter-to-quarter basis.

是的。問得好。我認為就目前而言，我們仍然專注於減少債務和回購股票。今年迄今為止，我們採取了相當平衡的策略。很明顯，它在每個季度之間都有一些波動。

But where the shares are trading today, we obviously see a lot of value in repurchasing shares, and there's obviously some benefit and value of paying down debt. It provides you with a lot of flexibility, and you saw the benefit in terms of refinancing the notes. So I think that, looking forward, it's still going to be that balanced approach, roughly 50-50 of share repurchases and debt reduction.

但就目前的股價而言，我們顯然看到了回購股票的巨大價值，償還債務也顯然有利可圖。這能為您提供很大的靈活性，而且您在票據再融資方面也看到了它的好處。所以我認為，展望未來，仍將採取這種平衡的方法，股票回購和債務削減的比例大致為 50-50。

John Mackay, Goldman Sachs.

約翰麥凱，高盛集團。

I wanted to touch on some of these comments around drilling into where AM (inaudible) capacity. You called this kind of first dry gas well as a bit of a proof of concept. But I guess, is the current AR plans to kind of lean more in this direction?

我想談談關於鑽探AM（聽不清楚）容量的一些評論。你把這種首口乾氣井稱為概念驗證。但我認為，目前的AR計畫是否更傾向這個方向？

Really, what I'm trying to get to is, could we see the effective capital intensity for AM per incremental AR production come down if you're moving into those windows? Or is this again kind of, hey, we'll see how we develop the dry side?

實際上，我想表達的是，如果我們進入這些窗口期，增材製造每增加一個AR產量所需的有效資本密集度是否會下降？或者，這又是一種「嘿，我們看看如何開發乾燥部分」的做法？

I mean, I think it's the back half. We'll see how it goes. But if that does occur, it would be AM's capital intensity to be much lower, obviously, because we already have it structure in the region.

我的意思是，我覺得是後半部。我們拭目以待。但如果這種情況真的發生，AM 的資本密集度顯然會低得多，因為我們在該地區已經擁有了相應的結構。

And maybe just a follow-up to that is, I mean, you are calling it a proof of concept. I guess, is this a comment on your side on the liquids outlook and more enthusiasm for the dry side? Or is they say, hey, people that are looking at us for in-basin solutions do kind of want to see us be able to execute on the dry piece as well?

或許可以補充一點，我的意思是，你稱之為概念驗證。我猜，這是您對液態飲料前景的看法，而對乾型飲料則更感興趣嗎？或者他們是說，嘿，那些尋求盆內解決方案的人也希望看到我們能夠做好乾式部分的工作？

Yeah. So [that kind of] in-basin based, but also -- I mean, it's not a bad thought on the first. We do have the diversity of product here and the ability to toggle between liquids and dry gas from both upstream and midstream. So you look at a $4 gas curve, versus backward dated oil curve.

是的。所以，這種基於流域內的方法，但同時——我的意思是，第一個想法也不錯。我們這裡擁有豐富的產品種類，並且能夠從上游和中游兩個方向切換液態和乾氣。所以你要觀察的是每加侖汽油價格為 4 美元的汽油曲線，與以前計算的石油曲線對比。

And so that would suggest that dry gas has become more economic on a relative basis. So that is something that is optionality for us from both midstream and upstream. So the proof of concept is really for the -- in local demand. But at the same time, it could be a portfolio approach as well.

因此，這表明乾氣相對而言變得更經濟了。所以這對我們來說，無論是在中游或上游，都是一種選擇。所以，這個概念驗證其實是為了滿足當地需求。但同時，它也可以是一種投資組合策略。

There are no further questions at this time. And I would like to turn the floor back over to Dan for any closing remarks.

目前沒有其他問題了。現在我想把發言權交還給丹，讓他做最後的總結發言。

Thank you, everyone, for dialing in to the call today. Please reach out to us with any questions that you have. Have a good day.

感謝各位今天撥入電話會議。如有任何疑問，請與我們聯絡。祝你有美好的一天。

And thank you, everyone. That does conclude today's teleconference. We thank you for your participation. You may disconnect your lines at this time.

謝謝大家。今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您可以在此時斷開線路。