Callon Petroleum Co (CPE) 2023 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Callon Petroleum Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Just a reminder, today's conference call is being recorded. (Operator Instructions) I will now turn the call over to Callon's, Head of Investor Relations, Kevin Smith. Please go ahead, sir.

女士們、先生們，歡迎參加 Callon Petroleum 2023 年第二季財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）提醒一下，今天的電話會議正在錄音。 （操作員指示）我現在將把電話轉給 Callon's 投資者關係主管 Kevin Smith。請繼續，先生。

good morning, everyone, and thanks for dialing in today. I am joined by our CEO, Joe Gatto; our COO, Russell Parker; and our CFO, Kevin Haggard. During our prepared remarks, we will reference our second quarter earnings release and our supplemental slides, both of which are available on our website at www.callon.com.

大家早安，感謝您今天撥電話。我們的執行長喬·加托 (Joe Gatto) 也加入了我的行列。我們的營運長 Russell Parker；和我們的財務長凱文·哈格德。在我們準備好的發言中，我們將參考我們的第二季財報發布和補充投影片，兩者均可在我們的網站 www.callon.com 上取得。

Today's call will include forward-looking statements that refer to estimates and plans. Actual results could differ materially due to risk factors noted in our presentation and SEC filings. We will also refer to some non-GAAP financial measures, which we believe help facilitate comparisons across periods and with our peers. For any non-GAAP measures referenced, we provide a reconciliation to the nearest corresponding GAAP measure in the appendix to our slide deck and in our earnings press release, both of which are available on our website. Following our brief prepared remarks, we will open the call for Q&A. I will now turn the call over to Joe Gatto. Joe?

今天的電話會議將包括涉及估計和計劃的前瞻性陳述。由於我們的簡報和 SEC 文件中指出的風險因素，實際結果可能會存在重大差異。我們也將參考一些非公認會計準則財務指標，我們認為這些指標有助於促進跨時期以及與同業的比較。對於引用的任何非 GAAP 衡量標準，我們會在幻燈片附錄和收益新聞稿中提供與最接近的相應 GAAP 衡量標準的對賬，兩者均可在我們的網站上取得。在我們準備好的簡短發言之後，我們將開始問答環節。我現在將把電話轉給喬·加托。喬？

Thank you, Kevin. Good morning, everyone. Before we get started, I'd like to formally introduce Russell Parker, our new Chief Operating Officer. Russell brings more than 20 years of operations and strategic leadership experience to Callon and a passion for the oil and gas industry. He most recently served as the President and CEO of EP Energy. We're off to a great start since he joined in June. I know that you'll enjoy working with him.

謝謝你，凱文。大家，早安。在我們開始之前，我想正式介紹我們新任營運長 Russell Parker。 Russell 為 Callon 帶來了 20 多年的營運和策略領導經驗以及對石油和天然氣行業的熱情。他最近擔任 EP Energy 的總裁兼執行長。自從他六月加入以來，我們有了一個好的開始。我知道你會喜歡和他一起工作。

Now turning to the quarter. We posted strong operational results as production came in above the midpoint of our guidance, increasing sequentially by 7% while capital spending came in at the low end of guidance. We are also progressing initiatives to reduce our cost structure with LOE and GP&T per BOE, both coming in below guidance. Later in our prepared remarks, Russell will discuss some of his key operational priorities, which include steps we plan to take to further reduce costs and increase margins and free cash flow.

現在轉向季度。我們公佈了強勁的營運業績，產量高於我們指導值的中點，環比增長 7%，而資本支出則處於指導值的低端。我們也正在採取措施降低我們的成本結構，其中每個 BOE 的 LOE 和 GP&T 都低於指導值。稍後在我們準備好的演講中，拉塞爾將討論他的一些關鍵營運優先事項，其中包括我們計劃採取的進一步降低成本、增加利潤和自由現金流的步驟。

In July, we closed on a compelling bolt-on acquisition in the Delaware Basin and a simultaneous divestiture of our Eagle Ford asset position. We are now focused solely on our Permian footprint of almost 150,000 net acres with core areas of established expertise in both the Delaware and Midland Basins. These transactions also enabled us to improve our balance sheet, putting us in a position to launch the shareholder return program.

7 月，我們完成了在特拉華盆地的一項引人注目的補強收購，同時剝離了我們的 Eagle Ford 資產頭寸。我們現在只專注於二疊紀近 15 萬英畝的足跡，其核心領域在德拉瓦州和米德蘭盆地均擁有成熟的專業知識。這些交易還使我們能夠改善我們的資產負債表，使我們能夠啟動股東回報計劃。

To summarize a few key highlights on this call, we are executing extremely well. Our second quarter financial and operating results were in line or better across all key metrics. We are drilling faster, pumping more completion stages per day and realizing the benefits of large-scale co-development projects and improved cycle times. We now have a Permian-focused organization and asset base. We've added core, long lateral inventory that is contiguous to our operations, which also increased our scale in the Permian Basin. The combination of having the right assets plus the right operations team and knowledge base positions us to improve our cost structure and ultimately our conversion of field level cash flows into free cash flow.

總結一下本次電話會議的幾個關鍵亮點，我們的執行得非常好。我們第二季的財務和營運表現在所有關鍵指標上均符合或更好。我們的鑽探速度更快，每天泵送的完井階段更多，並實現了大規模聯合開發項目和縮短週期時間的好處。我們現在擁有一個專注於二疊紀的組織和資產基礎。我們增加了與我們的業務相鄰的核心、長橫向庫存，這也擴大了我們在二疊紀盆地的規模。擁有合適的資產加上合適的營運團隊和知識庫，使我們能夠改善成本結構，並最終將現場現金流轉化為自由現金流。

Lastly, we've initiated a shareholder return program. I'm proud of delivering on our commitment to shareholders by launching a 2-year $300 million stock buyback program. Needless to say, we are eager to start this program this quarter. Given our current valuation in the market, buying back our shares is one of the most economically attractive uses of our cash flow.

最後，我們啟動了股東回報計畫。我很自豪能夠透過推出為期 2 年、價值 3 億美元的股票回購計畫來履行我們對股東的承諾。不用說，我們渴望在本季度啟動該計劃。鑑於我們目前的市場估值，回購我們的股票是我們現金流最具經濟吸引力的用途之一。

So moving to operating highlights. We placed 32 wells online during the second quarter, including 3 wells in the Eagle Ford. As part of our Delaware program, we had another successful well targeting the 3rd Bone Spring formation, expanding the areal extent of our development of the zone as shown on Slide 6. The well is outperforming expectations and is our best 3rd Bone Spring shale well to date. Our 3rd Bone Spring wells are delivering similar oil EURs per foot as our Wolfcamp A results, so we are not only adding incremental core inventory as we expand the play, but also improving the economics of the inventory that we are currently carrying in the zone.

那麼轉向營運亮點。第二季我們上線了 32 口井，其中 3 口位於 Eagle Ford。作為特拉華州計劃的一部分，我們又成功瞄準了第3 Bone Spring 地層，擴大了我們該區域開發的面積範圍，如幻燈片6 所示。該井的表現超出了預期，是我們最好的第3 Bone Spring 頁岩井。日期。我們的第3 口Bone Spring 井的每英尺石油產量與Wolfcamp A 的結果相似，因此我們不僅在擴大開採範圍時增加了增量核心庫存，而且還提高了我們目前在該區域持有的庫存的經濟性。

In sum, the 3rd Bone Spring continues to elevate its contribution to our development plans across an expanding portion of our Delaware footprint. Operationally, we've delivered improvements in both drilling and completions. In the Delaware, we have lowered our time from spud to rig release by 14% due to improved bit design, consistency of operations.

總之，第三個 Bone Spring 繼續在特拉華州不斷擴大的足跡中提高其對我們發展計劃的貢獻。在營運方面，我們在鑽井和完井方面都取得了改進。在特拉華州，由於改進了鑽頭設計和操作一致性，我們從開工到鑽孔機釋放的時間縮短了 14%。

On the completion side, we posted substantial gains in stages completed per day across the Permian. One of the drivers of the gains is reduced downtime from optimized scheduling. This will only improve moving forward with a singular focus on Permian operations. These D&C improvements combined with simultaneous operations on our large projects are also benefiting cycle times.

在完工方面，我們公佈了二疊紀地區每天完工階段的大幅成長。收益的驅動因素之一是透過優化調度來減少停機時間。這只會改善對二疊紀作業的單一關注。這些 D&C 改進與我們大型專案的同步營運相結合，也有利於週期時間。

I will now turn the call over to Russell for some of his early thoughts on opportunities he sees at Callon.

我現在將把電話轉給拉塞爾，詢問他對卡倫機會的一些早期想法。

Thank you, Joe. I'm very happy to have joined the team at Callon. I have deep Permian Basin roots, and I feel right at home walking around the oil fields of West Texas. For those of you familiar with me, you know that the majority of my career has been with private operators where optimizing free cash flow per barrel is not only the key to the culture but necessary for survival.

謝謝你，喬。我很高興加入卡隆的團隊。我在二疊紀盆地有著深厚的根基，在德州西部的油田周圍散步讓我感覺賓至如歸。對於那些熟悉我的人來說，你們知道我職業生涯的大部分時間都是在私人運營商中度過的，在這些運營商中，優化每桶自由現金流不僅是文化的關鍵，也是生存的必要條件。

As such, my constant focus is efficiency, lifting and development cost per barrel, free cash flow per barrel and innovation to increase inventory. This is an exciting time in the company's history. The work that Joe and the rest of the team have done to build this asset base and strong inventory position while also deleveraging the company puts us in a unique competitive advantage compared to our peers. I joined Callon to further build on our advantages. My near-term priorities are focused on improving the capital efficiency of the BOEs we produce and increasing our margins through cost reductions and further innovation.

因此，我始終關注的是效率、每桶的提升和開發成本、每桶的自由現金流以及增加庫存的創新。這是公司歷史上令人興奮的時刻。喬和團隊其他成員為建立資產基礎和強大的庫存狀況所做的工作，同時也為公司去槓桿化，使我們與同行相比具有獨特的競爭優勢。我加入 Callon 是為了進一步發揮我們的優勢。我的近期工作重點是提高我們生產的京東方的資本效率，並透過降低成本和進一步創新來提高利潤。

In addition, we will leverage previous infrastructure investments and the natural evolution of our life-of-field co-development model to further improve capital efficiency. We look to minimize well downtime as we continue to optimize artificial lift systems and improve overall well performance while also reducing all-in cost per barrel. Perhaps what I'm most excited about is our ability to now focus on a singular area, the Permian Basin.

此外，我們將利用先前的基礎設施投資和現場共同開發模式的自然演變，進一步提高資本效率。我們不斷優化人工舉升系統並提高整體油井性能，同時降低每桶總成本，從而最大限度地減少油井停機時間。也許最令我興奮的是我們現在能夠專注於一個單一區域，即二疊紀盆地。

Streamlining our operations, unleashing the full potential of our team, combined with an increased adoption of technology will help provide improved real-time responses and drive increased ownership of results. These steps will provide us the tools needed to drive down costs and increase margins and ultimately help deliver increased free cash flow. While I'm not ready to discuss the exact numbers on cost savings at this point, I know it will be meaningful.

簡化我們的運營，釋放我們團隊的全部潛力，再加上更多地採用技術，將有助於提供改進的即時回應並提高結果的所有權。這些步驟將為我們提供降低成本和增加利潤所需的工具，並最終幫助我們增加自由現金流。雖然我現在還沒有準備好討論成本節省的確切數字，但我知道這將是有意義的。

As Joe mentioned, we are also -- we are focused on adding to our peer-leading inventory position by innovation through the drill bit. We are blessed in the Permian Basin with many hydrocarbon-bearing formations, and we have a tremendous opportunity to increase our financial performance, well performance, improve our recoveries and organically increase our inventory position. I'm excited to be here, and I look forward to meeting with you and updating you in the future quarters about the progress I know we will make on these priorities.

正如喬所提到的，我們也致力於透過鑽頭創新來增強我們同行領先的庫存地位。我們在二疊紀盆地擁有許多含碳氫化合物地層，我們有巨大的機會來提高我們的財務績效、油井績效、提高我們的採收率並有機地增加我們的庫存狀況。我很高興來到這裡，我期待與您會面，並在未來幾季向您通報我所知道的我們將在這些優先事項上取得的最新進展。

With that, I'll now turn it back over to Joe. Joe?

有了這個，我現在將把它轉回給喬。喬？

Thanks, Russell. I'll pick up with a discussion of the second half of the year after integrating the recent acquisition and transitioning to a new optimized development program. We are currently operating 6 rigs, plan to release a rig this month, maintaining a 5-rig program for the remainder of the year. In total, we expect to bring approximately 50 wells online in the second half of the year after setting the stage with our first half capital spend.

謝謝，拉塞爾。在整合最近的收購併過渡到新的優化開發計劃後，我將繼續討論下半年的情況。我們目前營運 6 台鑽機，計劃本月發布 1 台鑽機，並在今年剩餘時間內維持 5 台鑽機計畫。整體而言，在上半年資本支出奠定基礎後，我們預計下半年將有約 50 口井上線。

One of our more notable projects, the 15-well project in our Delaware West area that is targeting full development of the Wolfcamp Zone is just coming online as we enter August, yet another example of the scaled application of our co-development model. In addition, through our Delaware Basin acquisition, we acquired 5 wells that were drilled by the previous operator and we'll codevelop 3 zones, including the 3rd Bone Spring.

我們最引人注目的項目之一是特拉華州西部地區的15 口井項目，其目標是全面開發Wolfcamp 區，進入8 月份後剛剛上線，這是我們合作開發模式規模化應用的又一個例子。此外，透過收購特拉華盆地，我們獲得了前營運商鑽探的 5 口井，我們將共同開發 3 個區域，包括第 3 個 Bone Spring。

I also wanted to bring you up to date on our production cadence into the second half following the optimization of our D&C program in the Permian with an expanded asset base and singular focus. As a starting point, the Eagle Ford produced just over 3,000 BOE per day more than the acquired assets in the second quarter with a similar oil cut of 70% as 3 new Eagle Ford wells are brought online in April. As shown on Slide 8, we are now scheduled to bring the 5 acquired DUCs online in October, which is later than the next round of Eagle Ford wells that were part of the previous 2023 plans.

我還想向您介紹我們在二疊紀盆地的 D&C 計劃優化後進入下半年的最新生產節奏，擴大了資產基礎並專注於單一重點。首先，Eagle Ford 第二季的日產量比收購的資產多了 3,000 多桶油當量，隨著 3 口新 Eagle Ford 油井於 4 月上線，石油產量也減少了 70%。如投影片 8 所示，我們現在計劃在 10 月將所收購的 5 個 DUC 上線，這比之前 2023 年計畫中的下一輪 Eagle Ford 井要晚。

As a result, our new production profile will now be a bit more weighted to the fourth quarter. In addition, given the net lateral length advantage from acquiring long lateral inventory relative to our Eagle Ford wells, we will be completing a similar amount of net lateral feet in the second half despite a lower well count. Also, as part of our production guidance for the third quarter, we have included the impact of an extended force majeure event at a large gas processing facility in the Midland Basin that lasted for 2 weeks, reducing both oil and gas volumes.

因此，我們的新生產概況現在將更加偏重第四季。此外，考慮到獲得長側向庫存相對於我們的 Eagle Ford 井的淨側向長度優勢，我們將在下半年完成類似數量的淨側向英尺，儘管井數較少。此外，作為我們第三季生產指引的一部分，我們還考慮了米德蘭盆地一家大型天然氣處理設施持續兩週的不可抗力事件的影響，導致石油和天然氣產量減少。

To a lesser extent, our range incorporates weather-related disruptions related to a third-party power and midstream services that started in June and lingered into July. In total, the impact on third quarter guidance which is incremental to our standard downtime assumptions is approximately 1,500 BOE per day on a quarterly basis. As we look past these transitory issues in the fourth quarter, we see a strong production trajectory with estimates for 104 to 108 BOE per day and 63 to 65 (inaudible) per day.

在較小程度上，我們的範圍包括與第三方電力和中游服務相關的天氣相關中斷，該中斷從 6 月開始一直持續到 7 月。總的來說，對第三季指引的影響（以我們的標準停機時間假設增量）約為每天 1,500 BOE（按季度計算）。當我們回顧第四季度的這些暫時性問題時，我們看到了強勁的生產軌跡，預計每天生產 104 至 108 桶油當量，每天生產 63 至 65 桶油當量（聽不清楚）。

In terms of our capital spending, in the oil field service market, we are seeing prices soften on items like sand, steel casing, chemicals and other service equipment. Specifically, spot market items like steel casing and sand are being priced down between 15% and 20%. We are also starting to realize price relief in items like chemicals. As another data point, we recently recontracted 2 drilling rigs at rates that were below our previous rates. Overall, we expect to realize an incremental $15 million in savings in the second half, both from service costs and the early impacts of structural design modifications.

就我們的資本支出而言，在油田服務市場，我們看到沙子、鋼套管、化學品和其他服務設備等產品的價格走軟。具體來說，鋼套管和沙子等現貨市場商品的價格下降了 15% 至 20%。我們也開始實現化學品等物品的價格減免。作為另一個數據點，我們最近以低於先前的價格重新承包了 2 座鑽孔機。總體而言，我們預計下半年將節省 1500 萬美元，無論是服務成本還是結構設計修改的早期影響。

These savings have now been earmarked for the funding of a similar dollar amount of nonoperated D&C activity later this year that has recently been accelerated by the operator. This nonoperated activity is associated with the newly acquired assets and is anticipated to benefit early 2024 production. So while we have not formally reduced our capital expenditure estimate for the year due to this increase in activity relative to our previous plans, we expect additional service savings to be captured in the coming quarters and complement the design-related savings that Russell and the team are working on.

這些節省的資金現已指定用於為今年稍後類似金額的非營運 D&C 活動提供資金，營運商最近加速了這項活動。這項非營運活動與新收購的資產相關，預計將有利於 2024 年初的生產。因此，雖然由於活動相對於先前的計劃有所增加，我們尚未正式降低今年的資本支出估算，但我們預計未來幾個季度將實現額外的服務節省，並補充 Russell 和團隊與設計相關的節省正在努力。

In closing, we've made a tremendous amount of progress over the last 6 months, both operationally and financially. Operationally, we are delivering improvements in D&C times, and our life-of-field co-development model continues to drive production results that are meeting or exceeding expectations. We achieved our initial debt milestone ahead of schedule and are looking forward to starting our share buyback program. I'm excited about unlocking the full potential of our focused Permian Basin asset base and look forward to further updates regarding the progress we are making on capital efficiency gains, and further cost improvements under Russell's leadership.

最後，我們在過去 6 個月在營運和財務方面都取得了巨大進展。在營運方面，我們正在 D&C 時代進行改進，我們的現場共同開發模式繼續推動生產結果達到或超越預期。我們提前實現了最初的債務里程碑，並期待著啟動我們的股票回購計劃。我很高興能夠釋放我們重點關注的二疊紀盆地資產基礎的全部潛力，並期待進一步更新我們在資本效率提升方面取得的進展，以及在拉塞爾的領導下進一步改善成本。

This concludes our prepared remarks and happy to take questions. Operator, I'll turn it back to you.

我們準備好的演講到此結束，並很樂意回答問題。接線員，我會把它還給你。

(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from Derrick Whitfield with Stifel. He is no longer there. The next question comes from Zack Parham with JPMorgan.

（操作員說明）您的第一個問題來自 Stifel 的 Derrick Whitfield。他已經不在了。下一個問題來自摩根大通的紮克·帕勒姆。

I guess first, just on cash return. Your free cash flow is going to accelerate in the second half of the year as CapEx moves lower, and you're going to be starting your new buyback program. I know you said in the past you wouldn't really be formulaic with that program. But any color on how we should be thinking about the split between buybacks and debt reduction in the second half?

我想首先，只是現金回報。隨著資本支出下降，您的自由現金流將在下半年加速，並且您將開始新的回購計畫。我知道你過去說過你不會對這個計畫抱持公式化的態度。但我們該如何思考下半年回購和債務削減之間的分歧？

Yes. Zach, this is Kevin Haggard. I'll take this. I know many of you on the call would like to know the formula here, I might as well get all the additional information into a single answer here. So first, a couple of guide rails that we've talked about in other forums. We don't intend to use more than 50% of free cash flow in any 1 quarter to repurchase shares. And second, we're going to use those repurchase programs to help support the Callon share price and hopefully take some volatility out of the stock. So our guidance regarding your models is, we're going to let you know our targeted repurchase percentage during the earnings call for the quarter.

是的。札克，​​這是凱文·哈格德。我要這個。我知道通話中的許多人都想知道這裡的公式，我不妨將所有附加資訊匯總到這裡的一個答案中。首先，我們在其他論壇中討論過一些導軌。我們不打算在任何一個季度使用超過 50% 的自由現金流來回購股票。其次，我們將利用這些回購計畫來幫助支撐 Callon 股價，並希望消除該股票的一些波動。因此，我們對您的模型的指導是，我們將在本季度的財報電話會議期間讓您知道我們的目標回購百分比。

For instance, this quarter, the third quarter, we intend to use around 50% of our free cash flow to repurchase shares that ultimate percentage will probably flex a little bit, plus or minus a few percentage points because some items are booked after the quarter closes. Regarding a price limit or target, the share repurchase decision starts with a view of our NAV under planning price assumptions and costs. And for Callon, we see a significant disconnect at our current market valuation.

例如，本季度，即第三季度，我們打算使用大約 50% 的自由現金流來回購股票，最終比例可能會稍微調整，加減幾個百分點，因為有些項目是在季度後預訂的關閉。關於價格限製或目標，股票回購決策首先考慮的是我們在計畫價格假設和成本下的資產淨值。對 Callon 來說，我們認為當前的市場估值有顯著脫節。

Now to your other point about how we intend to split that between debt and equity, we do want to remind you that we intend to do the $300 million repurchase program hand-in-hand with the additional $400 million of debt pay down. So we want to accomplish both of them over that same 8-quarter period of time. So hopefully, that answers more than you wanted, but it gives all the answers surrounding the repurchase program in one answer.

現在，關於我們打算如何在債務和股權之間分配債務和股權的另一點，我們確實想提醒您，我們打算與額外的 4 億美元債務償還同時進行 3 億美元的回購計劃。因此，我們希望在同一個 8 個季度的時間內完成這兩個目標。希望這個答案比您想要的更多，但它在一個答案中給出了圍繞回購計劃的所有答案。

Thanks, Kevin. Russell, maybe one for you. First off, congrats on the new role. I know you've only been there a little over a month at this point, but can you give us some thoughts on what some of the opportunities are you've seen already to reduce costs and kind of how you can accomplish those?

謝謝，凱文。拉塞爾，也許適合你。首先，恭喜您擔任新角色。我知道您此時才到那裡一個多月，但您能否給我們一些想法，談談您已經看到的一些降低成本的機會以及如何實現這些目標？

Absolutely. And yes, no specifics yet. I do think the cost reductions will be meaningful over time. But the good news is, we've invested a lot over the last several years in infrastructure that we can now start leveraging which will reduce our total DCF, especially on the upside. The other opportunities lie around improving the base production not only the cost of that base production through design changes but the amount of downtime through design changes.

絕對地。是的，目前還沒有具體細節。我確實認為隨著時間的推移，成本的降低將是有意義的。但好消息是，過去幾年我們在基礎設施方面投入了大量資金，現在我們可以開始利用這些基礎設施，這將減少我們的總 DCF，尤其是在上行方面。其他機會在於改善基礎生產，不僅透過設計變更來改善基礎生產的成本，而且透過設計變更來改善停機時間。

So we're going to be taking a clean, fresh approach to all things artificial lift, all things, field infrastructure and also just innovation, where are we landing our wells, how are we completing our wells, how are we spacing our wells. Just a new fresh approach to that, that will help -- that's going to help improve both our F&D and our lifting costs and our base production over time. Too early to give you exact numbers on all of that, but I'm telling you, I'm very confident in that opportunity set.

因此，我們將對所有人工舉升、所有事情、現場基礎設施​​以及創新採取乾淨、新鮮的方法，我們在哪裡著陸我們的油井，我們如何完成我們的油井，我們如何間隔我們的油井。只是一種新的方法，這將有所幫助——隨著時間的推移，這將有助於改善我們的研發和提升成本以及我們的基礎生產。現在給你所有這些的確切數字還為時過早，但我告訴你，我對這個機會非常有信心。

Your next call comes from Derrick Whitfield with Stifel.

您的下一個電話來自 Stifel 的 Derrick Whitfield。

Sorry about earlier. Perhaps high level for the first question. In light of your portfolio transformation and the improving capital efficiency as shown on Slide 5, could you speak to a range of maintenance capital cost scenarios for 2024, assuming current cost and perhaps also the benefit of deflation.

之前的事情很抱歉。也許第一個問題的水平很高。鑑於投影片 5 所示的投資組合轉型和資本效率的提高，您能否談談 2024 年的一系列維護資本成本情景，假設當前成本，或許還有通貨緊縮的好處。

Yes. Derrick, this is Joe. I think it's a bit premature. I mean going back to Russell's last answer, hopefully, you were back online for that. But we got a lot of things moving real time on the cost side of the equation, not just the service cost but real structural design costs as we said are going to be impactful.

是的。德瑞克，這是喬。我認為現在有點為時過早。我的意思是回到拉塞爾的最後一個答案，希望你能回到網路上。但在成本方面，我們有很多事情正在即時變化，不僅僅是服務成本，我們所說的真正的結構設計成本都會產生影響。

I could say that we expect that capital efficiency will improve, whether it be on a CapEx-to-BOE basis or free cash flow conversion of EBITDA. But right now, it's a little bit premature on '24. We'll let Russell get into seat for another month before we start pinning him down on things like that.

我可以說，我們預計資本效率將會提高，無論是在資本支出與京東方的基礎上還是在 EBITDA 的自由現金流轉換上。但現在說 24 還太早。在我們開始讓拉塞爾做這樣的事情之前，我們會讓他再坐一個月。

All right. Russell, you're up in Q3. As my follow-up, referencing Slide 6, could you comment on the change in your completion approach with the 3rd Bone Shale Spring shale that's leading to productivity similar to that of the Wolfcamp A?

好的。拉塞爾，你在第三季領先。作為我的後續行動，請參考投影片 6，您能否評論一下您對第三個 Bone Shale Spring 頁岩的完井方法的改變，這種改變導致了與 Wolfcamp A 類似的生產力？

So we've tried a few different techniques. This one was more intense in terms of both sand loading and fluid loading, and we are seeing reduced or less drawdowns to produce the same amount of BOEs that you've seen on some of the other wells. I'd say we still have more work to do here, both in just figuring out what the ultimate inventory looks like and what the ultimate economics will be.

所以我們嘗試了幾種不同的技術。這一口井在砂荷載和流體荷載方面都更加強烈，我們看到壓力降減少或更少，以生產與您在其他一些井中看到的相同數量的 BOE。我想說，我們還有更多的工作要做，既要弄清楚最終的庫存是什麼樣子，又要弄清楚最終的經濟效益是什麼。

But I'm encouraged to see that improvement already. And I would say, look for not only in just this interval but as the company progresses, you're going to see more and more tweaks and optimization and design experimentation to help us improve our cash flow per barrel.

但我很高興看到這種進步。我想說，不僅在這個時期，而且隨著公司的發展，你會看到越來越多的調整、優化和設計實驗，以幫助我們提高每桶現金流。

And one clarification, Russell, if I could. So with respect to co-development, do you view the 3rd Bone Spring Shale as part of the same pressure tank as the Wolfcamp A?

如果可以的話，拉塞爾，請澄清一下。那麼，關於共同開發，您是否認為第三個 Bone Spring 頁岩與 Wolfcamp A 屬於同一個壓力罐的一部分？

I don't think you can make that blanket answer across the area. And it also depends on whether or not you're talking about the Third Bone Shale or 3rd Bone sand, which are both considered 3rd Bone by certain operators but different folks take this off to different places. So there's not one blanket answer to that, but we like what we're seeing in the 3rd Bone Shale well early time. I'll tell you that.

我認為你無法在整個地區做出籠統的回答。這也取決於您是否在談論第三骨頁岩或第三骨沙，某些操作員都將其視為第三骨，但不同的人將其帶到不同的地方。因此，對此沒有一個統一的答案，但我們很喜歡很早就在第三塊骨頁岩中看到的情況。我會告訴你的。

Your next question comes from the line of Neal Dingmann with Truist Securities.

您的下一個問題來自 Truist Securities 的 Neal Dingmann。

Maybe I'd just ask a little bit on that 3rd Bone Shale a different way. I'm just wondering, now after the sense there, just kind of when I look at your maps, how large an area now do you have confidence that that's going to be prospected in that area. It seems to be a very nice add. And I'm just wondering how large an area can we start to run with on that.

也許我會以不同的方式詢問一些關於第三塊骨頭頁岩的問題。我只是想知道，現在在感覺之後，當我查看你的地圖時，你現在對在該地區進行勘探的區域有信心嗎？這似乎是一個非常好的補充。我只是想知道我們可以在多大的區域上開始運行。

Yes, Neal, this is Joe. I just see on the map here on Page 6. It covers a broad swath of wells that we have down now or in process and feel good about the work that's been done there, not only by us and by others. I think that's where we're focused right now. And I say that we can't expand this down further south. But this is going to give you a good representation of things that are either in our current inventory or areas where we think our near-term adds.

是的，尼爾，這是喬。我剛剛在第 6 頁的地圖上看到。它涵蓋了我們現在或正在開發的一大片油井，並對我們和其他人在那裡所做的工作感到滿意。我認為這就是我們現在關注的焦點。我說我們不能將其進一步向南擴展。但這將使您能夠很好地了解我們當前庫存中或我們認為近期會增加的領域中的事物。

But we'll continue to work on not only the 3rd Bone here, but there's other zones we haven't talked about here today that certainly are in process like the Wolfcamp C. Something that we're doing some additional work on and co-developments as we speak, and we'll be able to talk about that. But give us a little bit more time to get into year-end and provide some more inventory updates on 3rd Bone and can talk a little bit about where we plan to go next. But I think to answer your question, we think it's a substantial part of this Delaware position that we have.

但我們不僅會繼續在這裡研究第三塊骨頭，還有我們今天沒有在這裡討論的其他區域，這些區域肯定正在開發中，例如 Wolfcamp C。我們正在做一些額外的工作並與其他區域合作。我們將能夠討論這一點。但請給我們更多一點時間進入年底，並提供更多關於 3rd Bone 的庫存更新，並可以談談我們下一步計劃去哪裡。但我想回答你的問題，我們認為這是我們特拉華州立場的重要組成部分。

Well, that's great to hear. And then guys, just secondly on the infrastructure downtime you talked about at the Midland natural gas processing facility and certain weather-related midstream disruption. I'm just wondering, one, it sounds like all of that now has passed, I believe. And then secondly, on a go forward, just anything else you can do more to mitigate that? Or is that just sort of (inaudible) part of the business out there.

嗯，很高興聽到這個消息。然後，夥計們，第二個問題是你們談到的米德蘭天然氣處理設施的基礎設施停機以及某些與天氣相關的中游中斷。我只是想知道，一，我相信，聽起來現在這一切都已經過去了。其次，在前進的過程中，您還可以採取更多措施來緩解這種情況嗎？或者這只是（聽不清楚）業務的一部分。

Yes. So Neal, it's a good question. We have -- it is over, the situation has passed. And long term, yes, we're looking at a variety of options, different -- one, different offtakes so that we have multiple parties to work with to take the gas and also just different utilization of the gas on location. And so between all of that in time that will just help us have a more robust base production and reduced downtime.

是的。尼爾，這是個好問題。我們──一切都結束了，情況已經過去了。從長遠來看，是的，我們正在考慮各種不同的選擇，一是不同的排放，這樣我們就可以與多方合作來獲取天然氣，並且在現場對天然氣進行不同的利用。因此，所有這些及時地幫助我們擁有更強大的基礎生產並減少停機時間。

(Operator Instructions) At this time, there are no more questions. I'll turn the call back over to Joe Gatto.

（操作員說明） 此時，沒有更多問題了。我會把電話轉回喬·加托。

Great. Thank you. And again, thanks to everyone for joining today, a lot of good things to update you on and obviously, some more updates to come on our next call. Again, we look forward to talking to you. Any additional questions you have, please feel free to give us a call. Thank you.

偉大的。謝謝。再次感謝大家今天的加入，有很多好消息要向您通報，顯然，我們下次電話會議還會有更多更新。我們再次期待與您交談。您還有任何其他問題，請隨時致電我們。謝謝。

This concludes today's conference call. You can now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。您現在可以斷開連線。