Chesapeake Energy Corp (CHK) 2022 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the Chesapeake Energy Second Quarter 2022 Earnings Teleconference. (Operator Instructions) Please note that this event is being recorded.

早上好，歡迎來到切薩皮克能源公司 2022 年第二季度收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，此事件正在記錄中。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Brad Sylvester. Please go ahead.

我現在想把會議交給 Brad Sylvester。請繼續。

Good morning. Thank you, Joe, and thank you, everyone, for joining us on the call today. This is Chesapeake's Second Quarter 2022 Financial and Operating Results Call. Hopefully, you've had a chance to review our press release and the updated investor presentation that we posted to our website yesterday. During this morning's call, we will be making forward-looking statements, which consist of statements that cannot be confirmed by reference to existing information, including statements regarding our beliefs, goals, expectations, forecasts, projections and future performance and the assumptions underlying such statements.

早上好。謝謝你，喬，謝謝大家今天加入我們的電話會議。這是切薩皮克 2022 年第二季度財務和經營業績電話會議。希望您有機會查看我們昨天發佈到我們網站上的新聞稿和更新的投資者演示文稿。在今天上午的電話會議中，我們將做出前瞻性陳述，其中包括無法通過參考現有信息來確認的陳述，包括關於我們的信念、目標、預期、預測、預測和未來業績的陳述以及這些陳述背後的假設.

Please note that there are a number of factors that will cause actual results to differ materially from our forward-looking statements, including the factors identified and discussed in our press release yesterday and in other SEC filings. Please recognize that except as required by applicable law, we undertake no duty to take -- to update any forward-looking statements, and you should not place any undue reliance on such statements. We also may refer to some non-GAAP financial measures, which help facilitate comparisons across periods and with peers. For any non-GAAP measures we use, a reconciliation to the nearest corresponding GAAP measure, can be found on our website.

請注意，有許多因素會導致實際結果與我們的前瞻性陳述產生重大差異，包括我們昨天的新聞稿和其他 SEC 文件中確定和討論的因素。請認識到，除適用法律要求外，我們不承擔更新任何前瞻性陳述的義務，您不應過分依賴此類陳述。我們還可以參考一些非公認會計準則財務指標，這有助於促進跨時期和與同行的比較。對於我們使用的任何非公認會計原則措施，可以在我們的網站上找到與最接近的相應公認會計原則措施的對賬。

With me on the call today are Nick Dell'Osso, Mohit Singh and Josh Viets. Nick will give a brief overview of our results, and then we will open up the teleconference for Q&A.

今天與我通話的有 Nick Dell'Osso、Mohit Singh 和 Josh Viets。 Nick 將簡要概述我們的結果，然後我們將開啟電話會議進行問答。

So with that, thank you so much, and I will now turn the teleconference over to Nick.

因此，非常感謝您，我現在將電話會議轉交給尼克。

Good morning, and thank you for joining our call. We had another great quarter, and we've announced another important step in improving our business and solidifying our portfolio around our outstanding natural gas assets. We continue to execute our business in the second quarter, generating very strong cash flows through our capital-efficient development. The integration of Vine and Chief into our portfolio has been a success and contributed to the company delivering strong cash flows and returning meaningful capital to our shareholders in the form of dividends and buybacks.

早上好，感謝您加入我們的電話。我們又經歷了一個偉大的季度，我們宣布了在改善我們的業務和鞏固我們傑出的天然氣資產的投資組合方面又邁出了重要的一步。我們在第二季度繼續執行我們的業務，通過我們的資本效率開發產生非常強勁的現金流。將 Vine 和 Chief 整合到我們的投資組合中取得了成功，並有助於公司提供強勁的現金流，並以股息和回購的形式向我們的股東返還有意義的資本。

In fact, year-to-date, we have repurchased shares of our common stock equal to approximately 75% of the shares we issued in the Chief transaction. The consistency of our quarterly execution is a result of continuing to take steps to make our business better, not just bigger, since emerging from restructuring.

事實上，年初至今，我們已經回購了相當於我們在首席交易中發行的股份的約 75% 的普通股。我們季度執行的一致性是自重組後繼續採取措施使我們的業務更好，而不僅僅是更大的結果。

We believe today's decision to reallocate capital from the Eagle Ford to the Haynesville, leading to the Eagle Ford becoming non-core to our future capital allocation strategy is the next step. Our focus on making Chesapeake better underpinned our strategy to acquire the Vine and Chief assets, and has served as the foundation for our strategic pillars, which we believe maximize shareholder value.

我們相信，今天決定將資金從 Eagle Ford 重新分配到 Haynesville，導致 Eagle Ford 成為我們未來資本配置戰略的非核心，這是下一步。我們專注於讓切薩皮克變得更好，這為我們收購 Vine 和 Chief 資產的戰略奠定了基礎，並成為我們戰略支柱的基礎，我們相信這些支柱可以最大限度地提高股東價值。

Those are to generate superior capital returns, maintain a deep and attractive inventory, a premier balance sheet and pursue excellence from an environmental and overall ESG standpoint. As the macro environment has evolved, and we continue to be -- and we conclude the successful integration of the Vine and Chief assets into our portfolio, we believe more strongly than ever that we have the premier natural gas portfolio in the U.S. Our Marcellus and Haynesville positions clearly possess the characteristics to finding the best assets. We have industry-leading capital efficiency deep runways of low breakeven inventory situated next to the premier demand centers, strong operating margins and advantaged emissions profiles.

這些是為了產生卓越的資本回報，保持深厚且有吸引力的庫存，一流的資產負債表，並從環境和整體 ESG 的角度追求卓越。隨著宏觀環境的發展，我們將繼續——我們認為 Vine 和 Chief 資產成功整合到我們的投資組合中，我們比以往任何時候都更加堅信我們擁有美國首屈一指的天然氣投資組合。我們的 Marcellus 和海恩斯維爾職位顯然具有尋找最佳資產的特徵。我們擁有行業領先的資本效率，位於主要需求中心旁邊的低盈虧平衡庫存、強勁的運營利潤率和有利的排放狀況。

Additionally, as you will see on Slide 5 in our presentation on our website today, our relative position with capital efficiency, operating efficiency and well performance is peer-leading in both basins. Each of these strengths when combined with our balance sheet, deliver a truly differentiated capital returns profile, which is unmet among the gas names in the space.

此外，正如您今天在我們網站上的演示文稿中的幻燈片 5 中看到的那樣，我們在資本效率、運營效率和油井性能方面的相對地位在兩個盆地均處於同行領先地位。當與我們的資產負債表相結合時，這些優勢中的每一個都提供了真正差異化的資本回報概況，這在該領域的天然氣名稱中是未得到滿足的。

While the Eagle Ford is a strong asset, as we look to the future, it simply does not compete today with the exceptional returns, rock and runway of our gas assets. The Eagle Ford has become non-core to our future capital allocation strategy, and we believe that we will be a better company if we focus all of our resources, both capital and human, on the Marcellus and Haynesville. By doing so, investors will have a clearer path to investing in our great gas assets, and we believe will ultimately value Chesapeake more appropriately relative to the quality of our assets, strength of our balance sheet and magnitude of our capital returns profile.

雖然 Eagle Ford 是一項強大的資產，但在我們展望未來時，它今天根本無法與我們天然氣資產的非凡回報、搖滾和跑道競爭。 Eagle Ford 已成為我們未來資本配置戰略的非核心，我們相信，如果我們將所有資源（包括資本和人力）集中在 Marcellus 和 Haynesville，我們將成為一家更好的公司。通過這樣做，投資者將有一條更清晰的途徑來投資我們巨大的天然氣資產，我們相信最終將根據我們的資產質量、資產負債表的實力和資本回報的規模來更恰當地評估切薩皮克。

With respect to the Eagle Ford, we will now turn our attention to accelerating value for our shareholders through a strategic exit from the basin. This is a large asset across a wide geography with several subsets of asset characteristics. Therefore, in order to maximize shareholder value during an exit, we expect the process may take some time, and could even require multiple transactions. Our approach will be guided by 2 principles. First, anything we do must be accretive to our strategy. Our strong financial position and balance sheet, and the exceptional cash flow generated out of these assets, allow us to be prudent in our approach.

關於鷹福特，我們現在將把注意力轉向通過從盆地戰略退出來為我們的股東增加價值。這是一項跨越廣泛地理區域的大型資產，具有多個資產特徵子集。因此，為了在退出過程中最大化股東價值，我們預計該過程可能需要一些時間，甚至可能需要多次交易。我們的方法將遵循兩條原則。首先，我們所做的任何事情都必須增加我們的戰略。我們強勁的財務狀況和資產負債表，以及這些資產產生的異常現金流，使我們能夠謹慎行事。

So this just will not be a fire sale. And second, the proceeds will go to enhancing our capital returns program. As you'll see in our slide deck, our capital returns framework already leads to gas names by a significant margin. This will allow us to make it even better.

所以這不會是一場大甩賣。其次，收益將用於加強我們的資本回報計劃。正如您將在我們的幻燈片中看到的那樣，我們的資本回報框架已經大幅提升了天然氣名稱。這將使我們能夠做得更好。

As I stated at the beginning of this call, we'll begin reallocating capital away from the Eagle Ford to the Haynesville. Since the Vine transaction, we've been consistent with our 6-rig program aimed at keeping the Haynesville production relatively flat. We've also shared that we have some short-term constraints, primarily from gathering and treating facilities in the basin.

正如我在本次電話會議開始時所說，我們將開始將資金從鷹灘重新分配到海恩斯維爾。自 Vine 交易以來，我們一直與旨在保持 Haynesville 產量相對平穩的 6 台鑽機計劃保持一致。我們還分享了我們有一些短期限制，主要來自盆地的收集和處理設施。

As you'll see in Slide 12 of our deck, we've identified a clear path to increasing Haynesville capacity by the second half of 2023, and intend to increase our rig count from 5 where we stood last week to 7 by the end of the year, allowing us to match our production growth to the capacity expansions. Ultimately, we plan to deliver 5% to 7% growth from year-end '22 to year-end '23.

正如您將在我們甲板的幻燈片 12 中看到的那樣，我們已經確定了到 2023 年下半年增加海恩斯維爾產能的明確途徑，並打算將我們的鑽機數量從上週的 5 個增加到年底的 7 個這一年，使我們能夠將產量增長與產能擴張相匹配。最終，我們計劃從 22 年底到 23 年底實現 5% 到 7% 的增長。

In closing, we believe Chesapeake is the only gas-weighted company who can definitively say it has the returns profile, assets, balance sheet, access to markets and LNG and ESG performance to deliver across each of these critical areas. We're excited about our sharpened strategic direction and the opportunity to demonstrate that we are the premier gas investment opportunity in the sector. Operator, we'll now open the call for questions.

最後，我們認為切薩皮克是唯一一家能夠明確表示其在這些關鍵領域的回報概況、資產、資產負債表、市場准入以及液化天然氣和 ESG 績效的公司。我們對我們明確的戰略方向和證明我們是該行業首屈一指的天然氣投資機會的機會感到興奮。接線員，我們現在開始提問。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Our first question will come from Scott Hanold with RBC Capital Markets.

我們的第一個問題將來自 RBC Capital Markets 的 Scott Hanold。

Looking at the Eagle Ford, it's a pretty big asset. I mean, obviously, you guys aren't going to put market, but we're talking into the billions. And when you think about like that kind of cash coming in the door, 2 questions with it. One, what are the tax implications, generally speaking, on it? And number two, like how do you think about distributing that -- or utilizing that cash?

看看鷹福特，這是一項相當大的資產。我的意思是，很明顯，你們不會投入市場，但我們正在談論數十億美元。當你想像那種進門的現金時，有兩個問題。一，一般來說，它的稅收影響是什麼？第二，您如何看待分配或使用現金？

You talked about within your shareholder framework, but like when you're talking about getting multiple billions of dollars, is that the right direction? Or does it make sense to use some of that to look at strategic bolt-ons and other things in your core areas?

你在你的股東框架內談到過，但是當你談到獲得數十億美元時，這是正確的方向嗎？或者使用其中的一些來查看您核心領域的戰略性補充和其他事情是否有意義？

Yes. Great question, Scott. So on the tax side, I'll answer that first. It's a little early for us to start talking about what the tax implications could be. We'll probably stay away from those details today. There's a lot for us to explore with the buyer universe here and thinking about exactly how an exit here will work. As I noted, I think it's likely to be more than 1 transaction. And so it's probably just a little early to give that kind of guidance.

是的。很好的問題，斯科特。所以在稅收方面，我會先回答這個問題。我們現在開始討論稅收影響可能還為時過早。我們今天可能會遠離這些細節。我們有很多東西可以在這裡與買家世界一起探索，並思考這裡的退出將如何運作。正如我所指出的，我認為這可能不止 1 筆交易。所以現在給出這樣的指導可能還為時過早。

On the proceeds, we've talked a lot about how we're valued today, and we've talked a lot about what that means to us and how we think about capital application. And so pretty clearly, we have devoted a significant amount of our free cash flow to returning cash to shareholders, both through an attractive yield as well as through a very sizable buyback. We bought back -- we increased our buyback to $2 billion in June, and we've continued to execute on that. We're up to $670 million total, which is nearly $200 million higher than our last update to the market on that point. And so we're continuing to press that. Given where we're valued today, the capital allocation analysis that would come from a bunch of proceeds from an asset sale is going to lean pretty hard towards buybacks.

關於收益，我們談了很多關於我們今天的估值，我們談了很多關於這對我們意味著什麼以及我們如何看待資本應用。很明顯，我們已經將大量的自由現金流用於向股東返還現金，既通過有吸引力的收益率，也通過非常大規模的回購。我們回購了——我們在 6 月份將回購增加到 20 億美元，並且我們繼續執行。我們的總額高達 6.7 億美元，比我們上次對市場的更新高出近 2 億美元。因此，我們將繼續強調這一點。鑑於我們今天的估值水平，來自資產出售收益的資本配置分析將非常傾向於回購。

You asked about would we buy something. We've talked a lot about in the past that we think scale matters, but we just achieved pretty great scale in our Haynesville and Marcellus assets. So we feel no pressure need obligation to run out and buy something. We've also been really clear that if we do consider acquisitions, we have our nonnegotiables that are designed to be very protective over accretion and shareholder value creation, and they create a really high bar. And when you have a stock price that you think is undervalued or attractively valued if you're a buyer, that raises the bar even higher.

你問我們要不要買東西。過去我們談了很多我們認為規模很重要的事情，但我們剛剛在海恩斯維爾和馬塞勒斯資產中實現了相當大的規模。所以我們覺得沒有壓力需要義務跑出去買東西。我們也非常清楚，如果我們確實考慮收購，我們的不可談判資產旨在非常保護增值和股東價值創造，它們創造了一個非常高的標準。當你認為你的股票價格被低估或如果你是買家時估值有吸引力時，這會提高標準。

So look, we'll continue to run our business the way we have been running it. Capital allocation model at Chesapeake is getting simpler with this.

所以看，我們將繼續以我們一直以來的方式經營我們的業務。切薩皮克的資本分配模型因此變得更加簡單。

So now you have the opportunity to return capital to shareholders or reinvest in the Haynesville and in the Marcellus. Those are your 3 choices. And that's a pretty straightforward analysis when you think about how we are in a position of modestly growing the Haynesville and maintaining our fantastic position in market share in the Marcellus, which is capacity constrained. So that -- again, that analysis is pretty straightforward. We think we can maximize shareholder value by folks staying focused on that pretty tight capital allocation model, and that's what we'll do.

因此，現在您有機會向股東返還資本或再投資於海恩斯維爾和馬塞勒斯。這些是您的 3 個選擇。當您考慮到我們如何適度發展 Haynesville 並保持我們在產能受限的 Marcellus 市場份額中的驚人地位時，這是一個非常簡單的分析。所以 - 再一次，這種分析非常簡單。我們認為，人們可以通過專注於非常嚴格的資本分配模式來最大化股東價值，這就是我們將要做的。

All right. Great. Great color. And as my follow-up, as you look on your -- I guess focus on the Marcellus and the Haynesville, you have a path with the Haynesville through 2023. When you start thinking about like beyond that, I think the Marcellus, there's not a ton of growth opportunity. So like when you look at the Haynesville longer term, is the idea post 2023 to maintain relatively flat production, or you like that modest growth trajectory in that basin? And is there capacity to do so beyond 2023?

好的。偉大的。很棒的顏色。作為我的後續行動，當你看到你的 - 我想專注於馬塞勒斯和海恩斯維爾，到 2023 年，你與海恩斯維爾有一條道路。當你開始考慮超越這一點時，我認為馬塞勒斯，沒有大量的增長機會。因此，當您從長期來看海恩斯維爾時，2023 年後的想法是保持相對平穩的產量，還是您喜歡該盆地的適度增長軌跡？是否有能力在 2023 年之後這樣做？

So the answer to the second question is yes, we think there will be capacity to continue to grow beyond 2023. Will we grow is something we will determine over time, at what rate we will grow. But it's really important to have the ability to grow. You referenced and I referenced that the Marcellus is generally constrained. But I would also point out that over the last couple of years, we have managed to grow in the Marcellus, and we think that growth is a function of how competitive our assets are.

所以第二個問題的答案是肯定的，我們認為在 2023 年之後將有能力繼續增長。我們是否會增長是我們將隨著時間的推移而確定的，我們將以何種速度增長。但擁有成長的能力真的很重要。你提到，我提到馬塞勒斯通常是受限制的。但我還要指出，在過去的幾年裡，我們在馬塞勒斯成功地實現了增長，我們認為增長取決於我們資產的競爭力。

What that basically came from was during the COVID pandemic shutdown, there was capacity that softly opened up in the basin, and we were able to take advantage of that, build it, and we grew production. And so when we have opportunities to grow in the Marcellus, we'll do that. It's really hard to predict those opportunities in an environment where gas prices are high, there should be less of those than when gas prices were low. That said, we'll always pay attention to that opportunity, and then having the ability to grow in the Haynesville is a great lever and we'll be really disciplined and prudent about how we approach that over time.

這基本上來自於在 COVID 大流行關閉期間，盆地中的產能逐漸開放，我們能夠利用它，建造它，並增加產量。因此，當我們有機會在 Marcellus 成長時，我們就會這樣做。在天然氣價格高的環境中很難預測這些機會，應該比天然氣價格低的時候少。也就是說，我們將始終關注這個機會，然後擁有在海恩斯維爾成長的能力是一個很好的槓桿，隨著時間的推移，我們將非常自律和謹慎地處理這個問題。

In the current moment, we've been able to wind out how we're going to expand takeaway capacity from our gathering and treating facilities, and that gives us confidence to step into from a low single-digit growth rate to a higher single-digit growth rate on an exit basis from -- into '22 to the end of '23, how we'll position '24 and beyond is something that we'll look at as we go through 2023.

目前，我們已經能夠確定如何擴大收集和處理設施的外賣能力，這使我們有信心從低個位數的增長率邁向更高的個位數-從 22 年到 23 年底退出的數字增長率，我們將如何定位 24 年及以後是我們將在 2023 年看到的事情。

Our next question will come from Doug Leggate with Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題將來自美國銀行的 Doug Leggate。

Nick, I've got 2 questions, I guess, on -- I guess I would frame consistency of strategy. I think it's kind of important for us to -- some of you as to what Chesapeake is going to look like. And obviously the 5-year plan you laid out is probably not the best guide today getting these changes. So I guess my first question will be, what changed here? Just reaction to Kimmeridge? Last quarter, you talked about expanding return and significant free cash flow. So I'm just wondering what the figure was for this with an unsolicited approach? Was it -- was there something else to the program that wasn't as successful as you thought? And maybe if you could frame your expectations to where you think value would be not to have you go against yourself. But inventory doubt to be pretty important, I guess, as part of that discussion as well. So what changed? And what are your expectations in terms of value?

尼克，我想我有 2 個問題，關於 - 我想我會構建策略的一致性。我認為這對我們來說很重要——你們中的一些人了解切薩皮克會是什麼樣子。顯然，您制定的 5 年計劃可能不是今天獲得這些變化的最佳指南。所以我想我的第一個問題是，這裡發生了什麼變化？只是對Kimmeridge的反應？上個季度，您談到了擴大回報和顯著的自由現金流。所以我只是想知道這種不請自來的方法的數字是什麼？是不是——這個項目還有其他沒有你想像的那麼成功的地方嗎？也許如果你能把你的期望設定在你認為有價值的地方，那就是不要讓你違背自己。但我想，作為討論的一部分，庫存懷疑也很重要。那麼發生了什麼變化？您對價值的期望是什麼？

Sure. Doug, I'll do my best to answer what I think you asked. You're pretty fuzzy in your voice there. But I -- we came out with a presentation in June, which I think pretty successfully highlighted a lot of the individual characteristics of each of our assets, Haynesville, Marcellus and Eagle Ford. That was intentional. We wanted to start highlighting the asset level quality a bit more on its own as we knew that this decision was potentially coming soon. And I think that did a good job. I think investors have a bit of better clarity as to what the Eagle Ford generates on its own.

當然。道格，我會盡力回答我認為你問的問題。你在那裡的聲音很模糊。但是我 - 我們在 6 月份發布了一個演示文稿，我認為它非常成功地突出了我們每個資產的許多個人特徵，Haynesville、Marcellus 和 Eagle Ford。那是故意的。我們想開始更多地強調資產級別的質量，因為我們知道這個決定可能很快就會到來。我認為這做得很好。我認為投資者對 Eagle Ford 自身產生的東西有了更清晰的認識。

And you asked about the results of this year. We're actually pretty pleased with what we're seeing so far this year. The turn-in lines for the Eagle Ford that are coming out of our capital program are pretty heavily weighted to the fourth quarter. And so that's going to give us quite a bit of volume momentum going into 2023, which is a nice time to be thinking about a decision like this. And so really, what has changed is the super high quality of the Vine and Chief assets as we complete the integration of those assets and think about how it all fits in a long-term capital allocation model. Yes, we can show a capital allocation model that looks quite attractive with the Eagle Ford in it. There's no question about that.

你問到今年的結果。實際上，我們對今年到目前為止所看到的情況感到非常滿意。從我們的資本計劃中出來的 Eagle Ford 的上交線在第四季度佔了很大比重。因此，到 2023 年，這將給我們帶來相當大的成交量動力，這是考慮這樣一個決定的好時機。確實，隨著我們完成這些資產的整合併考慮它們如何適應長期資本配置模型，改變的是 Vine 和 Chief 資產的超高質量。是的，我們可以展示一個看起來很有吸引力的資本配置模型，其中包含 Eagle Ford。毫無疑問。

And we have shown that, and we know the Eagle Ford is in a position to generate a tremendous amount of free cash flow. But we think we can make it better over time by being focused on just the Haynesville and the Marcellus. So this is really about the strength of those 2 assets and how the capital allocation model comes together and how we continue to make it better.

我們已經證明了這一點，我們知道 Eagle Ford 能夠產生大量的自由現金流。但我們認為，只要專注於海恩斯維爾和馬塞勒斯，我們就可以讓它隨著時間的推移而變得更好。因此，這實際上是關於這兩種資產的實力以及資本分配模型如何結合在一起以及我們如何繼續使其變得更好。

So we're really -- not a lot has changed other than us clarifying that strategy and beginning to talk about if we're good with the Eagle Ford, we're going to be great in a more refined capital allocation model going forward.

所以我們真的 - 除了我們澄清該戰略並開始談論我們是否擅長 Eagle Ford 之外，並沒有太大變化，我們將在未來更完善的資本分配模型中表現出色。

Sorry to press on this, and I apologize for my line, but how have you had unsolicited (inaudible) for this?

很抱歉按此行事，我為我的台詞道歉，但您是如何主動提出（聽不清）的？

We get calls about all kinds of things all the time, Doug. So we'll just leave that comment with that. Some of those calls you don't know if they're valuable and some of them probably are.

道格，我們總是接到各種各樣的電話。因此，我們將就此發表評論。其中一些電話您不知道它們是否有價值，其中一些可能是。

My follow-up, Nick. And again, I hope you can hear me okay. we've obviously -- you and I have had a thorough debate about variables versus buybacks. Your share price, I was just looking at, it was about the same level as it was on the last call but now you're talking about the value of your stock and the redeployment of proceeds for share buybacks. Why would that not apply to organic free cash flow? In other words, are we now seeing an end to the debate over variables versus buybacks, or you can pivot harder into the buyback in the favor over the variable. And I'll leave it there.

我的後續行動，尼克。再說一次，我希望你能聽到我的聲音。我們顯然 - 你和我已經就變量與回購進行了徹底的辯論。你的股價，我只是在看，它與上次通話時的水平大致相同，但現在你正在談論你的股票價值和股票回購收益的重新部署。為什麼這不適用於有機自由現金流？換句話說，我們現在是否看到關於變量與回購的爭論已經結束，或者你可以更加努力地轉向回購，而不是變量。我會把它留在那裡。

Sure. Thanks, Doug. So you and I have discussed this quite a bit, and I'm sure we'll continue to discuss it. We have an approach here that is all of the above. We've continued to talk about that. We know that quite a few of our investors appreciate that approach. We're going to maintain an open mind about what the best way is to return capital to shareholders.

當然。謝謝，道格。所以你和我已經討論了很多，我相信我們會繼續討論它。我們在這裡有一種方法，即上述所有方法。我們一直在談論這個。我們知道，我們的很多投資者都欣賞這種方法。對於將資本返還給股東的最佳方式，我們將保持開放的態度。

And obviously, with an announcement like this today where we're talking about leaning towards buybacks with proceeds given what we see in the valuation of the company today, we think our stock is undervalued. And we think that incremental cash beyond what we've designed in our returns profile should go to buybacks. But we like the approach we have. We like the -- all of the above approach, and so we're going to keep doing that for the moment.

顯然，鑑於我們今天在公司估值中看到的情況，在今天這樣的公告中，我們正在談論傾向於用收益進行回購，我們認為我們的股票被低估了。而且我們認為，超出我們在回報概況中設計的增量現金應該用於回購。但我們喜歡我們擁有的方法。我們喜歡 - 所有上述方法，因此我們將暫時繼續這樣做。

I think the dividends we're paying out this quarter are fantastic. There's great opportunity to see those grow over time. Obviously, commodity price dependent. That's the nature of a variable. And we think it's a pretty attractive stream of cash for investors.

我認為我們本季度支付的股息非常棒。有很好的機會看到這些隨著時間的推移而增長。顯然，商品價格依賴。這就是變量的本質。我們認為這對投資者來說是一個非常有吸引力的現金流。

Our next question will come from Zach Parham with JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題將來自摩根大通的 Zach Parham。

I guess, first off, maybe just a follow-up on the buyback on the revolver to buy back shares this quarter, you've been very aggressive with the buyback thus far. Do you plan to continue to draw on the buyback -- or draw on the revolver to buy back shares in the near term? Clearly, you've got some proceeds planned and to come in with the Eagle Ford sale. So just thoughts on kind of the near-term outlook for the buyback.

我想，首先，也許只是本季度回購股票的左輪手槍回購的後續行動，到目前為止，您對回購的態度非常積極。您是否打算在短期內繼續利用回購 - 或利用左輪手槍回購股票？顯然，您已經計劃了一些收益，並通過 Eagle Ford 銷售進來。因此，只需考慮一下回購的近期前景。

Yes. A good question, Zach. No, we're expecting a pretty significant amount of free cash flow for the company. So no, it's a free cash flow driven return strategy.

是的。一個好問題，扎克。不，我們預計公司將獲得相當可觀的自由現金流。所以不，這是一種自由現金流驅動的回報策略。

Got it. And just a follow-up on the Haynesville. You talked about constraints there in the near term and working with some of your midstream partners to alleviate those. Can you give us a little more color on what's going on there, and maybe a time line for when you could start to grow your Haynesville asset? Just looking at the 3Q guide, it's pretty flat quarter-over-quarter.

知道了。只是對海恩斯維爾的跟進。您談到了短期內的限制，並與您的一些中游合作夥伴合作以緩解這些限制。您能否給我們提供更多關於那裡正在發生的事情的信息，以及您何時可以開始發展您的海恩斯維爾資產的時間表？僅查看 3Q 指南，季度環比持平。

It is flat quarter-over-quarter. And so what we've detailed on the slide in our presentation, around the Haynesville is some -- you can follow a few steps in capacity additions that will come on. A lot of these things are small projects. As we noted the last time, these are constraints at the gathering and treating level. And so you have either a new offtake agreement to use treating capacity with a neighboring system or you have an expansion of existing treating capacity or you have a new offtake line for takeaway that will allow you to bypass some treating. There's a number of different things embedded in this, several different projects, and we've modeled it out for you. So you can see the steps at which it will -- we expect will come online next year.

季度環比持平。因此，我們在演示文稿的幻燈片中詳細介紹了海恩斯維爾周圍的一些內容——您可以按照一些步驟來增加容量。很多這些東西都是小項目。正如我們上次提到的，這些是收集和處理級別的限制。因此，您要么與鄰近系統簽訂新的承購協議，使用處理能力，要么擴大現有的處理能力，或者您有一條新的外賣生產線，允許您繞過一些處理。其中嵌入了許多不同的東西，幾個不同的項目，我們已經為您建模了。所以你可以看到它的步驟——我們預計明年將上線。

Our next question will come from Matt Portillo with TPH.

我們的下一個問題將來自 TPH 的 Matt Portillo。

Just a follow-up question on the balance sheet. I think the expectations were to possibly start to pay down the revolver kind of heading into 2023 and beyond. I guess with where the stock is trading today and obviously, the ability to continue to redeploy free cash flow towards the buyback. Is that view still one that we should be thinking about? Or are you comfortable with the leverage profile, and continuing to recycle more and more excess free cash flow towards the buyback moving forward?

只是資產負債表上的一個後續問題。我認為預期可能會開始支付左輪手槍進入 2023 年及以後的費用。我猜想今天股票的交易位置，很明顯，有能力繼續將自由現金流重新部署到回購中。這種觀點仍然是我們應該考慮的嗎？還是您對槓桿狀況感到滿意，並繼續將越來越多的多餘自由現金流用於回購？

Well, we've clearly been willing to deploy a lot of free cash flow towards the buyback here in the recent past. And we had an opportunity in the second quarter to do a lot. And so you saw us do that and then you saw us increase the buyback authorization as a result. Will we always work at that pace?

好吧，最近我們顯然願意為回購部署大量自由現金流。我們在第二季度有機會做很多事情。因此，您看到我們這樣做了，然後您看到我們因此增加了回購授權。我們會一直以這樣的速度工作嗎？

That kind of depends on what happens in the market and our ability to access sellers stock in larger chunks, we may or may not. We can be opportunistic about that. We have the financial flexibility to do it. I would not expect that to be a straight-line trend. We when we're not buying back at that pace, then free cash flow will be applied to the revolver. So this is not a signal that our balance sheet is going to bloat up here for buybacks.

這種情況取決於市場上發生的情況以及我們獲得大量賣家股票的能力，我們可能會也可能不會。我們可以在這方面投機取巧。我們有足夠的財務靈活性來做到這一點。我不認為這是一個直線趨勢。當我們不以這種速度回購時，自由現金流將應用於左輪手槍。因此，這並不是我們的資產負債表會因為回購而膨脹的信號。

In addition, I would just point out that -- and I think some of the notes this morning highlighted, we did have a working capital draw this quarter -- that is purely a function of the timing of hedge settlements relative to when revenue comes in, hedges settle first and revenue comes a month later. So that should normalize in the third quarter. That pulled a bit more on our free cash flow this quarter, and it is purely a short-term timing issue. So no, our balance sheet commitments remain as rock solid as they could be. We -- that is something that you will not see us deviate from.

此外，我只想指出——我認為今天早上的一些筆記強調了，我們本季度確實有營運資金抽水——這純粹是對沖結算時間相對於收入何時出現的函數，對沖先結算，一個月後收入。所以這應該在第三季度正常化。這對我們本季度的自由現金流產生了更多影響，這純粹是一個短期的時間問題。所以不，我們的資產負債表承諾仍然盡可能堅如磐石。我們——這是你不會看到我們偏離的東西。

Perfect. And then, I guess, a follow-up question. With the divestiture of the Eagle Ford, obviously, have kind of pure dry gas exposure here.

完美的。然後，我想，一個後續問題。隨著 Eagle Ford 的剝離，很明顯，這裡有一種純乾氣暴露。

Just curious how you're thinking about your hedge strategy moving forward, particularly kind of late heading into 2024, balances might start to loosen a bit. Obviously, a bit of a long road between now and then. But as we get into '25 and beyond with the second wave of LNG, the market looks quite strong. So just curious how you guys are thinking about protecting some of those cash flows, especially given the strength in the curve, and how you might approach kind of hedging as you lose some of the oil revenues and become more of a dry gas pure play.

只是好奇你如何看待你的對沖策略向前發展，特別是進入 2024 年後期，餘額可能會開始有所放鬆。顯然，從現在到那時，還有一段很長的路要走。但隨著第二波液化天然氣進入 25 年及以後，市場看起來相當強勁。所以只是好奇你們是如何考慮保護其中一些現金流的，特別是考慮到曲線的強度，以及當你失去一些石油收入並變得更像是一個純粹的干氣遊戲時，你如何進行對沖。

Matt, this is Mohit. I'll take that. The hedge strategy stays consistent through the cycles. Our view is that on a rolling 8-quarter basis, you want to keep looking at hedging. What we've done lately is just be more opportunistic as prices firmed up, and we were seeing significant volatility in -- especially to the upside. That's the time to monetize that volatility, and that's what we did through some very attractive costless collars that we were able to lock in.

馬特，這是莫希特。我會接受的。對沖策略在整個週期中保持一致。我們的觀點是，在滾動 8 個季度的基礎上，您希望繼續關注對沖。我們最近所做的只是隨著價格走強而更加投機，而且我們看到了大幅波動——尤其是上行。是時候將這種波動性貨幣化了，這就是我們通過一些非常有吸引力的無成本項圈所做的事情，我們能夠鎖定這些項圈。

And we'll keep looking for those kind of windows where we can opportunistically go in and layer more hedges. But the view remains consistent that we will look at it on a rolling 8-quarter basis. Some of the legacy hedges that we have are beginning to roll off. And I would say what we have going forward is -- are more of hedges that we have tactically put in place. So we feel pretty good about that.

我們將繼續尋找那些我們可以機會性地進入並鋪設更多樹籬的窗戶。但觀點仍然一致，即我們將按 8 個季度滾動進行研究。我們所擁有的一些傳統對沖措施開始減少。我想說的是，我們要前進的是——更多的是我們在戰術上實施的對沖。所以我們對此感覺很好。

Our next question will come from Umang Choudhary with Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題將來自高盛的 Umang Choudhary。

My first question was on Eagle Ford. I believe one of the areas which you are evaluating to decide the future capital allocation in the basin was on the Austin Chalk program. Any update on the program? And how is that influencing your plans for sale?

我的第一個問題是關於鷹福特的。我相信您正在評估以決定流域未來資本分配的領域之一是奧斯汀粉筆計劃。節目有更新嗎？這對您的銷售計劃有何影響？

Yes. This is Josh. At this point, it's still really early. We've only brought on 7 wells in total in the first half of the year. So we're still really in a program -- our first Austin Chalk well just came on, just in the last couple of weeks. So still that well still cleaning up. So we still have quite a bit to learn as we get into the second half of the year from that program specifically.

是的。這是喬什。這個時候，真的還早。今年上半年我們總共只打了7口井。所以我們仍然在一個計劃中——我們的第一個 Austin Chalk 井剛剛出現，就在最後幾週。所以還是那麼好，還在清理。因此，當我們進入下半年時，我們仍然有很多東西要學習。

Great. Very helpful. And then on the second question, can you walk us a little bit about your hedge strategy, and specifically your basis hedges in the Haynesville? It looks like because of the gathering and treating facilities and with potential for more growth in the basin, there could be some basis concerns for the Haynesville in the back half, I notice that you're 50% hedged already. Do you plan to add more hedges to protect that differentials?

偉大的。非常有幫助。然後關於第二個問題，您能否向我們介紹一下您的對沖策略，特別是您在海恩斯維爾的基礎對沖？看起來由於收集和處理設施以及盆地有更多增長的潛力，後半部分的海恩斯維爾可能存在一些基本問題，我注意到你已經對沖了 50%。您是否計劃增加更多的對沖來保護這種差異？

Yes. Umang, this is Mohit. So I'll take that. The short answer is yes. We are always looking for opportunities to pair our NYMEX hedges with basis hedges as well. It's not quite where we'd like to be on a one-to-one basis. But we're trying to -- whenever the market is there, and we're trying to layer those in.

是的。烏芒，這是莫希特。所以我會接受的。簡短的回答是肯定的。我們一直在尋找機會將我們的 NYMEX 對沖與基差對沖配對。在一對一的基礎上，這並不是我們想要的。但我們正在嘗試——只要有市場，我們就會嘗試將它們分層。

Our next question will come from Subash Chandra with Benchmark.

我們的下一個問題將來自 Benchmark 的 Subash Chandra。

First question is, as you sort of shift capital from Eagle Ford to the Haynesville in advance of the sale, what do you think about capital efficiency? Because on the one hand, I sort of see that Eagle Ford wells are cheaper, the margins are better because of oil, but on the other hand, your gas wells are so much more prolific. So how do you think that balances out here in the near to intermediate term?

第一個問題是，當您在出售之前將資金從鷹福特轉移到海恩斯維爾時，您如何看待資本效率？因為一方面，我看到 Eagle Ford 井更便宜，由於石油，利潤更高，但另一方面，你的氣井多產得多。那麼你認為在近期到中期如何平衡呢？

Well, actually, when we look at our returns, and that's how we choose to allocate capital. The returns today, even at the commodity prices you see and the margins you might expect in the oil assets, the returns are still far superior in the Haynesville and in the Marcellus. And that's really what's ultimately guiding this decision. So we feel really good about the shift in capital, and we think it's going to only enhance our capital efficiency in the near term in addition to -- as we look out into the horizon.

好吧，實際上，當我們查看我們的回報時，這就是我們選擇分配資本的方式。今天的回報，即使以你看到的商品價格和你對石油資產的預期利潤率，海恩斯維爾和馬塞勒斯的回報率仍然遠遠高出。這就是最終指導這個決定的真正原因。因此，我們對資本的轉變感覺非常好，我們認為這只會在短期內提高我們的資本效率，此外——當我們展望未來時。

Okay. We put a slide in the deck today, Subash, that shows capital efficiency as measured by the amount of capital you spend relative to 36 months of production from all new wells that you bring on. And we're really proud of our track record there. We did that just for our gas assets at this time. You can look at it across our whole portfolio as well. And while our Eagle Ford asset has attractive capital efficiency. Our gas asset, capital efficiency is just off the charts good.

好的。我們今天在甲板上放了一張幻燈片，Subash，它顯示了資本效率，它以你所花費的資本量相對於你帶來的所有新井的 36 個月生產量來衡量。我們真的為我們在那裡的記錄感到自豪。我們此時只是為了我們的天然氣資產這樣做。您也可以在我們的整個產品組合中查看它。雖然我們的 Eagle Ford 資產具有有吸引力的資本效率。我們的天然氣資產，資本效率剛剛好。

Yes. Right. That's impressive. I might come back on that in -- afterwards. But the other question I wanted to ask was, as you're sort of looking for these sales type agreements for LNG, you're a huge player then in the Haynesville. How much competition is there for the LNG fairway? And do you think -- is it sort of a zero-sum game? And how does some of these privates that are for sale, (inaudible), sort of fit into that -- I don't know if there's a place for someone to consolidate those to enhance their market position for future LNG exports.

是的。正確的。這很讓人佩服。我可能會在之後——之後再談。但我想問的另一個問題是，當你在尋找這些液化天然氣銷售類型的協議時，你在海恩斯維爾是一個巨大的參與者。 LNG航道競爭有多大？你認為——這是一種零和遊戲嗎？這些待售的私人公司（聽不清）如何適應這種情況——我不知道是否有人可以整合這些私人公司，以提高他們在未來液化天然氣出口中的市場地位。

Yes. Those are all good questions. So we're still really excited about the LNG opportunity. You saw we announced our first significant contract in the LNG world with this release. We've done a deal to sell some gas to Golden Pass. What's unique about that contract is that it does give credit for us producing responsibly sourced gas. So we think this is a good step towards recognition of what responsibly sourced gas means to the LNG buyer universe. We can't go into the details of pricing we received there, other than just to point out that it's a domestic price. We didn't do a deal on TTF or something here. And we're pleased with the price. We think this is a better price than we would get just from putting gas in a pipe and sending it out.

是的。這些都是很好的問題。所以我們仍然對液化天然氣的機會感到非常興奮。您看到我們在此版本中宣布了我們在液化天然氣領域的第一份重要合同。我們達成了一項協議，向 Golden Pass 出售一些天然氣。該合同的獨特之處在於它確實為我們生產負責任採購的天然氣提供了榮譽。因此，我們認為這是朝著認識到負責任採購天然氣對 LNG 買家的意義邁出的良好一步。我們無法詳細說明我們在那裡收到的定價細節，只能指出這是國內價格。我們沒有在 TTF 或這裡做任何交易。我們對價格很滿意。我們認為這比僅將天然氣放入管道並將其送出所獲得的價格要好。

And so it's a great transaction for us. It gives you surety of flow. It gives you surety of differential. And we think we've made a good deal on both of those points. We'll continue to stay focused on LNG from the standpoint of how do you get the best pricing contracts. We've talked a lot about how -- if you're going to pursue LNG on an internationally priced basis, you need to think about it as a diversification strategy, and we still very much think about it that way. And so what's the best way to get that?

所以這對我們來說是一筆很棒的交易。它為您提供流量的保證。它為您提供了差異化的保證。我們認為我們在這兩點上達成了很好的協議。從如何獲得最佳定價合同的角度來看，我們將繼續專注於液化天然氣。我們已經談了很多關於如何——如果你要在國際定價的基礎上追求液化天然氣，你需要將其視為一種多元化戰略，我們仍然非常考慮這種方式。那麼最好的方法是什麼？

You do need to be large, you need to be responsible. You need to be a great operator. You need to have a depth of inventory and quality of inventory that buyers understand that if they're buying something from you over a 5-, 10-, 15-year contract, you'll be there to deliver. So you need to be resilient from a quality of inventory standpoint, but also from an environmental standpoint.

你需要做大，你需要負責。你需要成為一名出色的運營商。您需要有深度的庫存和庫存質量，買家明白，如果他們在 5 年、10 年、15 年的合同中從您那裡購買東西，您將在那裡交付。因此，從庫存質量的角度來看，您需要具有彈性，但從環境的角度來看，您也需要具備彈性。

And when you stack all of that together, we think we are a preferred seller of gas into the LNG world. We're right there on the doorstep of the facilities. We have a tremendous amount of gas. We have good connectivity to market. There's a lot of projects that are in the works to increase the connectivity to market and increase the connectivity directly to certain facilities. So you can imagine that today, it is competitive. And those strengths of depth and quality of inventory, the ESG position that we have, our overall operating efficiency play all its strengths into that discussion.

當您將所有這些疊加在一起時，我們認為我們是液化天然氣世界的首選天然氣銷售商。我們就在設施門口。我們有大量的氣體。我們與市場有良好的聯繫。有很多項目正在進行中，以增加與市場的連通性並直接增加與某些設施的連通性。所以你可以想像今天，它是有競爭力的。庫存深度和質量的優勢、我們擁有的 ESG 地位、我們的整體運營效率在討論中發揮了所有優勢。

Our next question comes from Nicholas Pope with Seaport Research.

我們的下一個問題來自 Seaport Research 的 Nicholas Pope。

I was hoping you guys could talk a little bit -- I mean now that we're 3, 4 months in -- I guess more than that, into the Chief Tug Hill acquisition, maybe talk a little bit about the integration, kind of how that's progressing relative to your plan, kind of where you're seeing kind of some of the benefits of that larger footprint on operating costs or transport costs. Just kind of curious how things are progressing there on that acquisition?

我希望你們能談談——我的意思是現在我們已經 3 到 4 個月了——我想不止於此，在收購 Chief Tug Hill 時，也許可以談談整合，有點像相對於您的計劃，這是如何進展的，您在哪裡看到了更大的運營成本或運輸成本足跡帶來的一些好處。只是有點好奇那次收購的進展如何？

Nick, this is Josh. I'll answer that. We're really excited about what we've seen. We're only 4 months into it, but really pleased with how the teams have come together, and identifying a number of opportunities. A couple of things maybe to highlight for you. One of them is we're really just seeing the benefits of seeing a common owner within the gathering system. Of course, our acreage with Chief was really inner thing to do to one another.

尼克，這是喬希。我會回答的。我們對我們所看到的感到非常興奮。我們只有 4 個月的時間，但對團隊如何走到一起並發現了許多機會感到非常滿意。有幾件事可能要為您強調。其中之一是我們真的只是看到了在收集系統中看到共同所有者的好處。當然，我們與 Chief 的面積確實是彼此之間的內在事情。

To date, we've already added about 80 million cubic feet a day of gross gas that we're able to flow incremental to what the 2 companies could have done before. And that's just simply being able to have a complete purview of that gathering system and then working with the midstream provider to ensure that we're directing gas flows to where there's available capacity. So that's already really starting to realize itself. And then also, I mean, I look at what we've done on the drilling side. And just since we've taken over operations as we utilize our remote optimization center here in Oklahoma City, we've already realized about a 7% improvement in our footage per day on the drilling side just being by sharing common drilling practices.

迄今為止，我們已經每天增加了大約 8000 萬立方英尺的總天然氣量，我們能夠以增量方式輸送這兩家公司以前可以做的事情。這只是能夠擁有該收集系統的完整權限，然後與中游供應商合作，以確保我們將氣流引導到有可用容量的地方。所以這已經真正開始實現了。然後，我的意思是，我看看我們在鑽井方面做了什麼。自從我們利用位於俄克拉荷馬城的遠程優化中心接管了運營後，我們已經意識到，僅通過分享常見的鑽井實踐，我們每天在鑽井方面的進尺就提高了約 7%。

So just a couple of things to highlight. But again, it's gone really, really well. The integration, I would say, is essentially complete. We still have a few of the back end financial systems to tie together, but things have gone really well so far.

所以只有幾件事要強調。但是再一次，它真的消失了，真的很好。我想說，整合基本上是完整的。我們仍然有一些後端金融系統可以連接在一起，但到目前為止一切進展順利。

That's appreciated. Moving to the other asset. In the Haynesville, you guys provided this chart showing kind of the split of Bossier and Haynesville. Kind of curious what the current level of activity split is between those 2 formations and kind of what the expectation is here over the near term in terms of that split and kind of where you think we are in kind of understanding kind of the optimal targets there in the in those formations.

這是讚賞。轉移到其他資產。在海恩斯維爾，你們提供了這張圖表，顯示了波西爾和海恩斯維爾的分裂。有點好奇這兩個陣型之間目前的活動水平是多少，短期內的預期是什麼，你認為我們在哪裡理解那裡的最佳目標在那些陣型中。

We're still going to be pretty heavily geared towards the Haynesville and the program. There's about 10 or so wells the Bossier that we'll plan. We do like the Bossier. In fact, we brought, on earlier in the year, a 15,000-foot lateral that Vine had drilled in the Bossier.

我們仍然會非常重視海恩斯維爾和該計劃。我們將計劃大約 10 口 Bossier 井。我們確實喜歡Bossier。事實上，今年早些時候，我們帶來了 Vine 在 Bossier 中鑽出的 15,000 英尺的橫向。

Over the first 3 months, we'll average about 40 million cubic feet a day. And so if you actually were to take that and place it on the -- Slide 5, of the best gas wells across North America. It's going to be right there at the top as soon as that hits the public databases. So again, we'll be more geared towards the Haynesville just because that's more prominent across a greater portion of the acreage. But the Bossier looks great, and we'll continue to assess and incorporate that into our development plans.

在最初的 3 個月中，我們平均每天大約 4000 萬立方英尺。因此，如果你真的要把它放在北美最好的氣井的幻燈片 5 上。一旦進入公共數據庫，它就會出現在頂部。再說一次，我們將更傾向於海恩斯維爾，因為它在更大的面積上更為突出。但 Bossier 看起來很棒，我們將繼續評估並將其納入我們的發展計劃。

Our next question will come from Noel Parks with Tuohy Brothers.

我們的下一個問題將來自 Noel Parks 和 Tuohy Brothers。

I just wanted to ask a bit about the service environment and how it maybe plays into your longer-term thinking. And when you're talking about LNG contract a few minutes ago, you mentioned giving the LNG operators confidence that you'd be there to deliver 5, 10, 15 years out. So as you sort of rationalize the portfolio on the one hand and think more about LNG pricing on the other.

我只是想問一些關於服務環境的問題，以及它如何影響你的長期思考。當你幾分鐘前談到液化天然氣合同時，你提到讓液化天然氣運營商相信你會在那裡交付 5、10、15 年。因此，當您一方面使投資組合合理化，另一方面更多地考慮液化天然氣定價。

I'm just wondering, do you have some embedded assumptions or some scenarios in there about what the service cost environment looks like. In particular, just thinking if you see it reaching a sort of peak of cost and then sort of moderating? Or do you consider a scenario that we might be in sort of an ever-intensifying cycle of inflation in the gassy basins in particular?

我只是想知道，您是否有一些關於服務成本環境的嵌入式假設或場景。特別是，只是想如果你看到它達到某種成本峰值，然後某種程度的緩和？或者你是否認為我們可能處於一種特別是在含氣盆地中不斷加劇的通貨膨脹循環中？

Sure. I'll take that, Noel, and others may have things to chime in with here. We pay really close attention to inflation. And obviously, inflation has been a big theme in 2022. We talk very often and in depth with our service providers about how they think about capacity in the industry, and they're making very rational decisions not dissimilar to how the upstream has responded to these higher prices here over the last, call it, 18 months. And so they're being prudent and disciplined about how and when they decide to bring incremental capacity to the market. But there is incremental capacity showing up.

當然。我會接受的，Noel，其他人可能會在這裡插話。我們非常關注通貨膨脹。很明顯，通貨膨脹一直是 2022 年的一個重要主題。我們經常與我們的服務提供商深入討論他們對行業產能的看法，他們正在做出非常理性的決定，與上游的反應沒有什麼不同這些比過去更高的價格，稱之為 18 個月。因此，他們在決定如何以及何時將增量容量推向市場時，會保持謹慎和自律。但是出現了增量容量。

It's not showing up at the rate that it has in past cycles. And frankly, that's probably healthier. So we are seeing inflation, but we also are seeing some additions to capacity albeit at a slower scale than in past cycles. So I think the cycle continues to play out the way it always does. There is significant margin to be had. So therefore, people will bring capacity to market. But it seems to be working healthier than it has in the past. We think that will continue. Overall, we have a great relationship with our service providers. We remain an operator of choice. We push our suppliers on performance. And when we achieved great performance they make more money. And so it's a very symbiotic and great relationship. That's the way we structure our contracts, and that works well for us.

它沒有以過去週期的速度出現。坦率地說，這可能更健康。因此，我們看到了通貨膨脹，但我們也看到了一些產能的增加，儘管規模比過去的周期要慢。所以我認為這個循環會繼續以它一貫的方式進行。有很大的餘地。因此，人們將產能推向市場。但它似乎比過去更健康。我們認為這將繼續下去。總的來說，我們與服務提供商的關係很好。我們仍然是首選運營商。我們推動供應商提高績效。當我們取得出色的表現時，他們會賺更多的錢。所以這是一個非常共生和偉大的關係。這就是我們構建合同的方式，這對我們很有效。

Great. And just following up on that. Do you foresee contract structures ahead where -- especially we're talking about the longer term, where there is some ability to mitigate or maybe share the risk on the production cost side. So you don't have sort of like a long-term top line scenario for your pricing (inaudible) for what you're receiving while the -- while you have exposure maybe on the cost side?

偉大的。並且只是跟進。您是否預見到未來的合同結構 - 特別是我們談論的是長期的，其中有一些能力減輕或可能分擔生產成本方面的風險。因此，您在定價（聽不清）方面沒有類似長期的頂線情景，而您可能在成本方面有風險？

Yes. This is Josh. We work obviously pretty closely with our service providers, and regularly talking about what the contracts should look like as we look out into the future. I mean, generally, we're not seeing much appetite at this point for longer-term contracts. There's still quite a bit of movement potentially to be had in the service side.

是的。這是喬什。我們顯然與我們的服務提供商密切合作，並定期討論我們展望未來時的合同應該是什麼樣子。我的意思是，總的來說，我們目前對長期合同的興趣不大。在服務方面仍有相當多的潛在活動。

Clearly, it's, I think, pretty well documented that the service market is tight, not seeing a ton of capital being injected into oilfield service sector. And so I think generally, we're looking at month-to-month to maybe 6 months out. But getting any further beyond that is just not really what we're working towards today. It's just simply too hard to predict in the environment we're in.

很明顯，我認為，服務市場吃緊，沒有看到大量資金注入油田服務行業，這是有據可查的。所以我認為一般來說，我們正在逐月考慮到可能 6 個月。但進一步超越這並不是我們今天正在努力的方向。在我們所處的環境中很難預測。

Noel, if I may add to what Josh said, I'll refer you back to Slide 5 because again, in an inflationary environment, our firm view is if you have a portfolio which is competitive, which is cost efficient, and your operating margins are healthy, then you can absorb the inflationary pressures. Obviously, we track it very closely, as Nick said. But at the same time, it's the robustness of the portfolio, which allows you to absorb those kind of variability.

Noel，如果我可以補充 Josh 所說的話，我會將您推薦回幻燈片 5，因為在通貨膨脹環境中，我們堅定的觀點是，如果您擁有具有競爭力、成本效益和營業利潤率的投資組合是健康的，那麼你可以吸收通脹壓力。顯然，正如尼克所說，我們非常密切地跟踪它。但與此同時，投資組合的穩健性使您能夠吸收這些可變性。

Our next question is a follow-up from Subash Chandra with Benchmark.

我們的下一個問題是 Subash Chandra 與 Benchmark 的後續問題。

So Slide 5, just wanted to give you guys an opportunity, impressive Marcellus results. What are the drivers here? If you can do some sort of attribution analysis, possibly between geology and the things that you can control?

所以幻燈片 5，只是想給你們一個機會，令人印象深刻的 Marcellus 結果。這裡的驅動程序是什麼？如果您可以進行某種歸因分析，可能是在地質學和您可以控制的事物之間？

Well, I mean, I -- obviously, in our business, it starts with the rocks. And we are advantaged that we were early movers in the Marcellus and in the Haynesville.

好吧，我的意思是，我 - 顯然，在我們的業務中，它始於岩石。我們的優勢在於我們是馬塞勒斯和海恩斯維爾的先行者。

And so we really like the acreage positions that we've accumulated and we've always strengthened that with the Vine and the Chief acquisition. So clearly, that works to our benefit. But at the same time, we consider ourselves to be a premier operator. And what that really comes down to is our ability to manage capital. And our experience that we have, the technical expertise that we've developed, the contracts that we put in place and how we partner with service providers also allows us to be able to manage our cost performance in these basins. And so you put these 2 together, and you end up with a chart that you see in the upper left-hand side of Slide 5, which -- with us providing the best capital efficiency across our gas basins.

因此，我們真的很喜歡我們積累的種植面積位置，並且我們一直通過收購 Vine 和 Chief 來加強這一點。很明顯，這對我們有利。但與此同時，我們認為自己是一流的運營商。真正歸結為我們管理資本的能力。我們擁有的經驗、我們開發的技術專長、我們簽訂的合同以及我們與服務提供商合作的方式也使我們能夠管理我們在這些盆地的成本績效。所以你把這兩個放在一起，你最終會得到一張你在幻燈片 5 左上角看到的圖表，它 - 我們在我們的氣田中提供了最佳的資本效率。

What about initiatives to drive IP rates in the -- looking at the evidence on the right side of the slide?

看看幻燈片右側的證據，提高知識產權率的舉措怎麼樣？

Yes. So we're not really in the game, I would say, of necessarily creating headline rates. This is just really the nature of having great wells and maximizing a return on an investment. So clearly, we want to be efficient with capital and -- but our goal at the end of the day is to purely maximize the return that we get, not necessarily an IP.

是的。因此，我想說，我們並沒有真正參與必須創造標題率的遊戲。這正是擁有大井和最大化投資回報的本質。很明顯，我們希望提高資本效率，但我們最終的目標是純粹最大化我們獲得的回報，而不一定是 IP。

Yes. We kind of like the fact that we showed the first 90 days of production, 17 of the top 20 wells are by Chesapeake. But then we also balance that by showing the amount of capital that we have to spend to bring on production over a several year period, and do we shine in both. And so we bring on wells, dig in the beginning. We don't spend a lot of money relative to others to do it, and they're holding up well.

是的。我們有點喜歡我們展示了前 90 天的生產情況，前 20 口井中有 17 口來自切薩皮克。但隨後我們還通過展示我們必須花費的資金數量來平衡這一點，以便在幾年內實現生產，我們是否在這兩個方面都大放異彩。所以我們帶來水井，一開始就挖。相對於其他人，我們不會花很多錢去做，而且他們堅持得很好。

So it really -- when you think about what this slide highlights -- and then also operating efficiency, our cost structure is quite competitive. We don't have any liquids contribution and yet we're hanging out in a pretty competitive spot from a margin standpoint. And so when you think about all of the pieces here, it really is about rock returns and runway.

所以真的 - 當你考慮這張幻燈片強調的內容 - 然後還有運營效率時，我們的成本結構非常有競爭力。我們沒有任何流動性貢獻，但從利潤的角度來看，我們正處於一個相當有競爭力的位置。所以當你想到這裡的所有作品時，它真的是關於搖滾回歸和跑道。

And we can deliver all of these returns today, and we can do it for a very long time given the depth of inventory we put together as we've continued to make this company better through the acquisitions that we've done with Vine and Chief. We're achieving the synergies that we sought there. We're pushing for a lot of incremental synergies beyond what we were able to identify, day 1. When you have the kind of scale and operating capability we have in a basin like this.

我們今天可以實現所有這些回報，而且考慮到我們整合的庫存深度，我們可以在很長一段時間內做到這一點，因為我們通過與 Vine 和 Chief 進行的收購繼續讓這家公司變得更好.我們正在實現我們在那裡尋求的協同效應。我們正在推動許多超出我們能夠識別的增量協同效應，第一天。當您擁有我們在這樣的盆地中擁有的那種規模和運營能力時。

You're running the rigs, we're running. You have the history, you have the data, you have the ability to execute and the service provider relationships, you can continue to perform at a high level. And that's something that we take a lot of pride in. Our team works very, very hard on every day and delivers a fantastic result. And so this takes every employee at Chesapeake to deliver on this kind of performance. We're very proud of that, and we expect to continue to do that over the long haul, and know that with the quality of rock, as Josh said, but then also the quality of operations, we sit at the top.

你在運行鑽機，我們在運行。你有歷史，你有數據，你有執行能力和服務提供商關係，你可以繼續高水平地執行。這是我們引以為豪的事情。我們的團隊每天都非常非常努力地工作，並取得了出色的成績。因此，這需要切薩皮克的每一位員工都能實現這種表現。我們對此感到非常自豪，我們希望長期繼續這樣做，並且知道正如 Josh 所說，憑藉岩石的質量，以及運營質量，我們位居榜首。

Okay. I think that's probably the last question. So in closing, I just want to comment that we recognize that accelerating value for shareholders through a strategic exit of our Eagle Ford will not happen overnight. However, I would like to reiterate our key principles for this process. We'll ensure that it's accretive to our strategy. And with our balance sheet and the cash flow from these assets, we can be prudent in that approach, and we're looking forward to applying the proceeds through our capital allocation philosophy, which is going to lean towards our leading capital returns program.

好的。我想這可能是最後一個問題。所以最後，我只想評論說，我們認識到通過戰略退出我們的 Eagle Ford 為股東增加價值不會在一夜之間發生。但是，我想重申我們在這個過程中的關鍵原則。我們將確保它對我們的戰略具有增值作用。憑藉我們的資產負債表和這些資產的現金流，我們可以謹慎行事，我們期待通過我們的資本分配理念應用收益，這將傾向於我們領先的資本回報計劃。

We're very excited about this, and I hope you all can sense that. The confidence we have in the strategic direction we're undertaking is very, very high. It's both firmly grounded, and our belief that Chesapeake has the strongest assets, capital returns and balance sheet of any gas name today and that by focusing on all of our attention on the Marcellus and Haynesville will demonstrate that we're the premier gas investment opportunity in the sector.

我們對此感到非常興奮，我希望你們都能感受到這一點。我們對我們正在進行的戰略方向的信心非常非常高。這兩者都具有堅實的基礎，我們相信切薩皮克擁有當今所有天然氣名稱中最強大的資產、資本回報和資產負債表，並且通過將我們所有的注意力集中在馬塞勒斯和海恩斯維爾將證明我們是首要的天然氣投資機會在該部門。

We look forward to updating you on the progress as we move along, and we'll talk to everybody soon.

我們期待在我們前進的過程中向您通報最新進展，我們將很快與大家交談。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect your lines.

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開線路。