Diamondback Energy Inc (FANG) 2022 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Hello, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Diamondback Energy Third Quarter 2022 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) It is now my pleasure to introduce Vice President of Investor Relations, Adam Lawlis.

您好，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 Diamondback Energy 2022 年第三季度收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）現在我很高興介紹投資者關係副總裁 Adam Lawlis。

Thank you, Andrew. Good morning, and welcome to Diamondback Energy Third Quarter 2022 Conference Call. During our call today, we will reference an updated investor presentation, which can be found on Diamondback's website. Representing Diamondback today are Travis Stice, Chairman and CEO; Kaes Van't Hof, President and CFO; and Danny Wesson, COO. During this conference call, the participants may make certain forward-looking statements relating to the company's financial condition, results of operations, plans, objectives, future performance and businesses. We caution you that actual results could differ materially from those that are indicated in these forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors. Information concerning these factors can be found in the company's filings with the SEC. In addition, we will make reference to certain non-GAAP measures. The reconciliations with the appropriate GAAP measures can be found in our earnings release issued yesterday afternoon. I'll now turn the call over to Travis Stice.

謝謝你，安德魯。早上好，歡迎參加 Diamondback Energy 2022 年第三季度電話會議。在我們今天的電話會議中，我們將參考一份更新的投資者演示文稿，該演示文稿可以在響尾蛇的網站上找到。今天代表響尾蛇的是董事長兼首席執行官 Travis Stice； Kaes Van't Hof，總裁兼首席財務官；和首席運營官 Danny Wesson。在本次電話會議期間，與會者可能會就公司的財務狀況、經營業績、計劃、目標、未來業績和業務做出某些前瞻性陳述。我們提醒您，由於各種因素，實際結果可能與這些前瞻性陳述中所示的結果存在重大差異。有關這些因素的信息可以在公司提交給美國證券交易委員會的文件中找到。此外，我們將參考某些非公認會計原則措施。與適當的公認會計原則措施的對賬可以在我們昨天下午發布的收益報告中找到。我現在將把電話轉給 Travis Stice。

Thank you, Adam. And before we start with my prepared remarks this morning, I want to encourage each of you to please take advantage of one of our greatest privileges we have as Americans, our freedom to elect our representatives. Please take the time off your busy schedules today to go vote if you've not already done so.

謝謝你，亞當。在我們開始我今天早上準備好的講話之前，我想鼓勵你們每個人利用我們作為美國人所擁有的最大特權之一，即我們選舉代表的自由。如果您還沒有投票，請從今天繁忙的日程中抽出時間去投票。

Welcome to Diamondback's third quarter earnings call. A Diamondback, we pride ourselves on our execution. Our commitment to being the lowest cost operator in the Permian Basin has and will continue to position us for success through the cycle.

歡迎來到響尾蛇的第三季度財報電話會議。響尾蛇，我們為自己的執行感到自豪。我們致力於成為二疊紀盆地成本最低的運營商，已經並將繼續使我們在整個週期中取得成功。

The third quarter was no exception. In the quarter, we produced over 224,000 barrels of oil per day and generated approximately $1.7 billion in operating cash flow. Our CapEx was once again within our guidance range, leading to free cash flow of nearly $1.2 billion. As we previously announced, we increased our return of capital commitment and stated that beginning this quarter, we would return at least 75% of (inaudible) back to our shareholders, up from at least 50% previously.

第三季度也不例外。在本季度，我們每天生產超過 224,000 桶石油，並產生約 17 億美元的經營現金流。我們的資本支出再次在我們的指導範圍內，導致近 12 億美元的自由現金流。正如我們之前宣布的那樣，我們增加了資本承諾的回報，並表示從本季度開始，我們將至少將 75% 的（聽不清）返還給我們的股東，高於之前的至少 50%。

At 75%, total capital return was nearly $875 million, with dividends totaling $403 million or $2.26 per share. The remaining $472 million went towards our opportunistic share repurchase program, where we bought back nearly 4 million shares at an average price of approximately $120 a share. To date, we've spent approximately $1.2 billion of our $4 billion buyback authorization, repurchasing nearly 6% of our shares outstanding since September of last year when we initiated our program.

總資本回報率為 75%，接近 8.75 億美元，股息總計 4.03 億美元或每股 2.26 美元。剩餘的 4.72 億美元用於我們的機會性股票回購計劃，我們以每股約 120 美元的平均價格回購了近 400 萬股股票。迄今為止，我們已經花費了 40 億美元回購授權中的大約 12 億美元，自去年 9 月啟動我們的計劃以來，回購了近 6% 的流通股。

In October, we announced the pending acquisition of the assets of FireBird Energy, a company with a large, contiguous position in the Midland Basin. We feel FireBird has right balance of cash flow and inventory and the acquisition is immediately accretive on all relevant per share financial metrics while providing a long runway of high-quality drilling opportunities. With over 350 locations, we expect to have well over a decade of run room at our projected 1-rig development phase.

10 月，我們宣布即將收購 FireBird Energy 的資產，該公司在米德蘭盆地擁有大量連續的職位。我們認為 FireBird 在現金流和庫存方面取得了適當的平衡，此次收購立即增加了所有相關的每股財務指標，同時提供了高質量的鑽井機會。憑藉 350 多個地點，我們預計在我們預計的 1 台鑽機開發階段將擁有超過十年的運行空間。

In conjunction with the acquisition, we announced that we would sell at least $500 million of noncore assets by the year-end 2023, with net proceeds primarily used to pay down debt. Since then, we closed on a $155 million sale of noncore assets in the Delaware Basin, jump-starting our program and ensuring continuous improvement to our investment-grade balance sheet. We will continue to pursue strategic divestitures, including the sale of certain assets within our Rattler portfolio, generating unrealized value for our shareholders.

在收購的同時，我們宣佈到 2023 年底我們將出售至少 5 億美元的非核心資產，淨收益主要用於償還債務。從那時起，我們以 1.55 億美元的價格出售了特拉華盆地的非核心資產，啟動了我們的計劃，並確保持續改進我們的投資級資產負債表。我們將繼續進行戰略剝離，包括出售我們 Rattler 投資組合中的某些資產，為我們的股東創造未實現的價值。

In closing, we know our business. We know we have some of the best inventory in the United States with our low-cost operational machine in place. We have the unique ability to generate significant repeatable returns through the drill bit for decades to come.

最後，我們了解我們的業務。我們知道我們擁有一些美國最好的庫存，並配備了低成本的運營機器。我們有獨特的能力在未來幾十年通過鑽頭產生可重複的顯著回報。

In 2019, we began codeveloping our primary targets. Since then, we've learned how to optimize our development patterns and spacing, and as a result, are seeing material improvement in well productivity over the past 36 months. In fact, our well performance this year is back at 2019 levels, when we were primarily targeting one-off wells in our best zones, which while having great performance and economics and the potential to withstand significant components of our inventory, leading to material parent-child concerns down the line.

2019 年，我們開始共同製定我們的主要目標。從那時起，我們學會瞭如何優化我們的開發模式和間距，因此，在過去的 36 個月中，我們看到了油井生產力的實質性提高。事實上，我們今年的油井表現回到了 2019 年的水平，當時我們主要針對我們最佳區域的一次性油井，這些油井雖然具有出色的性能和經濟性，並且有可能承受我們庫存的重要組成部分，從而導致了重要的母公司-child 關心下線。

Fortunately, we are well positioned for the future. We expect to close on the FireBird transaction at the end of November and slow the development pace on that asset from 3 rigs to 1. We are working with our service providers to ensure that we have the most efficient and cost-effective personnel and equipment in place for next year, including the 2 e-fleet simul-frac crews we've secured from Halliburton, the first of which is already in the field and performing well. All of this will provide operational momentum as we move into 2023, we expect to deliver the same operational results you've come to expect from Diamondback. While we won't be giving detailed for the 2023 guidance today, we believe that we'll be able to generate low single-digit pro forma oil production growth next year by maintaining our current stand-alone activity levels plus the 1 additional FireBird rig. It's not easy to operate in this environment, but our size, scale and quality of the inventory uniquely position us to deliver differentiated results and create meaningful value for our shareholders.

幸運的是，我們為未來做好了準備。我們預計將在 11 月底完成 FireBird 交易，並將該資產的開發速度從 3 台減至 1 台。我們正在與我們的服務提供商合作，以確保我們擁有最高效和最具成本效益的人員和設備明年的位置，包括我們從哈里伯頓獲得的 2 個電子艦隊模擬壓裂機組，其中第一個已經在現場並且表現良好。隨著我們進入 2023 年，所有這些都將為運營提供動力，我們預計將提供與您對響尾蛇的期望相同的運營結果。雖然我們今天不會提供 2023 年指導的詳細信息，但我們相信，通過維持我們目前的獨立活動水平加上 1 個額外的 FireBird 鑽井平台，明年我們將能夠產生低個位數的預估石油產量增長.在這種環境下經營並不容易，但我們的庫存規模、規模和質量使我們能夠提供差異化的結果並為我們的股東創造有意義的價值。

Before I open up for questions, I want to address all the Diamondback employees that are on the phone. At Diamondback, we've just celebrated our 10 years as a public company, growing from a $500 million market cap to almost $30 billion today. The people around me this morning and sometimes me individual, get too much credit for the success. It's you, the men and women of Diamondback that deserve the credit. It's your pursuit of excellence, your desire to be the very best version of yourself, your dedication to integrity that is responsible for our success. It remains my privilege to represent you. Thank you for all that you do. Operator, please open the line for questions.

在我提出問題之前，我想向所有正在打電話的響尾蛇員工致辭。在響尾蛇，我們剛剛慶祝了作為上市公司的 10 週年，市值從 5 億美元增長到今天的近 300 億美元。今天早上我周圍的人，有時是我個人，都因為成功而獲得了太多的功勞。是你，響尾蛇的男人和女人值得稱讚。是您對卓越的追求，您成為最好的自己的願望，您對誠信的奉獻是我們成功的原因。代表你仍然是我的榮幸。感謝您所做的一切。接線員，請打開電話提問。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

And our first question comes from the line of Neal Dingmann with Truist.

我們的第一個問題來自 Neal Dingmann 與 Truist 的對話。

Travis, my first question is on your developmental strategy, specifically, could you all discuss if you have or will continue to develop, you mentioned, I think it's Slide 7 you've gone to the codevelopment, you all went there really, I think, before a lot of others did. And I'm just wondering, are you going to do that -- is that pretty much on all the assets included when you take over FireBird, and I'm just wondering the second part of that, are there parts of this process that you believe you still have an advantage over peers. It just seems to me when I'm looking at sort of margins in the Permian, you all still are leading. So I'm just wondering if there are some things you're doing when looking at that Slide 7 that you still think are leading as sort of the pack.

Travis，我的第一個問題是關於你的發展戰略，具體來說，你們能不能討論一下你們是否已經或將繼續發展，你提到的，我認為是幻燈片 7，你們已經去了共同開發，你們都真的去了那裡，我想，在很多其他人之前。我只是想知道，你打算這樣做嗎？幾乎所有資產都包含在你接管 FireBird 時，我只是想知道第二部分，這個過程的某些部分是你相信你仍然比同齡人有優勢。在我看來，當我查看二疊紀的某種邊緣時，你們仍然處於領先地位。所以我只是想知道，在查看幻燈片 7 時，您是否正在做一些您仍然認為處於領先地位的事情。

Yes, Neil, good question. This is Kaes. I think generally, we obviously had a tough earnings call at the end of 2019 when we made this shift to co-development. I think we learned very, very quickly from that as well as moving more of our capital to the Midland Basin. And I think just generally, the teams have done a really good job on not only spacing within each zone, but the intra-zonal spacing given that these zones talk to each other. And the result is better overall assets here over the last couple of years. So nothing is going to change there. I think we're going to keep co-developing. And in fact, in some ways, we'll end up doing some larger pads than we even have prior given the amount of virgin rock we have in that sale of Robertson Ranch area that is kicking off in a real way right now.

是的，尼爾，好問題。這是凱斯。我認為，總的來說，當我們轉向共同開發時，我們顯然在 2019 年底進行了艱難的財報電話會議。我認為我們從中學到了非常非常快的東西，並將更多的資本轉移到了米德蘭盆地。而且我認為總的來說，球隊不僅在每個區域內的間距方面做得非常好，而且考慮到這些區域相互交流，區域內的間距也做得很好。結果是過去幾年這裡的整體資產更好。所以那裡什麼都不會改變。我認為我們將繼續共同開發。事實上，在某些方面，我們最終會做一些比我們之前更大的墊子，因為我們在 Robertson Ranch 地區的銷售中擁有的原始岩石數量正在以真正的方式開始。

I think generally on the -- on your other question, well costs are certainly the biggest advantage we have as a company at Diamondback, and that's a cultural thing from top to bottom. We're very focused on cost, very focused on keeping costs down in this inflationary environment. I think that gives us an advantage, particularly in looking at stuff like FireBird, right? FireBird we're going to codevelop a lot of zones up in the north at a low cost structure and that central position. There's opportunities for upside if we bring the Wolfcamp Bay into the Lower Spraberry development. And that, I think the testament that we can drill them cheap, the returns make sense to compete for capital.

我一般認為 - 關於你的另一個問題，井成本肯定是我們作為響尾蛇公司的最大優勢，這從上到下都是一種文化。我們非常關注成本，非常關注在這種通脹環境下降低成本。我認為這給了我們一個優勢，特別是在看像 FireBird 這樣的東西時，對吧？ FireBird 我們將在北部以低成本結構和中心位置共同開發許多區域。如果我們將 Wolfcamp Bay 帶入 Lower Spraberry 開發區，就有上漲的機會。而且，我認為我們可以廉價鑽取它們的證明，回報對於爭奪資本是有意義的。

Yes, it really sounds encouraging. Then turn to my second question I guess I'd call it the topic your and that's on shareholder return and capital allocation. Travis, for you or Kaes, I mean, do you see any scenario where you all would back off that 75% payout and maybe turn to more growth or something else? And then on the capital allocation, obviously, you all had a nice stock move. How do you feel about the buybacks versus the shares?

是的，這聽起來確實令人鼓舞。然後轉向我的第二個問題，我想我會稱之為你的主題，那就是股東回報和資本分配。特拉維斯，對於你或凱斯，我的意思是，你是否看到任何情況下你們都會放棄 75% 的支出並可能轉向更多的增長或其他什麼？然後在資本配置方面，顯然，你們都有不錯的股票走勢。您如何看待回購與股票？

Look, we've seen the volatility in the market that every quarter, we've had the opportunity to buy shares back. And when that opportunity presents itself, we'll do so aggressively. I think the key to any of those questions is the ability to generate free cash flow. And that's certainly what our focus is, and then maintaining the flexibility on how the return of that free cash flow gets prosecuted. I will say that in conversations with our long-only shareholders. A lot of those guys prefer to get the cash back. But again, we believe that we'll have opportunities to repurchase shares back.

看，我們已經看到市場的波動，每個季度我們都有機會回購股票。當這個機會出現時，我們會積極地這樣做。我認為任何這些問題的關鍵是產生自由現金流的能力。這當然是我們的重點，然後在如何起訴自由現金流的回報方面保持靈活性。我會在與我們的長期股東的對話中這麼說。很多人更喜歡拿回現金。但同樣，我們相信我們將有機會回購股票。

Yes. And then no change to the 35% of free cash flow, while it's certainly a restrictive amount of cash to be giving back to the equity holders, we feel that our balance sheet is in a position to be able to do that. And we're still going to reduce debt through noncore asset sales or free cash flow generation and our debt structure is significantly better than it has probably ever been in our company history. So generally, we feel that it's time for our equity holders to get their cash back after this company has matured from a high-growth company to a high-returning company.

是的。然後 35% 的自由現金流沒有變化，雖然回饋股東的現金數量肯定是有限的，但我們認為我們的資產負債表能夠做到這一點。而且我們仍將通過非核心資產銷售或自由現金流產生來減少債務，我們的債務結構明顯優於我們公司歷史上的任何時候。因此，總的來說，我們認為在這家公司從一家高增長公司成長為一家高回報公司之後，是時候讓我們的股東收回他們的現金了。

Yes, I would agree. Your total shareholder return certainly speaks for itself.

是的，我同意。您的股東總回報當然不言自明。

And our next question comes from the line of Neil Mehta with Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題來自高盛的 Neil Mehta。

Congrats on 10 years that went by very fast. So well done here. My first question is on 2023 capital spending and any early thoughts here as we bridge from your '22 levels to next year? And talk about all the moving parts ranging from inflation activity?

恭喜這10年過得很快。這裡做得很好。我的第一個問題是關於 2023 年的資本支出以及我們從 22 年水平過渡到明年的任何早期想法？並談論從通貨膨脹活動等所有活動部分？

Yes. Good question, Neil. I think while we're not ready to throw in the towel that well costs are going to keep going up next year, we do have some things coming our way from an efficiency perspective. But I'll kind of lay it out 2 ways. Based on the $1.9 billion that Diamondback is going to spend on capital this year, pre-FireBird. I would assume we're probably up 10% to 15% from that number gone ahead if we had to make that decision today on well costs. I think another way to think about it is basically in Diamondback today is pre-FireBird at a $500 million run rate of capital, I would say, somewhere below 10% increase off of that makes sense. And then in both scenarios, adding the $250 million of CapEx for FireBird, we ran that deal on current well costs. So those current well costs are running through that the capital free cash flow numbers that we put in for that deal. So that's how we're thinking about it. I think certainly, there are some things that could go our way. Casing has been a massive headwind for us and for the industry. Midland Basin, casing is now $110 a foot, that is a huge number of -- on a fixed cost that we can't really control here.

是的。好問題，尼爾。我認為，雖然我們還沒有準備好認輸明年井成本將繼續上漲，但從效率的角度來看，我們確實有一些事情要做。但我會以兩種方式列出它。根據響尾蛇今年將在 FireBird 之前的 19 億美元資本支出。如果我們今天必須就油井成本做出決定，我認為我們可能會比之前的數字增加 10% 到 15%。我認為另一種思考方式基本上是今天的響尾蛇，即 FireBird 之前的 5 億美元資本運行率，我想說，低於 10% 的增長是有道理的。然後在這兩種情況下，加上 FireBird 的 2.5 億美元資本支出，我們以當前的油井成本進行了這筆交易。因此，這些當前的油井成本正在通過我們為該交易投入的資本自由現金流量來運行。所以我們就是這麼想的。我認為當然，有些事情可以按照我們的方式進行。套管對我們和整個行業來說都是一個巨大的阻力。米德蘭盆地，套管現在每英尺 110 美元，這是一個巨大的數字——我們在這裡無法真正控制的固定成本。

Okay. And then we'll look for a little more clarity, but that's a helpful starting point. And then Travis, a question for you is just on your outlook for U.S. shale growth. I think a number of industry participants have been surprised by how flat the U.S. production profile has looked here over the last several months. And so curious on your thoughts on shale maturity? And is the lack of growth that we're seeing relative to expectations a function of service bottlenecks? Or is it a function of also asset maturity?

好的。然後我們將尋求更清晰的說明，但這是一個有用的起點。然後是特拉維斯，你的問題只是關於你對美國頁岩增長的前景。我認為許多行業參與者對過去幾個月美國的生產情況如此平淡感到驚訝。對您對頁岩成熟度的看法如此好奇？我們看到的相對於預期的增長乏力是服務瓶頸的一個功能嗎？或者它也是資產成熟度的函數？

A lot to unpack in that question, Neil, but I think it's really all of the above. I think there is asset maturation. I think certainly, supply chain constraints are also limiting growth. I think for public companies, the continued discipline that we've all been demonstrating on shareholder returns versus a commitment to growth. I think all of those factors weigh into more of a muted production growth from U.S. shale going forward. That said, out here in the Permian, I think we're still continuing to hit production records every month, somewhere close to 5.3 million to 5.5 million barrels a day. But that's going to be challenged to continue to grow that into the future.

尼爾，這個問題有很多要解開的內容，但我認為實際上就是以上所有內容。我認為有資產成熟。我認為當然，供應鏈限制也限制了增長。我認為對於上市公司來說，我們一直在展示股東回報與對增長的承諾的持續紀律。我認為所有這些因素更多地影響了美國頁岩油未來的產量增長放緩。也就是說，在二疊紀，我認為我們每個月仍在繼續創下產量記錄，接近每天 530 萬至 550 萬桶。但這將面臨挑戰，以便在未來繼續發展。

Do we have the assets out here? Yes, we do. But some of those other topical constraints that I mentioned are going to be impediments to efficient growth assume we'll probably see at higher commodity prices some people try to grow, but they're allocating capital if they're very trailing into of efficiency. So those also create headwinds as well for shareholders.

我們這裡有資產嗎？是的，我們有。但我提到的其他一些局部限制將成為有效增長的障礙，假設我們可能會看到一些人試圖以更高的商品價格增長，但如果他們非常落後於效率，他們就會分配資本。因此，這些也給股東帶來了不利因素。

And our next question comes from the line of Arun Jayaram with JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根大通的 Arun Jayaram。

Kaes or Travis, I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about the evolution of your co-development strategy, which you shifted in 2019. You highlighted how your well productivity now has returned to 2017 levels. I wondered to see if maybe you could also maybe compare and contrast how Diamondback's development looks like relative to many of your peers because you highlighted how you believe you're completing the most number of zones per pad in the Midland Basin?

Kaes 或 Travis，我想知道您能否談談您在 2019 年轉變的共同開發戰略的演變。您強調了您現在的井生產力如何恢復到 2017 年的水平。我想知道您是否也可以比較和對比 Diamondback 相對於您的許多同行的發展情況，因為您強調了您認為自己在米德蘭盆地的每個墊子上完成了最多數量的區域？

Yes, Arun, I'll kind of focus more on what Diamondback is doing. We certainly do a lot of competitor analysis and learn a lot from our competitors on what to do and what not to do in the basin. So generally, we have a data analytics team that looks at inter-lateral and interzonal spacing and how many wells are completing per pad and per zone and how close the nearest well bore is. And our math tells us that we're finding a striking a good balance here between IRR and NPV. We may not have the highest oil per foot, but certainly spacing wells a little tighter as well as codeveloping more economic zones together. And I expect that trend to continue to head our way.

是的，阿倫，我會更多地關注響尾蛇正在做的事情。我們當然做了很多競爭對手的分析，並從我們的競爭對手那裡學到了很多關於在盆地做什麼和不做什麼的事情。因此，一般來說，我們有一個數據分析團隊，負責查看橫向和層間間距、每個墊層和每個區域正在完成多少口井以及最近的井眼距離有多近。我們的數學告訴我們，我們在 IRR 和 NPV 之間找到了一個很好的平衡點。我們每英尺的石油可能不是最高的，但肯定會更緊密地間隔油井，並共同開發更多的經濟區。我預計這種趨勢將繼續朝著我們的方向發展。

In some ways, these higher commodity prices bring more zones into the equation and maybe even 1 or 2 wells per zone. But generally, spacing has stayed fairly consistent here for the last couple of years. So credit to the team for looking at what we've done, what's gone well, what's gone poorly and adjusting accordingly. And I think we're set up now for a few years of very solid development, particularly in the Midland Basin side.

在某些方面，這些較高的商品價格會帶來更多的區域，甚至每個區域可能會有 1 或 2 口井。但總的來說，在過去的幾年裡，間距在這裡保持相當一致。因此，感謝團隊查看我們所做的事情，進展順利的事情，進展不順利的事情並做出相應的調整。而且我認為我們現在已經建立了幾年非常穩固的發展，特別是在米德蘭盆地一側。

Great. Great. And then maybe just my quick follow-up. As you guys have now started to develop some of the assets you bought from Guidon and QEP in kind of Central Martin County, can you give us a sense of how the early wells have been trending? And what type of mix should we expect in Martin County on a go-forward basis over the next couple of years?

偉大的。偉大的。然後也許只是我的快速跟進。由於你們現在已經開始開發一些從 Guidon 和 QEP 購買的位於中央馬丁縣的資產，您能否告訴我們早期油井的趨勢如何？在接下來的幾年裡，我們應該在馬丁縣期待什麼樣的組合？

Yes. I mean, certainly, when we go back to that deal, we basically said we did these 2 deals to get better and not bigger. And I think that's proving out in the performance of the wells and the performance since then. We're just getting started in the main block. There's probably a 24-well pad coming on here in early 2023, and we'll continue to develop that sale in Robertson block very aggressively with probably a 3-rig run rate until it's drilled up in 3 or 4 years. And that should drive the lion's share of operational performance.

是的。我的意思是，當然，當我們回到那筆交易時，我們基本上說我們做了這兩筆交易是為了變得更好而不是更大。我認為這在油井的表現和此後的表現中得到了證明。我們才剛剛開始在主塊中。 2023 年初可能會有一個 24 口井的開發，我們將繼續非常積極地開發羅伯遜區塊的銷售，可能是 3 口鑽井，直到它在 3 或 4 年內鑽完。這應該會推動運營績效的最大份額。

Not to be outdone by that, though, we have seen very good well results up in the Northwest portion of Martin County this year due to some adjustments on spacing and landing targets, and I'm proud to say certainly some of the shallower zones, Middle Spraberry has looked very, very good up there relative to prior expectations.

不過，我們也不甘示弱，由於對間距和著陸目標進行了一些調整，今年我們在馬丁縣的西北部看到了非常好的成績，我很自豪地說，肯定有一些較淺的區域，相對於之前的預期，Middle Spraberry 看起來非常非常好。

And our next question comes from the line of Derrick Whitfield with Stifel.

我們的下一個問題來自 Derrick Whitfield 和 Stifel。

Travis, with the understanding that you guys have limited exposure to Waha in 2023 and the recent weakness was really driven by maintenance. Could you speak to your macro views on gas ingress over the next few years? And how you plan to mitigate your exposure over time?

特拉維斯，你知道你們在 2023 年對娃哈哈的接觸有限，而最近的疲軟實際上是由維護驅動的。您能否談談您對未來幾年氣體進入的宏觀看法？以及隨著時間的推移，您計劃如何減輕您的風險？

Yes. Certainly, it's going to be tight. I'll let Kaes give some specifics on that. But I think gas takeaway is going to be talked really certainly most of next year, probably well into 2024 as well until we get some of the major pipes on. So we do think -- we do opportunistic hedging, particularly against the -- on the Waha side. And we've committed to some of these pipes that are help making sure we get gas not only that doesn't go to Waha, but goes directly to the Gulf Coast.

是的。當然，它會很緊。我會讓凱斯給出一些細節。但我認為，天然氣外賣肯定會在明年的大部分時間裡被談論，可能會一直持續到 2024 年，直到我們打開一些主要管道。所以我們確實認為 - 我們會進行機會主義對沖，特別是針對 - 在娃哈哈方面。我們已經致力於其中一些管道，這些管道有助於確保我們獲得的天然氣不僅不會流向 Waha，而且會直接流向墨西哥灣沿岸。

Yes. I mean basically, next year, 2/3 of our gas goes to Waha, and that's all been hedged today, actually hedged a while back. And the other 1/3 gets Gulf Coast exposure on the Whistler pipeline. And then as you think about 2024, we think there's going to be pockets of weakness in 2024, certainly easing in the back half of the year when the big pipe Matterhorn comes on, but it's going to be tight from now until then, because some of these expansions, yes, there are 500 million a day expansion, but I think they're going to be full right away.

是的。我的意思是，基本上，明年，我們 2/3 的汽油都流向了娃哈哈，而這一切今天都被對沖了，實際上是前一段時間被對沖了。另外 1/3 在惠斯勒管道上暴露在墨西哥灣沿岸。然後當你考慮到 2024 年時，我們認為 2024 年將會有一些疲軟，當大管道馬特宏峰出現時，肯定會在今年下半年緩解，但從現在到那時它會很緊張，因為一些在這些擴展中，是的，每天有 5 億擴展，但我認為它們很快就會滿員。

Terrific. And as my follow-up, I wanted to focus on your operational efficiency. Given the improvements you've experienced in D&C efficiency metrics really over the last couple of years, most would expect efficiency to ply to due to the law of diminishing returns and the dilution of experienced crews. As you guys look forward in time, what are the levers you're hoping to pull to improve or at least maintain your operational efficiency?

了不起。作為我的後續行動，我想關注您的運營效率。鑑於您在過去幾年中確實在 D&C 效率指標方面所經歷的改進，由於收益遞減規律和經驗豐富的工作人員的稀釋，大多數人預計效率會有所提高。正如你們所期待的那樣，你們希望利用哪些槓桿來提高或至少保持運營效率？

Yes, a good question. I think the biggest thing that's going to help us next year from a cost perspective are the 2 Halliburton e-fleet that one has just started and one is picking up. I think generally, on the horsepower side, we get charged a little bit less. They make more margin on that particular piece of business. On top of that, we're not spending money on diesel, right? So we're fueling that fleet with cheap Waha gas for the next couple of years, and that could be anywhere from $10 to $15 a foot of savings depending on what the price of Waha is. And we just opened our first mobile mine or mini mine that's going to be right offset some of our Martin County position. So I think generally, while we're not drilling wells to TD faster than we were last year, we're still best in class in that area. Now it's time to work on the other pieces of the cost equation as inflation heats up here.

是的，一個好問題。我認為，從成本的角度來看，明年對我們有幫助的最大的事情是 2 個哈里伯頓電子車隊，其中一個剛剛開始，一個正在增加。我認為一般來說，在馬力方面，我們收取的費用會少一點。他們在該特定業務上賺取更多利潤。最重要的是，我們不會在柴油上花錢，對吧？因此，在接下來的幾年裡，我們將用廉價的娃哈天然氣為這支車隊加油，這可能會節省 10 到 15 美元一英尺，具體取決於娃哈的價格。我們剛剛開設了我們的第一個移動礦山或迷你礦山，這將正好抵消我們在馬丁縣的一些職位。所以我認為總的來說，雖然我們沒有比去年更快地鑽井到 TD，但我們仍然是該領域中最好的。隨著通貨膨脹在這裡升溫，現在是時候研究成本等式的其他部分了。

Yes. And there's a lot of conversations always when you see activity levels increase in the Permian Basin about the impacts of the inexperienced or green hands, we call them. But I don't follow that line of thinking because it's our job as supervisors of those activities to make sure that even the least experienced individual has the right supervision to perform this job not only safely, but efficiently. So they almost actually transfers not to the service companies within experienced hands, it transfers to our operations organization and our field supervisors to make sure they can provide the oversight to prosecute our plans effectively, efficiently and safely.

是的。當你看到二疊紀盆地的活動水平增加時，總會有很多關於沒有經驗或新手的影響的對話，我們稱之為。但我不遵循這種思路，因為作為這些活動的監督者，我們的工作是確保即使是經驗最少的個人也有正確的監督，不僅安全而且有效地執行這項工作。因此，他們幾乎實際上不會轉移給經驗豐富的服務公司，而是轉移給我們的運營組織和我們的現場主管，以確保他們能夠提供監督，以有效、高效和安全地執行我們的計劃。

And our next question comes from the line of David Deckelbaum with Cowen.

我們的下一個問題來自 David Deckelbaum 和 Cowen 的觀點。

I wanted to follow up just on the $500 million noncore asset divestiture program, $155 million achieved already on some PDP. Travis, you highlighted in your prepared remarks, some of the Rattler assets. I kind of feel like Diamondback isn't getting credit for us. Should we think about that as representing the bulk of the remaining noncore targets? And could you give us a little bit more detail about the scope of that asset?

我想跟進 5 億美元的非核心資產剝離計劃，在一些 PDP 上已經實現了 1.55 億美元。 Travis，你在準備好的評論中強調了一些 Rattler 資產。我覺得響尾蛇沒有得到我們的信任。我們是否應該將其視為代表其餘非核心目標的大部分？您能否詳細介紹一下該資產的範圍？

Yes. I mean really, David, it's all value, right? But generally, internally, we see that an E&P business trades at 4x, 5x and a pipeline or a gathering system trades at 8 to 10x. So it's logical for us, with us not getting any credit for it in our valuation to look at some of the JVs that we invested in alongside contributing volumes to those businesses over the last 5 years. And now I think they're in kind of a harvest mode where it might make sense to sell, particularly given our buying of Rattler and renewed focus on the upstream business, which is what we're so good at. So I won't commit to certain projects, but there are certainly some of our JVs were sitting on big wins, and you could expect us to try to monetize those appropriately over time.

是的。我的意思是說真的，大衛，這都是有價值的，對吧？但一般而言，在內部，我們看到勘探與生產業務的交易率為 4 倍、5 倍，而管道或收集系統的交易率為 8 到 10 倍。因此，對我們來說這是合乎邏輯的，因為在我們的估值中，我們沒有得到任何信用來查看我們在過去 5 年中投資的一些合資企業以及對這些業務的貢獻。現在我認為他們處於一種收穫模式，出售可能是有意義的，特別是考慮到我們購買 Rattler 並重新關注上游業務，這是我們非常擅長的。所以我不會承諾某些項目，但肯定有我們的一些合資企業正在大獲全勝，你可以期望我們會隨著時間的推移適當地通過這些項目獲利。

I appreciate the color on that, and good luck with those. Maybe just a second one for me. I know we talked a lot about well productivity, but obviously, it's on that Slide 7, you guys highlight continued well productivity improvements in the Midland Basin. I guess as we think about going into 2023, I think you guys have highlighted you'll continue to allocate more activity towards some of the virgin rock areas like Robertson Ranch. Also seems like the overall Midland productivity is benefiting from high grading into Martin and Midland. With FireBird, I guess you're putting 1 rig on there. I guess when you look out, how long does this mix be -- how long is this mix maintains with this sort of intense high-grading within Martin and Midland where we might expect that productivity per well or on a per foot basis to be sustained at these levels are perhaps improving?

我很欣賞它的顏色，祝你好運。也許對我來說只是第二個。我知道我們談了很多關於井生產力的話題，但很明顯，在幻燈片 7 上，你們強調了米德蘭盆地的井生產力持續提高。我想當我們考慮進入 2023 年時，我認為你們已經強調，你們將繼續將更多的活動分配給羅伯遜牧場等一些原始岩石地區。似乎米德蘭的整體生產力也受益於馬丁和米德蘭的高分級。使用 FireBird，我猜你要在那里安裝 1 台鑽機。我想當你注意時，這種混合能持續多久——這種混合能維持多久，在馬丁和米德蘭這種強烈的高分級情況下，我們可能期望每口井或每英尺的生產力能夠持續在這些水平上也許正在改善？

Yes. I mean I think it's going to be around for a while, certainly longer than the market can see today, which I think is important, right? We have 2 well-timed deals in 2020 that we're benefiting from today. I think generally, our job is to allocate capital to the best returning zones and projects first. So we won't be able to keep this up forever. But I think as the shale cost curve goes up, which is likely to happen over the next decade, our job is to maintain a cost structure and an inventory that keeps us at the low end of that cost curve. And that's what we've built this business on. And I think we have both the inventory and definitely the cost structure to be able to keep ourselves at the low end of that cost curve longer.

是的。我的意思是我認為它會持續一段時間，肯定比今天市場所能看到的要長，我認為這很重要，對吧？我們在 2020 年有兩項適時的交易，我們今天從中受益。我認為一般來說，我們的工作是首先將資金分配給回報最好的區域和項目。因此，我們將無法永遠保持這種狀態。但我認為隨著頁岩成本曲線的上升，這很可能在未來十年內發生，我們的工作是維持成本結構和庫存，使我們保持在成本曲線的低端。這就是我們建立這項業務的基礎。而且我認為我們既有庫存，也有一定的成本結構，可以讓自己更長時間地保持在成本曲線的低端。

And our next question comes from the line of Jeoffrey Lambujon with TPH.

我們的下一個問題來自 Jeoffrey Lambujon 的 TPH。

Just a couple for me on the FireBird acreage, in particular, a little bit on productivity, but also a bit on inventory. I saw in the deck that you highlighted some small results on that acreage. I just wanted to get your thoughts on if there are any potential implications there from an inventory standpoint? If you could maybe speak to how the locations you've spoken to, to this point that asset are distributed across the position? And secondly, what sort of upside you might contemplate in terms of inventory based on some of these results?

在 FireBird 的種植面積上對我來說只有一對夫婦，特別是在生產力方面，但在庫存方面也有一些方面。我在甲板上看到你強調了那塊土地上的一些小結果。我只是想了解您的想法，從庫存的角度來看是否有任何潛在影響？如果你可以談談你所說的位置，那麼資產是如何分佈在整個位置的？其次，根據其中一些結果，您可能會考慮在庫存方面有什麼樣的好處？

Yes, Jeof, great question. When we announced the deal, we got 1 with a lot of people, but we haven't been on a big call like this. We basically said the northern prospect which you can see on Slide 8 in our deck, competes for capital right away, and that's the game plan is to allocate that rig to that northern prospect for the first few years of the deal. I think generally, recent well results in the Central prospect would bring in the Wolfcamp A upside into co-development. We underwrote 6 across in the Lower Spraberry across that block, and that's what we paid for. But recent well results of co-developing the LSE looked pretty promising today. We have some time to kind of test that out before full field development, but that's kind of the underwritten upside of the trade.

是的，傑夫，好問題。當我們宣布這筆交易時，我們得到了很多人的 1，但我們還沒有接到過這樣的大電話。我們基本上說您可以在我們甲板上的幻燈片 8 上看到的北方前景，立即爭奪資金，這就是遊戲計劃是在交易的頭幾年將該鑽機分配給北方前景。我認為，總體而言，Central 前景最近取得的良好成果將為 Wolfcamp A 帶來共同發展的優勢。我們在那個街區的下 Spraberry 承保了 6 筆，這就是我們支付的費用。但最近共同開發倫敦證交所的良好成果在今天看起來非常有希望。在全面開發之前，我們有一些時間進行測試，但這是該行業的承保優勢。

And our next question comes from the line of Jeanine Wai with Barclays.

我們的下一個問題來自巴克萊的 Jeanine Wai。

First question, maybe just going back to the 2022 guide. The updated guidance for wells drilled, it's now a little bit lower at 260 for the year versus 270 to 290 before, I think. Can you talk about what's driving that number lower now? And how that really impacts operational momentum into next year?

第一個問題，也許只是回到 2022 年指南。我認為，對鑽井的更新指導，現在比之前的 270 至 290 略低，為今年的 260。你能談談是什麼導致這個數字現在下降嗎？以及這對明年的運營勢頭有何真正影響？

Yes. Jean, I won't say it interrupts operational momentum into next year because it's our job to not have those issues. We are running a couple of extra intermediate rigs today to get ahead of these large pads where the big rig follows. So I think the message is nothing to see here from operational momentum. That's what you expect us to do, and that's what we do best. Just -- I would just say, we probably completed a couple of more wells in the Delaware than we originally expected this year, and we ran probably 1 less rig than we thought for the year. So -- on the other side of the equation, we're completing probably 15 less wells than we went into the year expected to complete. So your capital efficiency is certainly looking good and momentum feels very good going into 2023.

是的。 Jean，我不會說它會中斷明年的運營勢頭，因為我們的工作是不出現這些問題。我們今天正在運行一些額外的中間鑽機，以領先於大型鑽機跟隨的這些大型墊。因此，我認為從運營勢頭來看，這裡的信息沒什麼可看的。這是您期望我們做的，也是我們最擅長的。只是 - 我只想說，我們今年可能在特拉華州完成了比我們最初預期的多幾口井，而且我們的鑽井平台可能比我們今年的預期少了 1 口。所以 - 在等式的另一邊，我們完成的井可能比我們預計完成的一年少 15 口。因此，您的資本效率肯定看起來不錯，進入 2023 年的勢頭感覺非常好。

Okay. Great. Definitely, I stand out these days in E&P. Wonderful. Thank you for clarity. Maybe our second question is just a quick housekeeping one. In your prepared remarks on '23, you talked about low single-digit growth on a year-over-year adjusted basis. What baseline oil number should we be using or assuming it's like 220 a day for legacy FANG, but we're not quite sure what to assume for FireBird since we only have commentary for 4Q, and that's only for like a month. So just a housekeeping question on that.

好的。偉大的。毫無疑問，這些天我在勘探與生產中脫穎而出。精彩的。謝謝你的澄清。也許我們的第二個問題只是一個快速的家務。在你準備好的關於 '23 的評論中，你談到了按年調整後的低個位數增長。對於傳統的 FANG，我們應該使用什麼基準油量，或者假設它是每天 220 個，但我們不太確定 FireBird 的假設是什麼，因為我們只有 4Q 的評論，而且只有一個月的時間。所以只是一個家政問題。

Yes. Good question. I think we did release 19,000 barrels of oil a day net for FireBird and that is not changing. The base business FANG, we went into 2022 saying we're going to keep 220,000 barrels of oil a day flat. We've kind of outperformed that a little bit this year. But basically, you can take that 220, complete the same number of wells as we expected at the FireBird Diamondback level, and that should spit out a couple of percentage points of low single-digit growth. And then add that FireBird 19 on top of that, and nothing's changed here from our perspective. You think that's what we expect us to do, be transparent and hit these numbers.

是的。好問題。我認為我們確實每天為 FireBird 淨釋放 19,000 桶石油，這並沒有改變。基礎業務方，我們進入 2022 年說我們將保持每天 220,000 桶石油持平。今年我們的表現略勝一籌。但基本上，你可以拿 220 口井，完成與我們在 FireBird Diamondback 級別預期的相同數量的井，這應該會產生幾個百分點的低個位數增長。然後在此之上添加 FireBird 19，從我們的角度來看，這裡沒有任何變化。你認為這就是我們期望我們做的，保持透明並達到這些數字。

And our next question comes from the line of Tim Rezvan with KeyBanc Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題來自 KeyBanc Capital Markets 的 Tim Rezvan。

Some of my questions have been addressed. So I think I'll just ask one. Travis, you opened the door a bit talking about election day today. And I'm just curious if you could talk about if either Diamondback or any of your industry trade groups have had any discussions with the Biden administration in D.C. about these perceived oil shortages in the U.S.? And any context you can provide would be helpful.

我的一些問題已經得到解決。所以我想我會問一個。特拉維斯，你今天打開了一些關於選舉日的大門。我只是想知道您是否可以談談 Diamondback 或您的任何行業貿易團體是否與華盛頓的拜登政府就美國這些感知到的石油短缺進行了任何討論？您可以提供的任何上下文都會有所幫助。

Yes, certainly not specifically inside Diamondback. But yes, aggressively so with the trade organizations that Diamondback is a part of. At the federal level, API, APC we have a lot of sweat equity invested in both of those trade organizations that we lean in alongside all of our industry peers to provide some clear strategies into the White House and the current administration. So -- and that will continue regardless of how the results of the elections turn out today. That's our advocacy arm, and we think it's important for our shareholders to be a dynamic part of that advocacy.

是的，當然不是專門在響尾蛇內部。但是，是的，在響尾蛇所屬的貿易組織中如此積極。在聯邦層面，API，APC，我們在這兩個貿易組織上投入了大量資金，我們與所有行業同行一起為白宮和現任政府提供一些明確的戰略。所以——不管今天的選舉結果如何，這種情況將繼續下去。這是我們的倡導部門，我們認為讓我們的股東成為這種倡導的動態部分很重要。

Okay. And then I guess the follow-up is, do you believe that anybody do you see is listening to the sort of the domestic group of producers?

好的。然後我想接下來的問題是，你相信你看到的任何人都在聽那種國內的製作人團體嗎？

Yes, it certainly seems like the rhetoric has turned decidedly against the industry again in the lead up to these elections. We can only open pray for that our citizens continue to elect morally and ethically excellent representatives so that we can send people to Washington, D.C. that do a will of the people. And Diamondback is going to continue to do our part like I said, through advocacy, both locally and at the state and federal level as we navigate this very difficult rhetoric that's being addressed or pointed at our industry.

是的，在這些選舉之前，言論似乎再次明顯地轉向了反對該行業的言論。我們只能公開祈禱，希望我們的公民繼續選舉道德和倫理上優秀的代表，以便我們可以派人到華盛頓特區做人民的意願。響尾蛇將繼續發揮我們的作用，就像我說的那樣，通過在地方以及州和聯邦層面的宣傳，我們正在處理這個正在解決或指向我們行業的非常困難的言論。

Our next question is Doug Leggate with Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題是美國銀行的 Doug Leggate。

This is John Abbott for Doug Leggett. Our first question is on capital allocation. Approximately 80% of your CapEx is to the Midland this year, 20% to the Del, and you sort of look over a multiyear horizon. At what point would you anticipate that the Delaware would become a better or a larger percentage of your overall CapEx?

這是 Doug Leggett 的 John Abbott。我們的第一個問題是關於資本配置。今年大約 80% 的資本支出流向了米德蘭，20% 流向了德爾，而且你看起來像是多年的視野。您預計特拉華州在什麼時候會成為您整體資本支出的更好或更大比例？

Honestly, quite frankly, we look at all our inventory and we can kind of keep that 80-20 steady for a long time. So I don't think there's any plans to change it. In some ways, with the FireBird acquisition, some more wells completed there will probably be closer to 85-15 Midland Delaware. And I think the curves that we posted on Slide 7 proved out that our Midland Basin is certainly top notch, and that's where we're going to be focused.

老實說，坦率地說，我們查看了所有庫存，我們可以在很長一段時間內保持 80-20 的穩定。所以我不認為有任何改變它的計劃。在某些方面，隨著 FireBird 的收購，那裡完成的更多油井可能更接近 85-15 Midland Delaware。我認為我們在幻燈片 7 上發布的曲線證明了我們的米德蘭盆地肯定是一流的，這就是我們要關注的地方。

Appreciate it. And then our second question is on sustainable free cash flow. So, you're drilling this year are over 10,000 foot laterals. Looking at your slide, I think it's about 2/3 of your inventory is about 10,000 foot laterals while the 1/3 is less than that. So over a multiyear horizon, how do you think about your ability to sustain free cash flow.

欣賞它。然後我們的第二個問題是關於可持續的自由現金流。所以，你今年鑽的支路超過 10,000 英尺。看看你的幻燈片，我認為大約 2/3 的庫存是大約 10,000 英尺的支路，而 1/3 還不到。因此，在多年的視野中，您如何看待維持自由現金流的能力。

I think generally, we have a significant amount of long lateral development ahead of us. At some point, naturally, if we can't get trades done block up acreage, we're going to have to reduce our lateral lengths. But I think on the other hand, you have a lower decline production allowing you to maintain capital efficiency for a longer period of time. So we look at it every quarter, total inventory, total development. And as far as we can see, things look very good for Diamondback's capital efficiency for the next few years.

我認為總的來說，我們前面有大量的長期橫向發展。在某些時候，自然地，如果我們不能完成交易以擴大種植面積，我們將不得不減少我們的橫向長度。但我認為另一方面，你有一個較低的產量下降，可以讓你在更長的時間內保持資本效率。所以我們每個季度都會查看它，總庫存，總發展。據我們所見，響尾蛇未來幾年的資本效率看起來非常好。

And our next question comes from the line of Charles Meade with Johnson Rice.

我們的下一個問題來自 Charles Meade 和 Johnson Rice。

Travis, I'd like to ask a question back to the FireBird asset. You guys laid out this view along the North-South axis. But can you give us some of the, I guess, how the prospectivity changes west or -- east to west? And my understanding is you're starting to approach or get up onto the Central Basin platform on -- particularly on the western side of that central prospect, and I think it even your limelight prospect there. So -- are there any promising puzzles you're working on, on that side? Or is that something we should be thinking about for -- in the near future? Or is that a project its way down the line?

Travis，我想問一個關於 FireBird 資產的問題。你們沿著南北軸佈置了這個視圖。但是你能給我們一些，我猜，前景如何向西或 - 從東到西變化？我的理解是你開始接近或登上中央盆地平台 - 特別是在那個中央遠景的西側，我認為它甚至是你那裡的焦點遠景。那麼 - 在這方面，您是否正在研究任何有希望的謎題？或者這是我們應該考慮的事情——在不久的將來？或者這是一個項目？

Yes, good question. I don't think it's anything in the near term. There certainly are some results further west that early time look promising. We didn't underwrite kind of 2-mile buffer on the west side for LS prospectivity, but certainly did -- there's certainly some untapped upside with some Barnett and Woodford results nearby, including our line prospects. So that play is getting a lot of attention. But at the end of the day, our investors expect us to underwrite what we're going to develop. And right now, that's all on unvalued upside, which technology and costs work out, it will be certainly prospective into the next decade when we get to drilling it.

是的，好問題。我認為短期內不會有任何影響。在更遠的西部肯定有一些結果，早期看起來很有希望。我們沒有為 LS 的前景承保西側的 2 英里緩衝區，但肯定有——附近肯定有一些未開發的上行空間，包括我們的線路前景。所以這部劇備受關注。但歸根結底，我們的投資者希望我們為我們將要開發的產品提供擔保。現在，這一切都處於未估價的上升空間，哪些技術和成本可以發揮作用，當我們開始鑽探它時，它肯定會在未來十年內發揮作用。

And you'll see our development strategy, Charles, as we've moved to that central block, as Kaes laid out as kind of our Phase II drilling, but we'll start east and work west. And I think the 2 wells that are labeled E and F on Slide 8 are good examples of what that early development scenario look like. While we didn't complete those wells, the results are really promising. And we're excited about them. But Phase 1 will be up to the north, which is very akin to our Spanish Trail development, and then we'll start on the east side of the central prospect and work our way to the West before you get up, as you pointed out, before you get to the Central Basin platform.

查爾斯，你會看到我們的發展戰略，因為我們已經搬到那個中央區塊，因為 Kaes 制定了我們的第二階段鑽探，但我們將從東部開始，向西工作。我認為幻燈片 8 上標記為 E 和 F 的 2 口井很好地說明了早期開發場景的樣子。雖然我們沒有完成這些井，但結果確實很有希望。我們對他們感到興奮。但是第一階段將在北部，這與我們的西班牙小徑開發非常相似，然後我們將從中央前景的東側開始，然後在您起床之前向西前進，正如您所指出的那樣，在您到達中央盆地平台之前。

That's good detail. Kaes, when I was listening if you answered, maybe think of a word, I don't think you've ever heard before. I was expecting you say something like that western side is underwritten or something like that. But anyway, on underwritten. And then maybe just one more following up on this FireBird deal and Travis in case. I think this is kind of whether we should think about this as a new mode or a pattern for you guys. As I look at the different pieces of your business where you're not committing to 75% cash return -- free cash return to shareholders. That leaves a smaller piece, the 25% piece available to fund the cash portion of any future A&D. And then we look at the FireBird deal, you guys -- it was -- it looks like a good deal. But equity was a big component of it. So is that something we should be thinking about for you guys? Is that as you're retaining less cash and equity is going to be a meaningful chunk of future A&D? Or is the -- is that the wrong interpretation?

這是很好的細節。凱斯，當我聽你回答時，也許會想到一個詞，我想你以前從未聽過。我原以為你會說諸如西側承保之類的話。但無論如何，在承保。然後也許只是對這筆 FireBird 交易和 Travis 的進一步跟進，以防萬一。我認為這是我們是否應該將其視為一種新模式或對你們來說的一種模式。當我查看您的業務的不同部分時，您沒有承諾 75% 的現金回報 - 為股東提供免費現金回報。這留下了一個較小的部分，即 25% 的部分可用於資助任何未來 A&D 的現金部分。然後我們看看 FireBird 的交易，你們——它是——看起來很划算。但股權是其中的重要組成部分。那麼這是我們應該為你們考慮的事情嗎？那是因為你保留的現金和股權將成為未來 A&D 的重要組成部分嗎？或者是——這是錯誤的解釋嗎？

Well, I think generally, there's not a ton of A&D left to do in the basin, right? It certainly -- there's not random 200,000, 30,000 acre blocks in the middle of Martin County or Midland County that are available. So A&D is certainly evolving over the next couple of years in the Permian as consolidation continues. I think generally, with the 75-25 commitment to equity versus nonequity on cash returns, that makes looking at deals even more -- put deals under the microscope, right? So in this deal, we're very focused on not levering up the balance sheet in a meaningful way because we work so hard to get the balance sheet where it is. And the sellers had an asset that was early in its development and believed in the upside and wanted to take Diamondback's stock to execute on that upside. It's not -- we're not giving up 10% of the company to these guys. They have a 3% position and hopefully, they're long-term happy shareholders. But I think we've used equity to grow this business for the last 10 years. And it's proven out to be the right way to fund deals.

嗯，我認為總的來說，盆地裡沒有大量的 A&D 要做，對吧？當然——在馬丁縣或米德蘭縣中部沒有隨機的 200,000、30,000 英畝地塊可供使用。因此，隨著整合的繼續，未來幾年二疊紀的 A&D 肯定會不斷發展。我認為一般來說，75-25 的承諾是股權與現金回報的非股權，這使得更多地關注交易——把交易放在顯微鏡下，對嗎？因此，在這筆交易中，我們非常專注於不以有意義的方式提升資產負債表，因為我們非常努力地使資產負債表保持原狀。賣家擁有一項處於發展早期的資產，並且相信上漲空間，並希望將響尾蛇的股票用於執行上漲空間。不是——我們不會把公司 10% 的股份讓給這些傢伙。他們擁有 3% 的股份，希望他們是長期快樂的股東。但我認為在過去的 10 年裡，我們一直在利用股權來發展這項業務。事實證明，這是為交易提供資金的正確方式。

And our next question comes from the line of Leo Mariani with MKM Partners.

我們的下一個問題來自 MKM Partners 的 Leo Mariani。

I wanted to jump back into kind of CapEx. Certainly, I noticed that CapEx has kind of been trending up a little bit in the last few quarters and into the fourth quarter guidance. I assume that's mainly inflation. I think your activity levels have been pretty flattish. Can you just provide any more color around the pace of inflation right now? I know you talked about tubulars continuing to sort of go up? Are you starting to sense that any other items are maybe starting to ease a little bit where they're not rising as quickly, and have you locked in any major portions of your '23 budget at this point? And if so, can you provide some details on that?

我想回到某種資本支出。當然，我注意到資本支出在過去幾個季度和第四季度指引中一直呈上升趨勢。我認為這主要是通貨膨脹。我認為你的活動水平相當平淡。你現在能提供更多關於通貨膨脹速度的顏色嗎？我知道你談到管件繼續上漲？您是否開始感覺到任何其他項目可能開始在沒有快速增長的情況下有所緩解，並且此時您是否鎖定了 '23 預算的任何主要部分？如果是這樣，你能提供一些細節嗎？

Yes, Leo, good question. I would say this is kind of why we're not looking to give '23 guidance officially today because I think some things will come to us versus this year where everything just went up. We do have a couple of frac fleets locked in and the 2 fleets that we talked about. All of our sand is locked in with a large contract with a local provider. The rigs, we continue to roll our rigs on a rolling 6-month basis. And while we're running 15 rigs today, I bet you 12 of them are different rigs that we're running this time next -- this time last year because of cost and efficiencies. So there's a lot going on behind the scenes to keep pushing well costs down or stop them from going up, and that's what you'd expect us to do.

是的，獅子座，好問題。我想說這就是為什麼我們今天不打算正式提供 '23 指導的原因，因為我認為有些事情會發生在我們身上，而今年一切都在上升。我們確實有幾個壓裂船隊和我們談到的兩個船隊。我們所有的沙子都與當地供應商簽訂了一份大合同。鑽機，我們繼續以滾動 6 個月為基礎滾動我們的鑽機。雖然我們今天運行了 15 台鑽機，但我敢打賭，其中 12 台是我們下一次運行的不同鑽機——去年的這個時候是因為成本和效率。因此，在幕後進行了很多工作，以不斷降低成本或阻止成本上升，這就是您希望我們做的事情。

Okay. That's helpful. And I just wanted to ask a clarification question. I know it's too early for exact specifics on 2023. But if I heard you guys right, I mean, the base level thinking is sort of flattish year-over-year activity and then basically would just add in FireBird essentially. So the operated plan for this year, FireBird is relatively intact for next year?

好的。這很有幫助。我只是想問一個澄清問題。我知道現在給出 2023 年的具體細節還為時過早。但如果我沒聽錯的話，我的意思是，基本層面的想法是一種平淡的同比活動，然後基本上只會添加 FireBird。那麼今年火鳥明年的運營計劃相對完整嗎？

That's right. I think FireBird, we're going to drop a couple of rigs drop them down from 3 rigs to 1 rig, generate a little more free cash on that business and hit 19,000 net barrels a day of production. We forecasted for that business. I think we'll complete around 30 wells there. So you can basically take Diamondback base business from this year plus the 30 wells from FireBird plus the production that we laid out today to get an early look at 2023.

這是正確的。我認為 FireBird，我們將減少幾個鑽井平台，將它們從 3 個鑽井平台減少到 1 個鑽井平台，在該業務上產生更多的自由現金，並達到每天 19,000 桶的淨產量。我們對該業務進行了預測。我想我們將在那裡完成大約 30 口井。因此，您基本上可以從今年開始獲取響尾蛇的基礎業務，再加上 FireBird 的 30 口油井，再加上我們今天為提前了解 2023 年而安排的產量。

And I'm showing no further questions. So with that, I'll hand the call back over to CEO, Travis Stice, for any closing remarks.

我沒有再提出任何問題。因此，我會將電話轉回給首席執行官 Travis Stice，以聽取任何結束語。

Thank you again for everyone to participate in today's call. If you've got any questions, please contact us using the information provided.

再次感謝大家參加今天的電話會議。如果您有任何問題，請使用提供的信息與我們聯繫。

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating, and you may now disconnect.

女士們，先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與，您現在可以斷開連接。