Chord Energy Corp (CHRD) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Chord Energy third-quarter 2025 earnings conference call.

女士們、先生們，早安，歡迎參加 Chord Energy 2025 年第三季財報電話會議。

(Operator Instructions) This call is being recorded on Wednesday, November 5, 2025. I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Bob Bakanauskas. Please go ahead.

（操作員指示）本次通話於2025年11月5日星期三錄音。現在我將把會議交給鮑伯·巴卡瑙斯卡斯先生。請繼續。

Thanks, Anes, and good morning, everyone. This is Bob Bakanauskas and today, we are reporting our third-quarter 2025 financial and operational results. We are delighted to have you on the call. I'm joined today by Danny Brown, our CEO; Michael Lou, our Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Commercial Officer; Darrin Henke, our COO; Richard Robuck, our CFO; as well as other members of the team.

謝謝Anes，大家早安。我是 Bob Bakanauskas，今天，我們將公佈 2025 年第三季的財務和營運業績。我們很高興您能參加通話。今天與我一同出席的有：我們的執行長丹尼·布朗；首席策略官兼首席商務官邁克爾·盧；首席營運官達林·亨克；首席財務官理查德·羅巴克；以及團隊的其他成員。

Please be advised that our remarks, including the answers to your questions, include statements that we believe to be forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to be materially different those currently disclosed in our earnings releases and conference calls.

請注意，我們的發言，包括對您問題的回答，包含我們認為屬於《私人證券訴訟改革法案》意義上的前瞻性陳述。這些前瞻性聲明存在風險和不確定性，可能導致實際結果與我們目前在獲利報告和電話會議中揭露的結果有重大差異。

Those risks include, among others, matters that we have described in our earnings releases as well as in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our annual report on Form 10-K and our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. We disclaim any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

這些風險包括我們在獲利報告以及向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件（包括我們的 10-K 表格年度報告和 10-Q 表格季度報告）中所述的事項。我們不承擔更新這些前瞻性聲明的任何義務。

During this conference call, we will make reference to non-GAAP measures, and reconciliations to the applicable GAAP measures can be found in our earnings releases and on our website. We may also reference our current investor presentation, which you can find on our website. And with that, I'll turn the call over to our CEO, Danny Brown.

在本次電話會議中，我們將提及非GAAP指標，有關與適用GAAP指標的調節表，請參閱我們的獲利報告和網站。我們也可能會提及我們目前的投資人簡報，您可以在我們的網站上找到該簡報。接下來，我將把電話交給我們的執行長丹尼布朗。

Thank you, Bob. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining our call. Last night, we issued our third-quarter press release and presentation. The materials covered key strategic, operational, and financial details. Over the next few minutes, I plan to highlight a few key items. And after that, we'll open it up for Q&A, where I'll invite other members of the team to provide additional insights.

謝謝你，鮑伯。各位早安，感謝各位參加我們的電話會議。昨晚，我們發布了第三季新聞稿和簡報。材料涵蓋了關鍵的策略、營運和財務細節。接下來幾分鐘，我計劃重點介紹幾個關鍵點。之後，我們將進入問答環節，屆時我將邀請團隊其他成員提供更多見解。

Starting with third-quarter results, Chord delivered another consecutive quarter of solid operating performance with free cash flow above expectations and strong returns to shareholders. Adjusted free cash flow for the third-quarter was approximately $230 million, and we returned 69% of this free cash flow to shareholders. Notably, after our base dividend of $1.30 per share all incremental capital return was utilized for share repurchases. Since the combination with Enerplus closed last year, Chord has reduced diluted shares outstanding by approximately 11%.

從第三季業績來看，Chord 連續第二季實現了穩健的營運業績，自由現金流超出預期，並為股東帶來了豐厚的回報。第三季調整後的自由現金流約為 2.3 億美元，我們將其中 69% 的自由現金流返還給了股東。值得注意的是，在支付每股 1.30 美元的基本股息後，所有新增資本回報都用於股票回購。自去年與 Enerplus 完成合併以來，Chord 的稀釋後流通股減少了約 11%。

Chord's execution and asset performance continued to trend favorably to expectations. Faster cycle times, lower levels of downtime and strong well performance have led us to raise oil volume guidance for the second time this year before including the impacts of XTO.

Chord 的執行情況和資產表現繼續朝著預期方向發展。更快的周期時間、更低的停機時間和強勁的油井性能，使我們在未計入 XTO 的影響之前，第二次提高了今年的石油產量預期。

Chord also continues to drive efficiency across the business. On the drilling and completion side, we brought online three new 4-mile wells since our last update. All came in below initial cost estimates and early production data is encouraging. Chord has made tremendous progress on its 4-mile program this year, confirming initial design concepts and continuing to derisk execution. We expedited the program versus initial expectations at the beginning of the year and continue to expect 7 4-mile wells turned in line by year-end.

Chord 也持續提升整個企業的效率。在鑽井和完井方面，自上次更新以來，我們新增了三口 4 英里長的井。所有成本均低於初步預估，早期生產數據令人鼓舞。Chord 今年在其 4 英里項目上取得了巨大進展，驗證了最初的設計理念，並不斷降低執行風險。與年初的預期相比，我們加快了該計劃的進度，並繼續預計到年底將有 7 口 4 英里長的油井投入生產。

The favorable performance we're seeing increases the likelihood of leaning into the 4-mile program in 2026 and beyond. Given the strong progress we've made year-to-date, we would expect 4-mile wells to be up to 40% of the operated program in 2026. 3-mile wells could make up another 40%, pushing Chord towards approximately 80% longer lateral development next year.

我們目前看到的良好表現增加了在 2026 年及以後大力推進 4 英里計劃的可能性。鑑於我們今年迄今取得的顯著進展，我們預計到 2026 年，4 英里井將佔營運計畫的 40%。 3 英里井可能佔另外 40%，這將推動 Chord 明年在水平井開髮長度增加約 80%。

Additionally, this year, Chord further improved capital efficiency by derisking the execution of various alternate shaped wells. Year-to-date, Chord has drilled 11 and tilled 8 alternate shape wells. Execution has been strong with costs trending below initial estimates. While alternative shapes will be a small part of the long-term program, they are a useful tool to improve economics in certain PSUs.

此外，今年 Chord 透過降低各種異形井的鑽探風險，進一步提高了資本效率。今年迄今為止，Chord 公司已鑽探了 11 口不同形狀的井，並耕作了 8 口井。執行情況良好，成本低於最初的預期。雖然替代形狀只是長期計劃的一小部分，但它們是改善某些公營企業經濟效益的有用工具。

Turning to other continuous improvement initiatives. We are pleased to announce progress in improving our marketing cost structure as the team has been working hard to simplify and optimize contracts across oil, gas, and water.

轉向其他持續改進措施。我們很高興地宣布，在改善行銷成本結構方面取得了進展，團隊一直在努力簡化和優化石油、天然氣和水務領域的合約。

Slide 7 of our investor presentation shows expected savings of $30 million to $50 million a year. About half of these savings were realized in 2025. Slide 6 shows Chord's overall progress in enhancing free cash flow generation across the organization with Chord driving $120 million of improvement in 2025 from controllable items, including higher production, lower LOE, less capital and improved marketing costs.

我們在投資者簡報的第 7 張投影片中顯示，預計每年可節省 3,000 萬至 5,000 萬美元。這些節省措施中約有一半在 2025 年實現。投影片 6 顯示了 Chord 在提高整個組織的自由現金流產生方面取得的整體進展，Chord 將在 2025 年透過可控項目（包括更高的產量、更低的營運支出、更少的資本和更優的營銷成本）實現 1.2 億美元的改進。

Slide 11 highlights that free cash flow per share has grown over 20% since February. Going back slightly further to when we announced the Enerplus transaction, pro forma free cash flow per share is up more than 35%, all on normalized pricing. That's impressive performance may be even more impressive when considering we preserve the balance sheet along the way.

第 11 張投影片顯示，自 2 月以來，每股自由現金流成長超過 20%。稍微追溯到我們宣布 Enerplus 交易的時候，以正常價格計算，每股備考自由現金流增長超過 35%。考慮到我們在過程中保持了資產負債表的良好狀態，這樣的業績可能更加令人印象深刻。

Turning to the XTO transaction. I'm pleased to report that we closed the transaction on October 31, and as a result, have adjusted fourth-quarter production up by 4,000 barrels of oil per day. Additionally, we added capital of $15 million to full year 2025 in order to begin supporting the resulting higher maintenance production levels in 2026.

接下來是XTO交易。我很高興地報告，我們已於 10 月 31 日完成交易，因此，第四季度石油日產量已調整增加 4,000 桶。此外，為了支持 2026 年由此帶來的更高維護生產水平，我們在 2025 年全年追加了 1,500 萬美元的資本。

In short, we are excited about integrating these high-quality assets. The acquisition is in one of the best areas of the Williston Basin, has significant overlap with Chord's existing footprint and supports long lateral development. This is Chord's fifth Williston Basin deal in five years and is consistent with our long-term strategic objectives.

簡而言之，我們對整合這些高品質資產感到非常興奮。此次收購位於威利斯頓盆地最好的地區之一，與 Chord 現有的業務範圍有很大的重疊，並支援長距離水平開發。這是 Chord 公司五年內達成的第五筆威利斯頓盆地交易，符合我們的長期策略目標。

In addition to the XTO deal, we also added inventory this year through our leasing efforts and smaller track acquisitions. Over the years, Chord has been successful in maintaining its low-cost inventory depth through adopting new technologies and driving efficiency in the base business while supplementing these improvements with opportunistic M&A.

除了與 XTO 的交易外，我們今年還透過租賃和小規模軌道收購增加了庫存。多年來，Chord 透過採用新技術和提高基礎業務效率，成功地保持了低成本的庫存深度，同時透過機會主義的併購來補充這些改進。

Shifting focus to our development activity. Chord continues to plan on bringing in a second frac crew in a few weeks. Chord's cycle times have improved significantly this year, pushing back the start date of this second crew which gave us the opportunity to lower capital by averaging fewer frac spreads versus the original plan, and we accomplished this while raising production expectations twice.

將重點轉移到我們的研發活動。Chord公司仍計劃在幾週內引入第二支壓裂作業隊。今年，Chord 的周期時間得到了顯著改善，推遲了第二批作業人員的開始日期，這讓我們有機會透過減少平均壓裂作業次數來降低資本支出，而我們卻在兩次提高產量預期的同時實現了這一目標。

As we look to 2026, our preliminary expectation is maintaining oil volumes of approximately 157,000 to 161,000 barrels per day, while holding E&P capital flat in '26 versus 2025 plus approximately $40 million for maintaining the XTO volumes. This would result in total 2026 CapEx of roughly $1.4 billion. To put this in perspective, in early 2024, the pro forma capital budget to deliver lower production levels was approximately $1.5 billion. In contrast, Chord's preliminary 2026 expectations reflect approximately 4% higher oil volumes for roughly $100 million less in capital.

展望 2026 年，我們的初步預期是將石油產量維持在每天約 157,000 至 161,000 桶，同時保持 2026 年勘探與生產資本與 2025 年持平，並增加約 4000 萬美元用於維持 XTO 產量。這將導致 2026 年資本支出總額約為 14 億美元。換個角度來看，2024 年初，為實現較低的產量水平，預計資本預算約為 15 億美元。相較之下，Chord 對 2026 年的初步預期反映出石油產量將成長約 4%，而資本投入將減少約 1 億美元。

Clearly, Chord's capital efficiency has improved. Commodity volatility remains high, and Chord will continue to monitor conditions closely. We have significant flexibility to reduce activity if macro conditions warrant. However, any decision to adjust activity would reflect a thoughtful patient evaluation and won't be driven by sentiment in any given week. Chord has worked diligently to improve the parts of the business that we can control while maintaining significant downside protection through its operational flexibility and strong balance sheet.

顯然，Chord 的資本效率有所提高。商品市場波動性依然很高，Chord將繼續密切關注市場狀況。如果宏觀經濟情勢需要，我們有很大的彈性來減少業務活動。然而，任何調整活動的決定都將體現對患者的深思熟慮的評估，而不會受任何一周的情緒影響。Chord 一直在努力改進我們能夠控制的業務部分，同時透過其營運靈活性和強大的資產負債表保持了顯著的下行保護。

In the spirit of transparency with our stakeholders, we also recently published Chord's 2024 Sustainability Report, which includes performance metrics on a pro forma basis, reflecting the Enerplus combination. Thank you to the team for putting this together as it does a great job discussing our business and highlighting our efforts on emissions, reductions, workforce health and safety, corporate governance, philanthropy, and other topics.

本著對利害關係人保持透明的精神，我們最近也發布了 Chord 的 2024 年永續發展報告，其中包括按預測基準計算的績效指標，反映了 Enerplus 的合併情況。感謝團隊精心製作這份文件，它出色地介紹了我們的業務，並重點介紹了我們在排放、減排、員工健康與安全、公司治理、慈善事業和其他主題方面所做的努力。

Chord remains committed to delivering affordable and reliable energy and to do so in a sustainable and responsible manner. The external landscape has fluctuated significantly over my years as an E&P executive but this commitment has always been and will continue to be an important element of Chord's strategy. Our goal is to drive continuous improvement in everything we do.

Chord 始終致力於提供價格合理、可靠的能源，並以可持續和負責任的方式實現這一目標。在我擔任勘探與生產高管的這些年裡，外部環境發生了巨大的波動，但這項承諾一直是並將繼續是 Chord 策略的重要組成部分。我們的目標是不斷改進我們所做的每一件事。

To close, slide 14 highlights Chord's performance versus peers on a total return basis. As you can see, our long-term performance versus peers has been strong. Importantly, we did this through improving EBITDA and cash generation relative to enterprise value. It did not get much help for multiple expansion. On that note, today, Chord's valuation remains attractive versus peers despite the long-term equity outperformance.

最後，第 14 張投影片重點介紹了 Chord 與同業在總回報方面的表現。如您所見，我們與同業相比，長期業績表現強勁。重要的是，我們透過提高 EBITDA 和現金流相對於企業價值的水平來實現這一目標。它在多擴展方面沒有得到太多幫助。綜上所述，儘管 Chord 的股票長期表現優於同行，但其目前的估值相對於同行仍然具有吸引力。

Chord has an established history of strong capital allocation, consistent operations, and high cash returns. These positives, coupled with resilience and low-price periods and significant upside potential to the next constructive oil cycle make Chord a unique and attractive investment opportunity. With that, I'll turn the call over to Anes for questions.

Chord 在資本配置、營運和現金回報方面有著良好的記錄。這些積極因素，加上韌性、低油價時期以及下一個建設性石油週期帶來的巨大上漲潛力，使Chord成為一個獨特且有吸引力的投資機會。接下來，我將把電話交給阿內斯，回答大家的問題。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作說明）

Scott Hanold, RBC.

Scott Hanold，RBC。

Danny, I appreciate the framework on 2026. It was really helpful. I'm kind of curious with the success on the 4-mile wells and you all indicating you may take that up a level next year. When do you all think you'll start really seeing some of the benefits on the capital efficiency side from those wells? Because they do have like relative better capital efficiency, lower decline rates. Is that something that may take a year or two to really start driving capital down? And where do you think that could go?

丹尼，我很欣賞你提出的2026年框架。真的很有幫助。我對 4 英里井的成功感到很好奇，你們都表示明年可能會將規模擴大一個等級。你們覺得什麼時候才能真正看到這些油井在資本效率上帶來一些好處？因為它們確實具有相對更高的資本效率和更低的衰退率。這種情況可能需要一兩年才能真正開始降低資本成本嗎？你覺得這件事會如何發展？

Yes, Scott, I appreciate the question. Yes, so we're really pleased with what we're seeing from a 4-mile perspective. So I'm glad you're bringing that up, and we were happy to communicate that we think it could be a meaningful portion of the overall '26 program. I think we'll see the real benefit of that -- as you get towards the later part of '26 and into '27 is when you'll see that lower decline rate really sort of help -- be a differential helping factor for us. And so we're pleased with where the '26 plan is shaping up, and I think we're really pleased with how we're setting ourselves up for the out years as well.

是的，斯科特，感謝你的提問。是的，從四英里範圍來看，我們對目前的情況非常滿意。所以我很高興你提到了這一點，我們也樂於溝通，我們認為這可能是 2026 年整體計劃中一個有意義的部分。我認為我們會在 2026 年下半年和 2027 年看到它真正的好處——那時你會看到較低的下降率真的會有所幫助——成為我們的差異化幫助因素。因此，我們對 2026 年計畫的進展感到滿意，而且我認為我們對未來幾年的規劃也感到非常滿意。

Yes. And could you quantify like what could that could do to CapEx in '27, I guess, as part of that?

是的。那麼，作為其中的一部分，您能否量化一下這會對 2027 年的資本支出產生什麼影響？

Yes. I think we're still working through the '26 -- we're giving soft guidance on '26 now. We'll give formal guidance in February, and we'll give -- we'll look as I know in the past, we've given three-year guidance. We need to get the XTO incorporated, and we'll talk a little more in February, but I think too early to comment on '27, except to say that as we look at the overall plan, I'm really encouraged about our multiyear outlook looks really strong.

是的。我認為我們仍在研究 2026 年的業績——我們現在對 2026 年的業績給出了較為保守的預期。我們將在二月給予正式指導意見，而且——據我所知，過去我們給出的指導意見是三年期的。我們需要將 XTO 納入考慮範圍，我們將在二月份再詳細討論一下，但我認為現在評論 2027 年還為時過早，只能說，當我們審視整體計劃時，我對我們多年的前景感到非常鼓舞，看起來非常強勁。

Okay. I appreciate that. And then my follow-up is on the marketing and midstream agreements. Could you give us a sense of like what does this mean for natural gas and specifically maybe NGL differentials as you go into next year? How much do those change from where you are right now?

好的。我很感激。接下來，我的後續工作是關於行銷和中游協議。您能否為我們介紹一下，這對明年的天然氣，特別是液化天然氣價差意味著什麼？與你現在所處的位置相比，這些變化有多大？

Because obviously, NGL pricing has been challenging. I guess gas price has been challenging too at times. So how much of that's already accrued into the numbers you're seeing today? And how much more benefit do we see next year?

很顯然，液化天然氣定價一直是個挑戰。我想汽油價格有時也是個不小的挑戰。那麼，你今天看到的數字中，有多少已經包含了這些因素呢？明年我們又能看到多少收益呢？

Yes, Scott, this is Richard. Great question. You had seen that we had announced there was about $20 million that was impacting the business in 2025. And that is really related, as you noted, to gas and NGL. And then as we move into next year, that, call it, $40 million at the midpoint would be spread across gas and NGL as well as a little bit of LOE benefit as well as GPT.

是的，史考特，我是理查。問得好。你們已經看到我們宣布，到 2025 年，將有大約 2000 萬美元的因素影響到公司業務。正如你所指出的，這與天然氣和液化天然氣確實有關。然後，到了明年，這筆，姑且稱之為 4000 萬美元的資金（按中間值計算）將用於天然氣和 NGL，以及一些 LOE 收益和 GPT。

So it will be spread across the entire business. And I think the other thing to note, and I think you kind of highlighted this, I mean, gas prices have been pretty volatile throughout 2025, we had a great beginning of the year. And as typical, it typically dips in the middle part of the year and then builds back in the fourth- quarter. You've seen some prices bounce back here recently. So that should be helpful tailwind as we move into 2026.

因此，它將波及整個企業。我覺得還有一點要注意，而且我覺得你也強調了這一點，我的意思是，2025 年汽油價格波動很大，我們年初的開局很好。通常情況下，它會在年中出現下滑，然後在第四季回升。最近這裡的一些價格已經反彈了。因此，這應該會成為我們邁向 2026 年的有利助力。

Derrick Whitfield, Texas Capital.

德里克·惠特菲爾德，德克薩斯資本。

Congrats on a positive ops update today.

恭喜今天收到積極的營運更新報告。

Thanks, Derrick.

謝謝你，德里克。

Regarding your alternate shaped wells, it's clear that they can positively impact 10% of your long-term inventory based on slide 20. Perhaps for Danny or Darrin, like how would you guys characterize the cost and execution differences between the alternate and standup equivalents? And any color you can add on location concentration of these alternate shape wells?

關於您提出的異形井，根據第 20 頁投影片，很明顯它們可以對您的長期庫存產生 10% 的正面影響。或許對於 Danny 或 Darrin 來說，你們會如何描述替補演員和站立演員在成本和執行上的差異？你能為這些形狀各異的井的位置濃度添加任何顏色嗎？

So maybe I'll kick off and then turn it over to Darrin for some additional commentary. I think the neat thing about alternate shaped wells for us is we're uniquely positioned, I think, amongst many of our peers that given our 1.3 million acres that spread out really across the totality of the basin, we've got a lot of fairly underdeveloped units where we can do long straight laterals, which we think are going to be the most efficient way for us to sort of enjoy the benefits of longer lateral capital efficiency improvement. And so the bulk of our long laterals will be straight long laterals.

所以也許我會先拋磚引玉，然後把麥克風交給達林，讓他做一些補充評論。我認為，對我們來說，異形井的妙處在於，我們擁有獨特的優勢。與許多同行相比，我們擁有 130 萬英畝的土地，幾乎遍布整個盆地，我們有許多尚未充分開發的單元，可以在這些單元中進行長而直的水平井作業。我們認為，這將是我們享受長水平井資本效率提升所帶來的益處最有效的方式。因此，我們的大部分長側線將是直長側線。

But we do have areas within the portfolio that are constrained by historic development and in those areas, these alternate shapes can be helpful. And an example of that may be on the Enerplus acreage we picked up from our -- from the transaction that was really in the core of the basin, but had a lot of legacy development around it, which constrained our ability to go to as far as many long straights as we would have otherwise liked to.

但是，我們的投資組合中確實存在一些受歷史發展限制的區域，在這些區域，這些替代形狀可能會有所幫助。例如，我們從 Enerplus 手中收購的土地就是一個例子——這塊土地位於盆地的核心地帶，但周圍有很多遺留的開發項目，這限制了我們開發像我們原本希望的那樣多的長直道的能力。

So these alternative shapes are a great opportunity to get some of the really significant portion of the economic benefit of long lateral development when you don't have quite the geometry that's quite as conducive as just having sort of the straight geometry available to us. So execution to date has been really, really strong. I've been super pleased with what we're seeing, and I'll ask Darrin, maybe to provide some incremental comments there.

因此，當沒有像直線幾何形狀那樣有利的幾何形狀時，這些替代形狀為我們提供了獲得長橫向發展帶來的真正重要經濟效益的絕佳機會。所以到目前為止，執行情況真的非常出色。我對我們目前所看到的非常滿意，我會問問達林，或許他能就此提出一些補充意見。

Yes. So we drilled 11 alternate shaped wells year-to-date and 8 of these are online. And we're only seeing just a couple of percentage points like if we drill a 2-mile linked alternate shape well, it's only just a few percentage points more expensive than a straight 2-mile well. So the team has done a great job of reducing the cycle time and not only drilling it, but getting them completed and getting them drilled out. So it's definitely drilling a couple of alternate shaped wells versus drilling three traditional wells with definite cost savings there and increase -- improvement in our supply costs for sure.

是的。今年迄今為止，我們鑽探了 11 口不同形狀的井，其中 8 口已經投產。我們看到，如果鑽一口 2 英里長的連接式異形井，成本只會比一口 2 英里長的直井高出幾個百分點。所以團隊在縮短週期時間方面做得非常出色，不僅完成了鑽孔，而且還完成了鑽孔工作。因此，鑽幾口異形井肯定比鑽三口傳統井更能節省成本，而且肯定會提高我們的供應成本。

Great. And for my follow-up, I wanted to focus on slide 18. Regarding enhanced production uptime and artificial lift optimization, what degree of coverage do you guys have in place today? And where could that go over the next couple of years?

偉大的。接下來，我想重點談談第 18 張投影片。關於提高生產正常運作時間和人工舉升優化，你們目前在這方面的覆蓋程度如何？那麼，未來幾年它會如何發展呢？

Yes. So I think as we think about from a production perspective, there's been a lot of I think really across industry and our organization is probably a microcosm of industry in some respects. There's been a lot of focus on improving our drilling and completions performance over time. And you've seen that roll through and reduce cycle times, improved capital efficiency. We focused on our base production along the way.

是的。所以我覺得，從生產的角度來看，整個產業都存在著許多問題，而我們的組織在某些方面可能就是整個產業的縮影。我們一直以來都非常注重提升鑽井和完井作業的效能。你已經看到，這種趨勢能夠縮短週期時間，提高資本效率。我們一路以來都專注於基礎生產。

But as we think about artificial lift, it hasn't gotten the intense focus that drilling and completion activity has historically. And so we think we've got room to optimize. We've got room to optimize this, and we've got it, I think, from a couple of different angles.

但當我們想到人工舉升時，它並沒有像鑽井和完井活動那樣受到歷史上的密切關注。因此，我們認為還有優化的空間。我們還有優化的空間，而且我認為我們已經從幾個不同的角度考慮過了。

One is there's new technology out there on artificial lift. We've got close to 5,000 wells in the field. And so we've got -- most of this will end up on rod at the end of the day. But there's some intervening steps on how you get from free-flowing wells to rod wells. There's different types of rods you can use. There are some new thoughts on how you can do some maybe rodless pumping units. And so we're going to see what our opportunity looks like from that perspective.

一是目前人工舉升領域出現了新技術。我們油田裡有近5,000口油井。所以，最後這些東西大部分都會被裝到釣竿上。但是，從自由流動的油井到桿式油井，中間還有一些步驟。你可以使用不同類型的釣竿。關於如何製造無桿幫浦裝置，有一些新的想法。所以，我們將從這個角度來看待我們的機會。

And then there's the automation piece of this that I think is pretty significant. So thousands of wells that we can get -- that we can improve our automation performance with. We've done that with a lot of our rods already across, I think, a big portion of the field. And so it's taking this momentum we've built over the past, call it, 18 months or so and just continuing to build on it. But I'll ask Darrin to weigh on this some more.

此外，我認為自動化部分也相當重要。因此，我們可以獲得數千口油井，從而提高我們的自動化性能。我認為，我們已經用我們的許多魚竿覆蓋了很大一部分場地。因此，我們將利用過去約 18 個月累積起來的勢頭，繼續發展壯大。但我會請達林再對此事發表一些意見。

Yes. So relative to our rod pump wells, artificial intelligence is really controlling all of the parameters as we pump the wells and we're seeing -- starting to see some improvements in run times as well as less downtime, less -- we're seeing less frequency on the workovers. So hopefully, that's something we can quantify more next year, and we're starting to look at our ESPs, how can we turn those over to artificial intelligence as well to control all the parameters on our electric submersible pumps.

是的。因此，相對於我們的桿式泵井而言，人工智慧確實控制著我們泵井時的所有參數，我們開始看到運行時間有所改善，停機時間減少，修井頻率也降低了。所以，希望明年我們能對此進行更深入的量化，我們也開始研究我們的ESP（靜電除塵器），看看如何讓人工智慧也來控制我們電動潛水泵的所有參數。

John Abbott, Wolfe Research.

約翰‧阿博特，沃爾夫研究公司。

So the first question is really a longer -- question is all about production. So the first question is you acquired the XTO assets, at the time the deal was announced, you talked about 9,000 BOE per day. You've acquired the assets. How has that asset performed compared to your initial expectations? And then the follow-up question is really on 2026.

所以第一個問題其實比較長——這個問題完全是關於生產的。所以第一個問題是，你們收購了 XTO 的資產，在宣布這筆交易時，你們談到了每天 9,000 桶油當量。你已經獲得了這些資產。該資產的表現與您最初的預期相比如何？那麼，接下來的問題其實是關於 2026 年的。

You provided the soft guide of about 157,000 to 158,000 barrels per day. It looks like the Street is a tad bit higher than that. You do have a tendency to raise production over time. But could you talk about the shape of production in 2026? So those would be my two questions.

您提供的參考值為每天約 157,000 至 158,000 桶。看起來街價略高於這個價位。隨著時間推移，你的產量確實有提高的趨勢。能否談談 2026 年的生產格局？這就是我的兩個問題。

Thanks for the question, John. Well, so a couple of comments. One, on the XTO transaction. That transaction came with about 9,000 barrels equivalent a day, about 6,000 barrels of oil per day, and we've got that locked in for sort of two months of the year, closing on October 31. So hence, the 4,000 barrels of oil per day increase that we pushed through in the numbers we just released.

謝謝你的提問，約翰。嗯，有幾點要補充。第一，關於XTO交易。那筆交易相當於每天約 9,000 桶原油，也就是每天約 6,000 桶石油，我們已經鎖定了大約兩個月的供應量，將於 10 月 31 日完成交割。因此，我們才實現了每天增加 4000 桶石油的目標，這體現在我們剛剛公佈的數據中。

The assets we just closed on it. And I think our expectations and our observations on that asset are very consistent with how we thought about it when we entered into the acquisition discussions in the first place. So nothing but pleased with what we're seeing there. But early days, a nice thing about it is oily production and it's low decline oily production. And so we really like that. That was one of the things we liked about that asset.

我們剛完成交易的資產。我認為我們對該資產的預期和觀察與我們最初進行收購談判時的想法非常一致。所以，我們對目前所看到的一切都非常滿意。但就目前而言，它的優點之一是石油產量高，而且石油產量下降幅度小。所以，我們非常喜歡這一點。那是我們喜歡那項資產的原因之一。

With respect to our volumes in 2026, you mentioned 157,000 to 158,000. It was -- it's -- our expectation is they are a little higher than that. It's 157,000 to 161,000, so call it 159,000 at the midpoint. And so that's really what our expectations are as we move forward. From a shape perspective, I think we'll probably see like we often do, probably the strongest production contribution in the middle part of the year with a little bit of cyclicality.

關於我們 2026 年的產量，您提到是 157,000 到 158,000。我們的預期是，他們的實際水平會比這略高一些。範圍是 157,000 到 161,000，所以取中間值 159,000。所以，這就是我們未來發展的真正期望。從形態上看，我認為我們可能會像往常一樣看到，年中可能是產量貢獻最大的時期，並伴隨著一些週期性波動。

So 1Q will be slightly lower. 4Q may be slightly lower with most production coming through in the second and third-quarter. But that overall number is going to average, we think, at the midpoint, 159,000.

因此，第一季業績會略低一些。第四季產量可能會略低，因為大部分產量將在第二季和第三季完成。但我們認為，總數字的平均值將在中間值為 159,000。

Noah Hungness, Bank of America.

諾亞·洪尼斯，美國銀行。

I guess for my first question here, going back to the '26 program. When we're trying to think about total tilled wells or tilled lateral footage, could you maybe just at a high level, touch on how that compares to the '25 program?

我想問的第一個問題是，回到 '26 的計劃。當我們考慮耕作井總數或耕作水平段長度時，您能否從宏觀層面談談它與 2025 年計畫的比較？

Yes. So appreciate the question, Noah. We'll probably get into all that in February when we provide detailed budget outlook for 2026. So generally, at this point in the year, we like to give sort of soft guidance on what our capital and production levels are in aggregate, and we'll get into the details in February.

是的。感謝你的提問，諾亞。我們可能會在二月詳細闡述2026年預算展望時談到所有這些問題。所以通常情況下，在每年的這個時候，我們會對我們的資本和生產水平總體情況給出一些大致的指導，我們將在二月份詳細說明。

And then I guess for my second question here, commentary around the 4-mile wells that you guys have put into production so far, sounds really positive. You're seeing full contribution across lateral and they're coming under budget. How are you thinking about the EUR and the capital ranges that you've given for 4-mile laterals today?

那麼，我的第二個問題是，你們目前已投入生產的 4 英里井的評價聽起來非常積極。你可以看到各部門都做出了充分的貢獻，而且他們的支出還在預算之內。您如何看待今天您給出的 4 英里側線的歐元價格和資本範圍？

Yes. So from an EUR perspective, I'd say what we anticipate is that we'll see, call it, 90% to 100% EUR uplift relative to what we'd see in 2-mile wells. And so we've kind of underwritten the program expecting that there'll be some contribution degradation in that fourth mile. As a reminder, as we've looked at our 3-mile program, we really haven't identified any degradation in the 3-mile program. And so that third mile is contributing just as efficiently as the first two miles in our 3-mile program. But to be a little conservative, we've underwritten some degradation in the fourth mile. So we only assume that's 80% contributing.

是的。因此，從 EUR 的角度來看，我們預計 EUR 將比 2 英里井的產量提高 90% 到 100%。因此，我們已經為該專案提供了資金支持，並預期在最後階段會出現一些貢獻下降的情況。再次提醒大家，在我們檢視 3 英哩訓練計畫的過程中，我們並沒有發現 3 英哩訓練計畫有任何退步。因此，在我們3英里的跑步計劃中，第三英里的貢獻與前兩英里一樣有效。但保守一點來說，我們已經預料到第四哩路段可能會出現一些損壞。所以我們只假設這佔80%的貢獻。

I'll say our first 4-mile well, we're already equivalent to two miles to two 2-mile wells. And so at this point, that well doesn't look like it's seeing much degradation. But again, the overall program, we're underwriting with a little bit of degradation that fourth mile and the economics is still wildly superior to our other development options. So we're -- we're encouraged by the 4-mile program. The EUR, we think, may be again between 90% to 100% of what you'd see in compare -- in two 2-mile wells.

可以說，我們第一口 4 英里長的井，已經相當於兩口 2 英里長的井的產量。所以目前來看，這口井似乎並沒有太大的惡化。但話說回來，就整個項目而言，即使第四英里路段略有損壞，我們仍然承擔了部分費用，而且經濟效益仍然遠遠優於我們的其他開發方案。所以，我們對4英里計劃感到鼓舞。我們認為，兩口 2 英里井的最終可採儲量可能再次達到與對比結果的 90% 到 100%。

And so a little bit of degradation assumed and we'll have to see what production history proves out over time.

因此，我們假設性能會略有下降，而隨著時間的推移，生產歷史會證明這一點。

And then on the CapEx, are you still kind of thinking the midpoint of the range, even though the wells so far have kind of come in under budget. I guess when you're saying under budget, is that the midpoint of the range?

至於資本支出，即使到目前為止油井的成本已經低於預算，您是否仍然傾向於選擇範圍的中間值？我猜您說的「低於預算」是指預算範圍的中點嗎？

Well, so they've come in under our initial expectations, recognizing we had some -- these were early serial numbers on what our expectations were. So we expected there to be a little learning curve. Are we getting through that learning curve quicker than we thought we might otherwise? And so it's coming inside our expectations, but we feel good about the ranges we put out there previously.

嗯，所以他們的表現低於我們最初的預期，我們也意識到我們之前有一些預期——這些是我們最初的預期。所以我們預料到會有一個學習過程。我們是否比預想中更快度過了學習曲線？所以結果符合我們的預期，但我們對之前公佈的數據範圍感到滿意。

Oliver Huang, TPH.

Oliver Huang，TPH。

For my first question, I was just wondering on TIL for this year. Timing is obviously going to be a factor, but when we're thinking about the stand-alone Chord program today versus the start of the year, you all have been able to essentially hit a similar level for oil on roughly 20 less gross TILs. Just trying to better understand the various drivers with respect to what you all are seeing on operated well productivity versus internal expectations to start the year. And also, if there may have been an increased movement on the non-op side that's allowing you all to pare back a little bit more on the operated side.

我的第一個問題是，我想了解今年我學到了什麼。時機顯然會是一個因素，但如果我們今天將 Chord 的獨立項目與年初進行比較，你們基本上能夠在總產量減少約 20 倍的情況下，達到類似的石油價格水平。我只是想更了解各位在年初所看到的油井生產率與內部預期之間的各種驅動因素​​。而且，如果非手術治療的進展增加，那麼你們就可以在手術治療方面再減少一些開支。

Yes. So I'll kick off, and I'll ask others to weigh in. I think it's a great observation, Oliver. We are seeing about 20 fewer TILs this year relative to our original expectations. I will caution that from a drilling and completion standpoint, we haven't seen that same reduction from a drilling and completion standpoint.

是的。那我就先拋磚引玉，然後請其他人發表意見。奧利佛，我覺得你的觀察很精闢。今年我們看到的 TIL 數量比我們最初的預期少了約 20 個。但我必須指出，從鑽井和完井的角度來看，我們還沒有看到同樣的減少。

In fact, we're up a little bit on our drills. We're down slightly on our completions, but the TIL count is coming in lower. And I think the reason we've been able to really raise production guidance twice despite that lower number of TILs is around, one, the wells have performed well. And so we've seen strong performance from our operated program. We got a few of them online a little earlier than we thought, and that's obviously helpful when you talk about annual contribution from a well that's coming online. So that's been helpful.

事實上，我們的訓練進度稍微領先一些。我們的完成率略有下降，但 TIL 計數也更低。我認為，儘管 TIL 數量較少，但我們仍然能夠兩次提高產量預期，原因有二：一是油井表現良好。因此，我們看到我們營運的專案取得了強勁的業績。我們有幾口井比預期更早投入使用，這對於即將投入使用的水井的年度貢獻顯然很有幫助。這很有幫助。

We've seen a little more non-op come through, and we've had great performance from our base production perspective. And so we've seen some lower downtime, which is always great because you're able to -- for very low cost able to deliver better production. And so that -- and that's really due to a lot of the effort that Darrin's team has gone to try to optimize our base program where we see, I'd say, fertile ground to do even more. So really, that kind of, I think, bridges that difference for us.

我們看到非營運業務增加，而且從基礎生產的角度來看，我們的業績非常出色。因此，我們看到停機時間有所減少，這總是一件好事，因為這樣就能以非常低的成本實現更好的生產。因此，這主要歸功於達林的團隊為優化我們的基礎程序所付出的巨大努力，我們認為，這方面還有很大的提升空間。所以，我認為這實際上彌合了我們之間的差異。

Okay. That's helpful color. And maybe just for a follow-up question. Just on the marketing optimization, any sort of color in terms of how we should be thinking about the runway to kind of drive some of that further upside beyond the $30 million to $40 million or so that has been outlined here. And just with respect to some of these recent agreements, were these primarily in the form of a blend and extend? Or were these more in the bucket of just contract roll-offs?

好的。這是個很有幫助的顏色。或許我還有一個後續問題。就行銷優化而言，任何關於我們應該如何考慮發展前景的建議，都將有助於我們進一步提升潛力，超越這裡概述的 3000 萬至 4000 萬美元左右。就最近的一些協議而言，這些協議主要採取的是混合和擴展的形式嗎？或者這些更多屬於合約到期終止的範疇？

Yes. Great question. If you remember at the beginning of the year, we talked about three big buckets of costs that we thought we could go after. And I think the team has done an incredible job on all three buckets, and you see that in our presentation where we've outlined that $120 million that Danny talked about earlier of savings from kind of the beginning of the year. And it's in the combination of all three buckets, whether it's the production LOE side of the business, whether it's the execution or D&C side of the business, and now you're seeing the fruits of the kind of marketing midstream.

是的。問得好。如果你還記得的話，年初的時候，我們討論過我們可以著手解決的三大類成本問題。我認為團隊在所有三個方面都做得非常出色，這一點在我們的簡報中也得到了體現，其中概述了丹尼早些時候提到的從年初至今節省的 1.2 億美元。而這三者的結合，無論是業務的生產營運成本（LOE）方面，或是業務的執行或設計與施工（D&C）方面，現在你都看到了這種中游行銷的成果。

I think there's continued opportunities on all three buckets that we'll continue to push. On the marketing and midstream in particular, one of the things we kind of talked about was a lot of the contracts in the basin were done in 2010 to 2014.

我認為在這三個方面都存在著持續的機會，我們會繼續努力爭取。尤其是在行銷和中游方面，我們討論的一件事是，盆地內的許多合約都是在 2010 年至 2014 年期間簽訂的。

A lot of those were 15-year contracts that are kind of coming due over the course of this year as well as the next few years. And so I would say it's a combination. These are a number of smaller deals that add up to some pretty significant value for us, and they will continue to be those deals going forward. Remember, in 2010 to 2014, newer basin, less infrastructure overall, negotiations were difficult from a producer standpoint to get good rates. Today, there's a lot more competition, just a lot more opportunities to optimize there.

其中許多都是為期 15 年的合同，這些合約將在今年以及未來幾年陸續到期。所以我認為這是一個組合。這些都是一些小額交易，但加起來對我們來說價值相當可觀，而且未來還會繼續進行這類交易。請記住，在 2010 年至 2014 年期間，盆地較新，整體基礎設施較少，從生產商的角度來看，談判很難獲得良好的價格。如今競爭更加激烈，但也帶來了更多優化的機會。

So team is doing a great job. It's going to be across, I think, a number of deals going forward. But we do continue to see additional opportunities to create good strong win-win situations with our midstream providers as well.

所以團隊做得非常出色。我認為，這種情況將會在未來的許多交易中出現。但我們仍然看到與中游供應商建立良好、強大的雙贏局面的更多機會。

David Deckelbaum, TD Cowen.

David Deckelbaum，TD Cowen。

I wanted to follow up, Danny, just obviously, you've been focused on getting down that $300 million of controllable spend. The marketing agreement goes a long way to getting there. As you think about the progression in other areas as we go into '26 and '27, do you conceive that the bulk of them are going to present themselves from the benefits of longer lateral designs or are there more chunky elements such as the marketing agreements that we should be focusing on?

丹尼，我想跟進一下，很明顯，你一直專注於削減那 3 億美元的可控支出。行銷協議對實現這一目標大有裨益。展望 2026 年和 2027 年，您在思考其他領域的進展時，您認為大部分進展將得益於更長的橫向設計，還是應該關注營銷協議等更實質性的因素？

David, it's a great question. I think what we've seen is -- we have strong conviction that we can improve our cost structure across really all elements of our business. And so Michael talked about the three buckets that we think about this from a D&C, and operated D&C perspective, production perspective and then a marketing and midstream perspective.

大衛，這是一個很好的問題。我認為我們已經看到的是——我們堅信我們可以在業務的各個方面改善成本結構。因此，Michael 談到了我們從 D&C 和營運 D&C 的角度、生產角度以及行銷和中游角度來考慮這個問題的三個方面。

And I think we'll see improvement and are seeing improvement really on all of them. And I think we've got some -- at least a slide in the deck that shows some of the different buckets and how that's generated incremental free cash flow for us relative to our expectations at the beginning of the year. We continue to have room to run down this path.

我認為我們會看到進步，而且實際上我們已經看到所有這些方面都有了進步。我認為我們已經有一些——至少在簡報中有一張投影片——展示了一些不同的資金類別，以及相對於年初的預期，這些類別如何為我們產生了增量自由現金流。我們還有繼續沿著這條路走下去的空間。

We're just getting into the 4-mile program, and so that's going to help us from a D&C perspective. We've got all sorts of efforts going on from a production standpoint. One thing we've got -- I mentioned the nearly 5,000 wells we have out in the field earlier, and we've got a really significant workover program that helps make sure that those wells continue to operate efficiently and remain up.

我們剛開始進行 4 英里訓練計劃，所以從 D&C 的角度來看，這將對我們有所幫助。從生產角度來看，我們正在進行各種努力。我們有一件事——我之前提到過，我們在油田有近 5000 口油井，我們有一個非常重要的修井計劃，這有助於確保這些油井繼續高效運行並保持運作。

We have recently switched over to some software that helps us optimize our scheduling for all this -- for our workover program that I think could yield significant benefit and us delivering higher levels of production for lower levels of cost and making sure that we're optimizing that spend that goes into our workover operations.

我們最近換用了一些軟體，可以幫助我們優化所有這些方面的調度——對於我們的修井計劃來說，我認為這可以帶來顯著的效益，使我們能夠以更低的成本實現更高的產量，並確保我們優化投入到修井作業中的支出。

And then in addition, we've talked before about taking some of that same rigor that we apply to our drilling program and looking at sort of best composite times for jobs and can we apply some of that to our workover activities because it's a lot of similar jobs that happen across a bunch of different companies. And so if we can standardize what sort of some of our procedures around that and try and recognize what sort of a perfect job would look like that gives folks something to aspire to.

此外，我們之前也討論過，能否將我們應用於鑽井計畫的嚴謹性，以及對作業最佳綜合工期的考量，應用到修井作業中，因為許多不同的公司都會進行類似的作業。因此，如果我們能夠規範一些相關的程序，並努力認識到一份完美的工作應該是什麼樣的，這就能為人們帶來奮鬥的目標。

And it's amazing if you give folks a goal and something to aspire to how we can get close to achieving it if sometimes surpassing it. So I just think we've got lots of opportunities in different areas of the business, and we're going to see this -- we're going to continue to chew into that cost structure. And could there be chunky items along the way? Of course, there can be, but we're going to be focusing on it all.

如果你給人們一個目標和一個奮鬥目標，我們就能接近目標，甚至有時還能超越目標，這真是太神奇了。所以我認為我們在業務的各個領域都有很多機會，我們會看到——我們將繼續削減成本結構。沿途會不會有體積較大的物品？當然，可能會有其他情況，但我們會關注所有方面。

I guess leading on that point, as you focus on optimization and you focus on these best practices and better economics, you just pulled off the XTO deal, a small bolt-on, but still meaningful. It seems like the basin is still -- it's consolidated but fragmented. Would this make you more acquisitive relative to the maybe inefficiencies that you see available out there that you could accrete value back to Chord holders?

我想，正是基於這一點，當你專注於優化，專注於這些最佳實踐和更好的經濟效益時，你剛剛完成了 XTO 交易，雖然只是一個小小的附加項目，但仍然意義重大。盆地似乎仍然穩定——它雖然堅實但又支離破碎。這是否會使您更傾向於收購那些您可能認為效率低、但可以為 Chord 持有者創造價值的資源？

Yes. So David, I think we are sort of inquisitive and acquisitive by nature. We've done five deals over the last five years. And so we're believers in consolidation. But importantly, that consolidation can't just make us bigger.

是的。所以大衛，我認為我們天生就有點好奇心和占有欲。過去五年我們完成了五筆交易。因此，我們信奉整合。但重要的是，這種整合不能只讓我們變得更大。

It has to make us better, too. And so to the degree that we have ability to take sort of differential skills or ability and apply it to other assets in the basin. I think that allows us to be more one, front-footed and maybe proactively reaching out to other parties and then certainly more competitive in any process that we've got because we can just bring more value to bear, which should allow us to be more successful as we look at different opportunities within the basin. So in short, yes, I think it positions us well in a consolidating environment.

它也必須讓我們變得更好。因此，在某種程度上，我們有能力將某種差異化的技能或能力應用於盆地內的其他資產。我認為這使我們能夠更加團結、更加積極主動地與其他各方接觸，並且肯定在任何過程中都更具競爭力，因為我們可以帶來更多價值，這應該能夠讓我們在盆地內尋找不同機會時取得更大的成功。簡而言之，是的，我認為這使我們在整合的環境中處於有利地位。

Kevin MacCurdy, Pickering Energy Partners.

Kevin MacCurdy，Pickering Energy Partners。

And to piggyback on David's question, you're now the biggest operator in the basin. Have you done the analysis or do you have a view on how your lateral lengths and margins compared to peers? Obviously, this would be in relation to being able to acquire peers and extend their lateral lengths and lower their -- or increase their margins?

順便問一下，David 剛才問的問題是，你們現在是盆地裡最大的運營商。您是否已經進行過分析，或者您對貴公司橫向發展速度和利潤率與同行相比如何有何看法？顯然，這與能夠收購同業、擴展其橫向發展範圍以及降低或提高其利潤率有關？

So as you'd expect, Kevin, we've got a -- kind of we benchmark ourselves against others pretty frequently. We like to make sure that, one, it helps us learn from others. And then two, it helps hold ourselves accountable for our performance. But certainly, that also feeds into when we see, I'd say, maybe dislocations to ourselves relative to others, that can present opportunities, and we think about that.

正如你所料，凱文，我們經常以他人為標竿。我們希望確保，第一，它能幫助我們向他人學習。其次，它有助於我們對自己表現負責。但當然，當我們看到，我認為，我們自身與他人之間可能存在錯位時，這也會帶來機會，我們會思考這一點。

Okay. And then shifting gears a little bit, I wanted to ask around the plans for the Marcellus acreage. Are there any updates on the sale process or maybe even a reconsideration of keeping the asset? I mean there's been a pretty hot M&A market in the gas land, especially near the Gulf. Not sure if these dynamics are influencing your thought process on your acreage?

好的。然後，我稍微轉換了一下話題，想打聽一下馬塞勒斯頁岩氣田的規劃。出售流程是否有任何最新進展？或是否有重新考慮保留該資產的計劃？我的意思是，天然氣產業的併購市場一直非常火爆，尤其是在墨西哥灣附近。不確定這些因素是否影響了您對自家土地的規劃？

Don't have a lot of update to provide relative to our early comments on Marcellus, Kevin. It is a noncore asset. We've been very vocal about that. We'll look to maximize value from that asset over time. It's a great asset, low friction cost to us on holding it, but it is noncore and we just want to maximize value from it.

凱文，關於我們之前對馬塞勒斯頁岩氣的評論，我沒有什麼新的進展可以提供。這是一項非核心資產。我們對此一直直言不諱。我們將努力隨著時間的推移，最大限度地發揮該資產的價值。這是一項非常有價值的資產，持有成本很低，但它並非核心資產，我們只想最大限度地發揮價值。

Paul Diamond, Citi Group.

保羅戴蒙德，花旗集團。

Just a quick one on the XTO acreage. Given the need to permit and integrate it, when do you think those start to roll in -- when do you think those wells start to roll into the lateral program?

簡單介紹一下XTO的土地面積。考慮到需要進行審批和整合，您認為這些井何時開始投入使用—您認為這些井什麼時候開始納入水平井作業計劃？

I think it's a great question, Paul, and you're right to bring it up. So we will have to get things permitted on that XTO acreage. And so as we think about sort of the new maintenance level of production that probably implies. I saw it get incremental activity on legacy Chord acreage, and then we'll probably start developing that acreage more towards, let's call it, the tail end '26. And so again, we'll give more specifics in February as we give our formal -- as we put our formal budget out there. But that's -- I think that's a reasonable expectation.

保羅，我覺得你問得很好，你提出這個問題是對的。所以我們需要取得在XTO那塊土地上進行相關活動的許可。因此，當我們思考新的生產維護水準可能意味著什麼時。我看到它在 Chord 遺留的土地上逐漸活躍起來，然後我們可能會開始更多地開發這些土地，比如說，到 2026 年末。因此，我們將在二月公佈正式預算時提供更多細節。但我認為這是合理的期望。

And just a reminder, some of the exciting things about that acreage position is it's in the heart of the play. So really good economics, great geology but it's relatively been undrilled. So what that means is that it's really set up for these longer laterals and straight longer laterals, which is fantastic.

提醒一下，這塊地之所以令人興奮，是因為它位於該區域的核心地帶。所以經濟條件非常好，地質條件也很棒，但相對來說鑽探工作還不多。所以這意味著它非常適合這些較長的側向移動和較長的直線側向移動，這真是太棒了。

It also abuts a lot of our current acreage. And so we have a lot of flexibility to repermit and respace to even get longer laterals and more benefit out of that asset. So super excited about that asset. It will take us a little bit of time, but a very exciting kind of new asset in the portfolio.

它也與我們現有的大片土地相鄰。因此，我們有很大的靈活性，可以重新申請許可和重新規劃空間，從而獲得更長的水平井，並從該資產中獲得更多收益。我對這項資產感到非常興奮。這需要一些時間，但會是投資組合中非常令人興奮的新資產。

Got it. I appreciate the clarity. And just for a quick follow-up on talking about the alternate shape wells, 10% in the addressable inventory, you mentioned some opportunity on the Enerplus acreage. Should we think about that being kind of the concentration of that 10%? Or is it more spread out?

知道了。感謝您的清晰解釋。關於替代形狀的油井，佔可開採儲量的 10%，您提到 Enerplus 的土地上有一些機會，我想快速跟進。我們是否應該認為這就是那10%的集中體現？還是分佈更分散一些？

I think it's going to be somewhat spread out, Paul, but certainly, that acreage for areas that have legacy development around it, it lends itself to it. But I wouldn't think of it as an over concentration in that area. But certainly that area has some pretty good opportunity there.

保羅，我認為它會比較分散，但可以肯定的是，對於周圍有歷史建築的地區來說，那片土地很適合這樣做。但我認為這不算在該領域的過度集中。但可以肯定的是，那個地區確實有一些非常好的機會。

Paul Cheng, Scotiabank.

Paul Cheng，加拿大豐業銀行。

Two questions, please. I want to go back into the alternative shape well. Just curious that you talked about the cost is, say, maybe several percent points higher than a strip well. But how about the EUR and the production? What do you see from there?

請問兩個問題。我想恢復到之前的另一種狀態。我只是好奇你提到成本可能比條井高出幾個百分點。但是歐元和產量情況如何呢？從那裡你能看到什麼？

And also that have you found there's any differences in terms of what county or location that it will fit better or that it really doesn't matter that the performance on those alternative well about the same? That's the first question.

另外，您是否發現不同縣或地區的適用性有差異，或者說這些不同地區的表現其實都差不多？這是第一個問題。

Second question is that in -- if we're looking at your current dividend yield is certainly already quite high. So how your view on dividend growth? What is a proper growth rate for you or that if there's a payout ratio for dividend, is that a target? What percent of your cash flow you think is appropriate for you to pay out in dividend? In other words, trying to understand from a cash return to investor, how do you look at between dividend and buyback?

第二個問題是－如果我們看一下您目前的股息殖利率，它肯定已經相當高了。您對股息成長有何看法？您認為合適的成長率是多少？或者，如果存在股息支付率，這是否是您的目標？您認為現金流量的多少百分比用於派發股利是適當的？換句話說，從現金回報的角度來看投資者，你會如何看待股利和股票回購？

Thanks for the questions, Paul. So I'll talk alternate shapes first. As we talked about slight incremental capital, very slight incremental capital on an alternate shape well relative to a straight well. And really, I think it's just related to the additional lateral footage that we have to drill to turn the well. And so you've got to turn -- in order to make the turn, you've got some inefficiency in that incremental pipe and incremental drilling time that you've got to put through the reservoir to get the well-turned and head it back the other direction. And so really, that's where the incremental capital comes from.

謝謝你的提問，保羅。那我先來說說其他形狀。正如我們之前討論的，相對於直線井，異形井需要略微增加的資本，或者說非常少的額外資本。實際上，我認為這只是因為我們需要鑽更多的水平段來轉動油井。所以你必須轉向——為了實現轉向，你必須在穿過油藏的增量管道和增量鑽井時間中造成一些效率損失，才能使井轉向並朝另一個方向鑽進。所以，這才是增量資本的真正來源。

EUR expectations, we think the EUR is going to produce essentially what the straight wells produce. And so again, as we get out -- if we did longer laterals, we might assume some sort of degradation at the tail end of the laterals, but not really incrementally relative to what we see from a straight perspective at least at this point. And of course, this is very early days for us on alternate shapes. The great news is that from an execution perspective, these have all executed really well. They're certainly more complicated to execute than straight wells.

對於歐元區的預期，我們認為歐元區的產量基本上會與普通油井的產量相同。所以，當我們出去的時候——如果我們做更長的橫向移動，我們可能會假設橫向移動的末端出現某種程度的退化，但至少就目前而言，相對於我們從直線角度看到的情況，退化並不是真正的漸進式的。當然，對我們來說，探索其他形狀還處於非常早期的階段。好消息是，從執行角度來看，這些都執行得非常好。它們肯定比普通油井的施工要複雜得多。

And so the fact that we've executed them all well and gotten fully cleaned out to toe, I think, one, it's good that we're proving that up for an incremental tool in our toolkit to develop some acreage that might not otherwise be able to benefit from long lateral development. And it helps sharpen our skills for the straight wells, which are, frankly, easier to execute. So yes, a little bit of incremental capital, but really just associated with the extra drilling time and pipe associated with turning the well.

因此，我們成功地執行了所有這些工作，並且徹底清理乾淨，我認為，首先，這證明我們已將其作為工具箱中的一種增量工具，用於開發一些可能無法從長距離橫向開發中受益的土地，這是件好事。而且，它還能幫助我們提升鑽井技能，坦白說，鑽井更容易。所以，是的，需要一些額外的資金，但這實際上只是與轉動油井所需的額外鑽井時間和管道有關。

From a dividend standpoint, I'd say we think we've got a healthy dividend right now that's defendable down to low levels of oil price, and it's something we're committed to and is part of the reason why we set it where it was when we did. We wanted to have a strong base dividend, but something that was defensible down to low oil price. As we -- our capital allocation philosophy has really been around paying a competitive base dividend then look at share repurchases. And then for anything incremental, we would look at potentially doing a variable dividend. And so -- but it's really just a capital allocation decision at the end of the day.

從分紅的角度來看，我認為我們目前的分紅水平很健康，即使在油價低迷的情況下也能保持穩定，這是我們一直堅持的，也是我們當初將分紅水平設定在那個位置的部分原因。我們希望擁有穩健的基礎股息，但同時也要確保在低油價環境下也能維持股息穩定。我們的資本配置理念一直是先支付有競爭力的基本股息，然後再考慮股票回購。對於任何新增收入，我們都會考慮實施浮動股利制。所以——但歸根結底，這只是一個資本配置決策。

And so it's something we visit with our Board about every quarter. And so we don't have -- clearly, we're not announcing a change to our dividend currently, but it's something we continually evaluate with the Board. But we think the dividend -- the base dividend where it's set now is in a good place, and we'll continue to monitor that and discuss that with the Board as we think about our return of capital program.

因此，這是我們每季都會和董事會討論的問題。因此，我們目前顯然不會宣布改變股息，但我們會與董事會不斷評估此事。但我們認為目前的股息——基本股息——處於一個良好的水平，我們將繼續關注這一點，並在考慮資本回報計劃時與董事會討論這一點。

Danny, just curious that some of your larger customers that they would tie the dividend growth rate to their per share production growth rate. Do you think this may be applicable to you guys or that this is not the way how you guys look at it? Because in theory, as your per share production growth then that means your underlying cash flow generating capability grow, so you can afford to have a higher dividend?

丹尼，我只是好奇，你的一些大客戶是否會將股息成長率與每股產量成長率掛鉤。你們覺得這是否適用於你們？或者你們並不這樣看待這個問題？理論上講，隨著每股盈餘的成長，就意味著公司潛在的現金流產生能力增強，因此公司可以負擔更高的股息？

I understand the math behind that, Paul, again, I think it's just -- it's a capital allocation decision for ourselves, and it's something we'll continue to discuss with the Board about what we think the right form of return of capital to our shareholders is.

保羅，我明白其中的數學原理。不過，我認為這只是我們自己的一項資本配置決策，我們會繼續與董事會討論我們認為對股東而言最適合的資本回報形式。

Geoff Jay, Daniel Energy Partners.

Geoff Jay，Daniel Energy Partners。

I have kind of a two-parter as well. But I guess I'm just wondering about the depth of the deployment in the production improvement basket. I mean it seems like maybe you're well down the road with rod pump, kind of early days with the workover automation software, maybe nowhere on ESPs, if I heard right, not really sure on gas lift. I guess, is there just a lot of room left to put these technologies to work in the coming year?

我也有一個類似兩個部分的故事。但我只是想知道這項技術在生產改進方面的部署深度。我的意思是，看起來你們在桿式泵方面可能已經取得了相當大的進展，修井自動化軟體方面還處於早期階段，ESP方面可能還沒有進展，如果我沒聽錯的話，我對氣舉方面不太確定。我想，在未來一年裡，這些技術還有很大的應用空間嗎？

And I guess my follow-up would just be, I mean, it seems like this should have a meaningful impact on base production uplift. But I mean, I also wonder if you expect a material impact on maintenance CapEx like going into 2027 and beyond.

我的後續問題是，這似乎應該會對基礎產量提升產生有意義的影響。但我的意思是，我也想知道您是否預計到 2027 年及以後，維護資本支出會受到實質影響。

So Jeff, I think we're -- I appreciate the question, and I'll ask others to weigh in as well after I finish with my comments. I think we are in the early innings here. We've got -- technology has changed so quickly sort of in the backdrop of how we operate. And so you think about the computing power we have available to us now, artificial intelligence, machine learning, there were areas we've talked about internally. It used to be you had to have fiber laid out to different far-flung areas of the field in order to have remote communication.

傑夫，我想我們──我很感謝你的提問，在我發表完我的看法之後，我會請其他人也發表意見。我認為我們現在還處於比賽初期。科技發展日新月異，某種程度上改變了我們的運作方式。所以，想想我們現在所擁有的運算能力，人工智慧、機器學習，這些都是我們內部討論過的領域。過去，要進行遠端通信，就必須將光纖鋪設到該領域的各個偏遠地區。

And now you've got Starlink and other opportunities where you don't have to deploy all that capital and you can have the same sort of benefits of being connected. Drone technology is coming a long way, so you can sort of eliminate both trucks in the field and folks visiting various locations.

現在有了星鍊和其他一些機會，你無需投入大量資金，就能獲得同樣的網路連結帶來的好處。無人機技術發展迅速，因此可以基本省去現場作業的卡車和人員前往各個地點的麻煩。

And so I just think -- I think we've got a lot of opportunity there. We have -- it's not like we've been static in this. And Darrin mentioned the fact that we've got essentially all of our -- the computer is trying to automate and improve and optimize our rod pumps currently, and that's certainly the majority of our wells, the overwhelming majority of the wells that are in the field.

所以我覺得——我覺得我們在那裡有很多機會。我們有──並不是說我們在這方面一直停滯不前。達林提到，我們基本上已經實現了所有——電腦正在嘗試自動化、改進和優化我們所有的桿式泵，這當然是我們絕大多數的油井，是現場絕大多數的油井。

But we've got lots of other opportunity here as well. And with the speed of change, I just think it's going to be -- we shouldn't underestimate the impact that, that might have. But Darrin, I'd ask you to have -- give us some incremental thoughts.

但我們這裡還有很多其他機會。鑑於變化的速度，我認為我們不應該低估這可能產生的影響。但達林，我想請你──給我們一些逐步深入的思考。

Yes, for sure, Danny. One additional thing that we're executing in the field this year is we're converting many of our workover rigs to 24-hour operations. And if you take 2 12-hour day or 2 daylight workover rigs and convert it -- convert one of those to a 24-hour a day rig, you basically that one 24-hour rig does the work of about 2.3 daylight rigs. And so we're definitely starting to see that efficiency, and we're early days there. So there'll be more efficiencies in our workover program as we continue to expand our rigs that are working 24 hours a day.

當然，丹尼。今年我們在現場執行的另一項工作是，我們將許多修井機改造成 24 小時作業。如果你把 2 台 12 小時工作日或 2 台白天作業的機械設備改裝成一台 24 小時工作日的機械設備，那麼基本上這台 24 小時工作日的機械設備就能完成大約 2.3 台白天作業機械設備的工作量。因此，我們確實開始看到效率的提升，但這還處於早期階段。隨著我們不斷擴大24小時運轉的鑽機規模，我們的修井作業效率將會更高。

We're also studying our ESP. And when we convert from electric submersible pumps to rod lift, and we're trying to get more run life out of our ESPs such that we can minimize the number of ESPs a person has to run in a well before you convert to rod lift. And if we can save one ESP run on a well, that's roughly $0.5 million of spend in the future on those wells and so just tons of opportunities. Danny touched on some.

我們也在研究超感官知覺。當我們從電動潛水泵換成桿式抽油機時，我們試圖延長 ESP 的運行壽命，以便最大限度地減少一個人在換成桿式抽油機之前需要在井中運行的 ESP 的數量。如果我們能節省一口井的一次電潛泵運行，那麼未來這些井大約可以節省 50 萬美元的支出，所以機會很多。丹尼提到了一些。

I've mentioned a couple of additional ones. And the team is rolling up their sleeve and just doing tremendous work in the field to optimize run times, minimize the time it takes to work over our wells and get them back online. And it's really helping us reduce our capital program to keep our production flat.

我還提到了另外幾個。團隊正在擼起袖子，在現場做了大量工作，以優化運行時間，最大限度地減少油井作業時間，並使其恢復生產。這確實有助於我們減少資本支出，從而維持產量不變。

[Noel Parks]

[諾埃爾帕克斯]

Just been thinking about the 4-mile laterals and you mentioned that with the tracers, you've been able to verify that you're getting contribution from the entire wellbore, which is -- and you mentioned earlier that instead of modeling just 80% of that last mile, you might be able to see more consistent contribution than that. So I was trying to think of all the implications of the -- if these continue to be successful.

我一直在思考 4 英里長的水平井，你提到通過示踪劑，你已經能夠驗證整個井筒都有貢獻，這——你之前也提到過，與其只對最後一英里的 80% 進行建模，你或許能夠看到更一致的貢獻。所以我一直在思考，如果這些措施繼續成功，會帶來哪些影響。

And so I was wondering, are there any implications for density of your drilling in units? I guess I was sort of thing that to your comments about the rock quality of the XTO acquisition and just thinking -- so I was just wondering if along that dimension, there was opportunity as well.

所以我想知道，這對你的鑽井密度（以單位計）有什麼影響嗎？我猜我是在回應你關於 XTO 收購案品質的評論，然後就想——所以我就想知道，從這個角度來看，是否也存在機會。

Yes. Great question, Noel. So when we think about our development plan, it really is, I'd say, tailored to the area of the field and the geology in the area of the field that we're in. And so areas that have more hydrocarbon pore volume within the DSU, we may drill -- put more wells in because we think more wells are necessary in order to get -- to get the -- effectively drain the reservoir.

是的。問得好，諾埃爾。所以，當我們考慮我們的開發計劃時，我認為，它確實是根據我們所在的油田區域和地質情況量身定制的。因此，對於 DSU 中具有更多烴類孔隙體積的區域，我們可能會鑽探——打入更多井，因為我們認為需要更多井才能有效地抽乾油藏。

And that would be the case in like the historic core of the field and near where the Enerplus acreage is and in some ways, near where the XTO acreage is that we just picked up relative to maybe some of the areas that are further out west or north.

這種情況在油田的歷史核心區域以及 Enerplus 油田所在的區域附近，在某種程度上也包括我們剛收購的 XTO 油田所在的區域，而與更西邊或更北邊的一些區域相比，情況可能有所不同。

So it is a little bit tailored to the geology in the area. And so I don't think the longer lateral program necessarily has an impact on density because we'll just drill -- we'll drill longer laterals, but they'll still be at the same inter-well spacing, but the interwell spacing is tailored to the area of the field we're in.

所以它在某種程度上是根據該地區的地質情況量身定制的。因此，我不認為更長的水平井作業一定會對密度產生影響，因為我們只是鑽探——我們會鑽探更長的水平井，但它們的井間距仍然相同，而井間距是根據我們所在的油田區域量身定制的。

Now having said that, we are doing some testing where in some areas, we've put more proppant in, and we're doing larger jobs to say, okay, if we do -- if we pump a larger job, we've had a debate, are we optimized in our well spacing. And so in some areas, we thought maybe four wells is the right per section -- wells per section or wells per DSU, and maybe we can go to five wells per DSU.

話雖如此，我們還是進行了一些測試，在某些區域，我們注入了更多的支撐劑，並進行了更大規模的作業，以檢驗，如果我們進行更大規模的作業，我們是否優化了井距。因此，在某些地區，我們認為每個區塊四口井可能比較合適——每個區塊四口井或每個 DSU 四口井，也許我們可以增加到每個 DSU 五口井。

But you have to weigh that if you could do larger completion jobs on the four wells within that DSU, you may just as effectively drain the reservoir in that DSU and not have to put an additional well in. It may turn out that you need the additional well in because you're not able to effectively drain it.

但你必須權衡一下，如果你能對該 DSU 內的四口井進行更大的完井作業，你或許就能同樣有效地排幹該 DSU 內的油藏，而無需再打一口新井。可能最終你會發現，你需要額外打一口井，因為你無法有效地排乾井裡的水。

So there is some trade-off between the number of wells that you drill and the size and manner in which you complete the well. And so you just have to realize those -- there is a relationship between those two things. But specifically with the long laterals, I don't think that's really going to have an impact on our inter-well spacing, but the way we complete the wells might.

因此，鑽井數量與完井規模和方式之間存在著一定的權衡。所以你只需要意識到這兩件事之間存在著某種關聯。但具體到長水平井，我認為這不會對我們的井間距產生實際影響，但我們完井的方式可能會產生影響。

Got you. And just thinking about the history of development in the play and over the years, different operators in different regions kind of have a different sense of how to realize incremental value where opportunity is. And with all the additional technical tools you're talking about now, it's getting me thinking about future consolidation as was mentioned before, what's still a pretty fragmented basin.

抓到你了。回顧該領域多年來的發展歷程，不同地區的營運商對於如何在機會出現的地方實現增量價值有著不同的理解。而你現在提到的所有這些額外的技術工具，讓我開始思考未來的整合問題，正如之前提到的那樣，目前這個盆地仍然相當分散。

And are we sort of evolving to the point where operators are going to have like maybe more -- a more and more divergent view of how to optimize particular parts of their holdings. And I just wonder if there are implications for that in consolidation down the road. A couple of different people look at different land with different developments still left to do and come to just totally different conclusions about what is and isn't worth a premium.

我們是否正在朝著這樣一個方向發展：運營商對於如何優化其持有的特定部分，可能會有越來越不同的看法。我只是想知道這是否會對未來的整合產生影響。幾個不同的人查看不同的土地，這些土地還有不同的開發項目尚未完成，結果對什麼值得溢價、什麼不值得溢價得出了完全不同的結論。

So I don't know if you have any thoughts on that?

所以，我不知道你對此有什麼想法？

Well, I can't appreciate the question. The -- I think for our organization, we like to be a data-driven organization and make decisions based on the data. And what's nice is we've got a large -- we've got a really large data set just with our own information, but also through our non-op information. We get a lot of real data in the basin. So -- and look -- and we review that data and we run analysis on it, and we do a lot of rigorous analysis on it, and we sort of come to the conclusions that we come to.

我不太理解這個問題。我認為，對於我們組織而言，我們喜歡成為一個數據驅動型組織，並根據數據做出決策。令人欣慰的是，我們擁有一個龐大的數據集——我們不僅擁有自己的訊息，還擁有非手術資訊。我們在流域內獲得了大量真實數據。所以——你看——我們審查這些數據，並對其進行分析，我們對其進行了大量的嚴格分析，然後我們得出了我們得出的結論。

It's perfectly conceivable that a different group of people looking at the same data, also running rigorous analysis may come to a different conclusion, and that's okay. And over time, we'll -- but that will provide more as we both pursue different paths, that data will also go into the record, and we'll be able to mine that data too, and it will help us determine if one of us needs to course correct.

完全有可能另一組人查看相同的數據，並進行嚴格的分析，從而得出不同的結論，這也沒關係。隨著時間的推移，我們會——但隨著我們各自走上不同的道路，這些數據也會被記錄下來，我們也可以挖掘這些數據，這將幫助我們確定我們中的一方是否需要糾正方向。

So we feel -- I'll say where we're at right now, we feel really good about what we're doing and how we're developing the field. We're seeing it roll through and improve capital efficiency and better productivity from the wells. And so we're really pleased with what we're seeing in the basin.

所以，就我們目前的情況而言，我們對我們正在做的事情以及我們發展這個領域的方式感到非常滿意。我們看到它正在逐步發揮作用，提高資本效率，並提高油井的生產力。因此，我們對目前在盆地中看到的情況感到非常滿意。

There are no further questions on the phone line. I will turn the call back to Mr. Brown for some closing remarks.

電話線上沒有其他問題了。我將把電話轉回給布朗先生，請他作總結發言。

Thanks, Anes. Well in closing, at Chord, we believe oil and natural gas will remain essential to meeting the world's energy needs. We are proud to deliver that energy safely, reliably, and responsibly. Chord's track record of execution and delivery are differentiated. And I thank our employees and contractors for their dedication and look forward to ongoing progress and innovation.

謝謝你，阿內斯。最後，我們Chord公司認為，石油和天然氣對於滿足世界能源需求仍然至關重要。我們很自豪能夠安全、可靠、負責地輸送能源。Chord 的執行和交付記錄與眾不同。我感謝我們的員工和承包商的奉獻精神，並期待持續的進步和創新。

The company is well positioned for success and to deliver significant value for our shareholders through commodity cycles. And with that, I appreciate everyone's interest, and thanks for joining our call.

公司已做好充分準備，將在商品週期中取得成功，並為股東創造巨大價值。最後，感謝大家的關注，也感謝各位參加我們的電話會議。

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your conference call for today. We thank you for participating and ask that you please disconnect your lines. Have a great day.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與，請您斷開線路。祝你有美好的一天。