Diamondback Energy Inc (FANG) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Diamondback Energy Fourth Quarter 2022 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions)

美好的一天，謝謝你的支持。歡迎來到 Diamondback Energy 2022 年第四季度收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）

Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。

I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Adam Lawlis, VP of Investor Relations. Adam, go ahead.

我現在想把會議交給今天的演講者，投資者關係副總裁 Adam Lawlis。亞當，繼續。

Thank you, Eric. Good morning, and welcome to Diamondback Energy's Fourth 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.

謝謝你，埃里克。早上好，歡迎來到 Diamondback Energy 的 2022 年第四季度電話會議。在我們今天的電話會議中，我們將參考更新的投資者介紹，可以在 Diamondback 的網站上找到。今天代表 Diamondback 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。

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.

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指出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 GAAP 指標。與適當的 GAAP 措施的對賬可以在我們昨天下午發布的收益報告中找到。

I'll now turn the call over to Travis Stice.

我現在將電話轉給 Travis Stice。

Thank you, Adam, and welcome to Diamondback's fourth quarter earnings call. 2022 was another great year for Diamondback. We successfully executed on our capital program, accelerating our return of capital plan and generated record cash flow. I'm very proud of all that we were able to accomplish, and look forward to what I believe will be another strong year for the company. Looking back at last year, we produced over 223,000 barrels of oil per day, exceeding our production expectations. This is primarily, the result of our well performance, which continues to trend in the right direction, as our normalized oil production in the Midland Basin improved by 6% year-over-year and nearly 20%, when compared to 2020. We continue to optimize our multizone co-development strategy, which we pivoted to prior to the pandemic by tweaking our frac designs, spacing assumptions and landing zones to maximize our returns. On the operations side, we've also built out substantial water infrastructure, which allows us to implement some frac completions across our position. This type of completion is consistently more efficient than a traditional zipper frac design because we can complete approximately 80 wells per year, with just one crude. When you add in the additional efficiencies we're seeing from our Halliburton e-fleet, our completion savings are approximately $50 a foot. Last year was not without its challenges from significant inflationary pressures, particularly with casing, equipment availability and weather-related downtime. However, we would all, our operational team did what it always does, deliver best-in-class execution. Our ability to hold our capital budget flat and stay within our original guidance range while also exceeding our production target is something you should expect from Diamondback, as we push to deliver differentiated results quarter after quarter.

謝謝 Adam，歡迎來到 Diamondback 的第四季度財報電話會議。 2022 年對響尾蛇來說又是偉大的一年。我們成功執行了我們的資本計劃，加速了我們的資本回報計劃並產生了創紀錄的現金流。我為我們能夠取得的成就感到非常自豪，並期待我相信這將是公司又一個強勁的一年。回顧去年，我們每天生產超過 223,000 桶石油，超出了我們的產量預期。這主要是我們油井性能的結果，它繼續朝著正確的方向發展，因為我們在米德蘭盆地的標準化石油產量同比增長 6%，與 2020 年相比增長近 20%。我們繼續優化我們的多區域共同開發戰略，我們在大流行之前通過調整我們的壓裂設計、間距假設和著陸區來使我們的回報最大化。在運營方面，我們還建設了大量的水利基礎設施，這使我們能夠在我們的位置實施一些壓裂完井。這種類型的完井始終比傳統的拉鍊式壓裂設計更有效，因為我們每年可以完成大約 80 口井，僅使用一種原油。當您加上我們從 Halliburton e-fleet 中看到的額外效率時，我們的完工節省約為每英尺 50 美元。去年並非沒有來自顯著通脹壓力的挑戰，特別是在套管、設備可用性和與天氣相關的停機時間方面。但是，我們所有人都會，我們的運營團隊會一如既往地做，提供一流的執行力。我們有能力保持我們的資本預算持平並保持在我們最初的指導範圍內，同時也超過我們的生產目標，這是您應該對 Diamondback 的期望，因為我們努力逐季交付差異化的結果。

Financially, we generated over $7 billion in EBITDA and $4.6 billion in free cash flow or nearly $26 per share, both records for the company. We made significant progress on our return of capital plan, increasing our cash return commitment in the middle of the year to return at least 75% of free cash flow to stockholders. In total, we returned 68% of our free cash flow in 2022, which equates to $3.1 billion through a combination of our base and variable dividend and share repurchase program, buying back nearly 8.7 million shares at an average price of $126 per share, for a total of $1.1 billion. This represents 5% of our shares outstanding, when we announced our program in September of 2021. An additional $2 billion was returned through our base and variable dividend with the total dividend growth of nearly 5x, when compared to 2021. In total, we returned $11.31 per share in dividends. In the fourth quarter alone, we returned over $860 million or $5.65 per share with a total dividend yield of nearly 9%. This included an increase to our annual base dividend of $0.20, now $3.20 per share annually or $0.80 per quarter, representing 54% year-over-year growth. We also announced multiple strategic transactions in the fourth quarter that better position us for the long term. We made 2 Midland Basin acquisitions, Lario and FireBird, both of which are now closed and seamlessly integrated that added over 500 high-quality opportunities and 83,000 net acres to our portfolio. This additional inventory along with the associated production and cash flow has solidified our size and scale in the Midland Basin, giving us a strategic advantage, as we execute on our capital programs for the decades to come. Last summer, we bought in all the outstanding units of Rattler, which gives us additional flexibility to think strategically about our existing midstream portfolio. We now have the ability to monetize assets that trade at a higher multiple than our upstream business and use the proceeds to strengthen our balance sheet or acquire additional upstream assets. The first example of this was the sale of our 10% interest in the Gray Oak crude oil pipeline to Enbridge. We achieved a 1.75 multiple on our invested capital and used the proceeds to partially fund the cash portion of the Lario acquisition. As we evaluate both our Rattler operated assets and equity method investments, we've also monetized multiple noncore upstream positions. We have now divested another $600 million in upstream assets since the third quarter of last year, which includes 2 recent deals in Southeast Glasscock and Ward and Winkler counties. These assets simply did not compete for immediate capital within our portfolio. We have now increased our noncore asset target sales from $500 million to at least $1 billion by the end of this year. Last year, we improved our leverage ratio, now below 1x, and also pushed the tenor of nearly 90% of our debt past 5 years, with over $2 billion due in the 2050s, at an average coupon of below 5%. We will continue to use free cash flow and proceeds from our noncore asset sales to lower our overall debt profile, continually improving our financial position. As we move into 2023, we expect to deliver relatively flat pro forma production year-over-year. When you account for the 11 months of Lario and a full year of FireBird production contribution, our guidance reflects 260,000 barrels of oil a day and $2.6 billion in CapEx, while running 15 rigs and 4 simul-frac crews.

在財務上，我們產生了超過 70 億美元的 EBITDA 和 46 億美元的自由現金流或每股近 26 美元，這兩項均創下了公司的記錄。我們在資本回報計劃方面取得了重大進展，在年中增加了我們的現金回報承諾，將至少 75% 的自由現金流返還給股東。總的來說，我們在 2022 年返還了 68% 的自由現金流，相當於 31 億美元，通過我們的基本和可變股息以及股票回購計劃相結合，以每股 126 美元的平均價格回購近 870 萬股股票，總額為 11 億美元。當我們在 2021 年 9 月宣布我們的計劃時，這占我們已發行股票的 5%。通過我們的基本和可變股息額外返還了 20 億美元，與 2021 年相比，總股息增長了近 5 倍。總的來說，我們返還了每股股息 11.31 美元。僅在第四季度，我們的回報就超過 8.6 億美元或每股 5.65 美元，總股息收益率接近 9%。這包括將我們的年度基本股息增加 0.20 美元，現在每年每股 3.20 美元或每季度 0.80 美元，同比增長 54%。我們還在第四季度宣布了多項戰略交易，這些交易使我們的長期定位更好。我們進行了 2 次米德蘭盆地收購，Lario 和 FireBird，這兩家公司現已關閉並無縫整合，為我們的投資組合增加了 500 多個優質機會和 83,000 英畝淨土地。這種額外的庫存以及相關的生產和現金流鞏固了我們在米德蘭盆地的規模和規模，使我們在未來幾十年執行我們的資本計劃時具有戰略優勢。去年夏天，我們收購了 Rattler 的所有優秀部門，這讓我們更加靈活地從戰略上考慮我們現有的中游投資組合。我們現在有能力將交易價格高於我們上游業務的資產貨幣化，並利用收益來加強我們的資產負債表或收購更多的上游資產。第一個例子是將我們在 Gray Oak 原油管道中 10% 的權益出售給 Enbridge。我們的投資資本實現了 1.75 倍，並使用所得款項為收購 Lario 的現金部分提供部分資金。在我們評估 Rattler 運營的資產和權益法投資時，我們還對多個非核心上游頭寸進行了貨幣化。自去年第三季度以來，我們現在又剝離了 6 億美元的上游資產，其中包括最近在格拉斯科克東南部以及沃德和溫克勒縣進行的兩筆交易。這些資產根本沒有在我們的投資組合中爭奪直接資本。到今年年底，我們現在已將非核心資產目標銷售額從 5 億美元提高到至少 10 億美元。去年，我們提高了槓桿率，現在低於 1 倍，並且還將我們近 90% 的債務的期限推至 5 年之後，其中 2050 年代到期的債務超過 20 億美元，平均票息低於 5%。我們將繼續使用自由現金流和非核心資產銷售收益來降低我們的整體債務狀況，不斷改善我們的財務狀況。隨著我們進入 2023 年，我們預計預計生產量將同比持平。當你計算 Lario 的 11 個月和 FireBird 全年的生產貢獻時，我們的指導反映了每天 260,000 桶石油和 26 億美元的資本支出，同時運行 15 個鑽井平台和 4 個 simul-frac 工作人員。

In closing, 2022 was an outstanding year for the company. We generated record free cash flow and distributed nearly 70% of it to our shareholders, strengthened our balance sheet, extended our inventory runway and continue to produce one of the highest margin barrels in the industry. Looking ahead, our business model is working, and we are confident in our 2023 outlook and our ongoing ability to continue generating peer-leading returns for our stockholders.

最後，2022 年對公司來說是傑出的一年。我們產生了創紀錄的自由現金流，並將其中近 70% 分配給了我們的股東，加強了我們的資產負債表，擴大了我們的庫存跑道，並繼續生產業內利潤率最高的桶之一。展望未來，我們的商業模式正在發揮作用，我們對 2023 年的前景以及我們繼續為股東創造同行領先回報的持續能力充滿信心。

With these comments now complete, operator, please open the line for questions.

這些評論現在已經完成，接線員，請打開問題熱線。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Our first question comes from Neal Dingmann from Truist Securities.

我們的第一個問題來自 Truist Securities 的 Neal Dingmann。

My first question is just on shareholder return (inaudible). More than -- it's now been maybe even 2 years ago, certainly, more than a year ago, you mentioned way back that you thought once the macro supply demand was more in balance, you'd consider potentially more growth. I'm just wondering, has the thinking changed based on what we know of continued investor shareholder return or other factors that continue to drive sort of the environment we're in today?

我的第一個問題只是關於股東回報（聽不清）。超過 - 現在甚至可能是 2 年前，當然，一年多以前，你提到過你認為一旦宏觀供應需求更加平衡，你就會考慮潛在的更多增長。我只是想知道，根據我們對持續的投資者股東回報或繼續推動我們今天所處環境的其他因素的了解，這種想法是否發生了變化？

Yes, Neal, I don't think the macro conditions are dictating any kind of production growth currently. I mean you still have an uncertain Fed action. You've got uncertainty around China, COVID, demand recovery. You've still got Russian barrels that are still finding their way into the market. So it doesn't appear to me that the macro conditions have fundamentally changed. And certainly, the feedback -- and perhaps, most importantly, the feedback we get from our shareholders are encouraging us to continue to embrace a shareholder return more.

是的，尼爾，我認為目前宏觀條件並未決定任何形式的產量增長。我的意思是你仍然有不確定的美聯儲行動。中國、新冠肺炎和需求復蘇存在不確定性。你仍然有俄羅斯桶，它們仍在尋找進入市場的途徑。所以在我看來，宏觀條件並沒有發生根本性的變化。當然，反饋 - 也許最重要的是，我們從股東那裡得到的反饋鼓勵我們繼續更多地接受股東回報。

Yes. I think also on top of that, Neal, we're going to be growing oil production per share significantly in 2023 through 2 well-timed acquisitions and a significant amount of buybacks in 2022. So per share metrics continue to improve. We continue to invest in high-return projects while not having to change our activity plan, on a monthly basis trying to follow the crude price. The plan is the plan, and this steady state of activity has produced good results to date. And no need to change that while it's working right now.

是的。我認為最重要的是，尼爾，我們將在 2023 年通過 2 次適時的收購和 2022 年的大量回購顯著增加每股石油產量。因此每股指標繼續改善。我們繼續投資於高回報項目，同時不必改變我們的活動計劃，每月嘗試跟隨原油價格。計劃就是計劃，這種穩定的活動狀態迄今為止產生了良好的效果。並且在它現在工作時無需更改它。

Good point, Kaes. That might really leads to my follow-up, just on capital efficiency. Specifically, when I look at -- by our calculation, you all pump out more free cash flow per barrel of oil than any E&P. And I'm just wondering, when you look at this driver, is that based -- is that driven largely on this co-development that you talked about? Is it capital efficiency? I'm just wondering, you all just most recently seem to be hitting all the right numbers. But I'm wondering when I look at this all important metric, what Travis or you, Kaes, would consider, maybe some of the drivers of that.

好點，凱斯。這可能真的會導致我跟進，只是關於資本效率。具體來說，當我看——根據我們的計算，你們每桶石油產生的自由現金流都比任何 E&P 都多。我只是想知道，當你看這個驅動程序時，它是否基於 - 它主要是由你談到的這種共同開發驅動的嗎？是資本效率嗎？我只是想知道，你們最近似乎都達到了所有正確的數字。但我想知道，當我查看這個所有重要指標時，Travis 或你 Kaes 會考慮什麼，也許是其中的一些驅動因素。

Yes. It's certainly not just one thing, Neal. It's really a combination of all the things, that we focus on. Really multiple times a day, when it comes to executing our program. Certainly, well productivity enhancements add to that, but that's really an output of a very difficult decision we made in 2019 to pivot away from kind of the best 2 zone development strategy. And embrace the multi-zone full section development strategy, which we're seeing benefits of today. You also hear us talk frequently about our cost structure, and that cost structure is made up not only on the expense side, where -- whether it's G&A or LOE, but also on the capital efficiency side where we continue to push the envelope, particularly on the variable cost side of things, simply doing more with less. And all of those things combined, I think, put us consistently towards the top of the most margin efficient producer in the basin.

是的。這當然不僅僅是一件事，Neal。它實際上是我們關注的所有事物的組合。在執行我們的程序時，一天真的好幾次。當然，生產率的提高會增加這一點，但這確實是我們在 2019 年做出的一個非常艱難的決定的結果，該決定偏離了最好的 2 區開發戰略。並採用多區域全區開發戰略，我們今天看到了它的好處。您還會聽到我們經常談論我們的成本結構，並且該成本結構不僅由費用方面組成，無論是 G&A 還是 LOE，而且還包括我們繼續突破極限的資本效率方面，特別是在事物的可變成本方面，只需用更少的錢做更多的事。我認為，所有這些因素結合在一起，使我們始終躋身該盆地利潤率最高的生產商之列。

Our next question comes from Neil Mehta from Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題來自高盛的 Neil Mehta。

The first question, I had was around noncore asset sales and you did bump your target from $0.5 billion to $1 billion, by year-end 2023. Can you give us a little bit more color around what are the natural strategic assets? And what the market looks like for asset sales right now?

我的第一個問題是關於非核心資產出售，你確實將你的目標從 5 億美元提高到 10 億美元，到 2023 年底。你能給我們更多關於什麼是自然戰略資產的顏色嗎？現在資產出售的市場情況如何？

Yes, Neil, great question. I think we announced 2 E&P asset sales, noncore asset sales this quarter that, I think fit the mold of what the market looks like, right now. And that's -- assets that don't compete for capital in our capital plan for many, many years and a little bit of PDP associated with those assets. But generally, a buyer that is looking to develop those assets a lot faster than we're planning, and so these 2 deals, the buyers are going to get aggressive developing these 2 assets right away, which in the capital allocators, it's just good capital allocation from our perspective. Going into it, we expected to sell more midstream assets than E&P assets. So that's why we bumped the target, and we still have some strategic midstream investments that are nearing the point where they should be monetized. Gray Oak, I think, was a great example. We retained all of our commercial benefits of the transaction. We still move our barrels to the Gulf Coast. But just that from a financial perspective, the pipeline was a great investment and it worked, and we monetize it to the partners. So I'd expect more on the midstream side. We did highlight what we have from a midstream perspective in the deck for the first time, but we're going to be patient and prudent when it comes to selling assets.

是的，尼爾，好問題。我認為我們本季度宣布了 2 項 E&P 資產出售，非核心資產出售，我認為這符合目前市場的模式。那就是 - 多年來在我們的資本計劃中不競爭資本的資產以及與這些資產相關的一些 PDP。但總的來說，希望開發這些資產的買家比我們計劃的要快得多，所以這兩項交易，買家將立即積極開發這兩項資產，這在資本分配者中，這很好從我們的角度來看資本配置。考慮到這一點，我們預計將出售比 E&P 資產更多的中游資產。所以這就是我們提高目標的原因，我們仍然有一些戰略性的中游投資接近它們應該貨幣化的程度。我認為，灰橡樹就是一個很好的例子。我們保留了交易的所有商業利益。我們仍然將桶移至墨西哥灣沿岸。但從財務角度來看，這條管道是一項偉大的投資，而且它奏效了，我們將它貨幣化給了合作夥伴。所以我希望在中游方面有更多。我們確實第一次從甲板上的中游角度強調了我們擁有的東西，但在出售資產方面我們將保持耐心和謹慎。

Yes, that's great perspective. And then the follow-up is, that the oil volume guide for the full year was solid. Q1 a little bit softer. So maybe you could just talk about the cadence of production over the course of the year, and just how we should be thinking about the path for oil production in particular in 2023?

是的，這是很好的觀點。然後後續行動是，全年的石油量指南是可靠的。 Q1 稍微柔和一點。所以也許你可以談談一年中的生產節奏，以及我們應該如何考慮石油生產的路徑，特別是在 2023 年？

Yes. Good question as well. I think the plan when we acquired FireBird, FireBird was producing 17,000 barrels of oil a day. We guided to that asset producing 19,000 barrels of oil a day, for the year 2023. So clearly, some growth on that asset we're already seeing, but we'll see the majority of that benefit going into Q2 to Q4. And then on top of that, obviously, closing the Lario acquisition on January 31, that immediately adds 6,000 net barrels a day -- sorry, subtract 6,000 net barrels a day from Q1, because we didn't get to count those volumes in January. So base case plan is to grow steadily from Q1 through Q4, and we got the projects to back that up.

是的。好問題也是如此。我認為我們收購 FireBird 時的計劃是，FireBird 每天生產 17,000 桶石油。我們指導該資產在 2023 年每天生產 19,000 桶石油。很明顯，我們已經看到該資產的一些增長，但我們將看到大部分收益進入第二季度至第四季度。然後最重要的是，顯然，在 1 月 31 日完成對 Lario 的收購，這立即增加了每天 6,000 桶的淨產量——抱歉，從第一季度每天減去 6,000 桶的淨產量，因為我們沒有在 1 月份計算這些數量.因此，基本案例計劃是從第一季度到第四季度穩步增長，我們得到了支持這一點的項目。

And our next question comes from Arun Jayaram from JPMorgan Securities.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根大通證券的 Arun Jayaram。

Travis, you mentioned in your prepared remarks, how the company has really optimized its multizone co-development strategy, over the last couple 2, 3 years. I was wondering, if you could provide a little bit more detail around kind of what you're doing today? I know, on Slide 16, you gave us a lot of great detail on the amount of net lateral footage by zone, but I wanted to understand what you're doing to maybe, mitigate some of the issues we're seeing from the industry, in terms of parent-child interference and impact from delayed targets. And just your thoughts on sustaining the level of well productivity gains that you generated last year into the future.

特拉維斯，你在準備好的發言中提到，在過去的兩三年裡，公司如何真正優化其多區域共同開發戰略。我想知道，您能否就您今天正在做的事情提供更多細節？我知道，在幻燈片 16 上，您向我們提供了很多關於按區域劃分的淨橫向鏡頭數量的詳細信息，但我想了解您正在做的事情，也許可以減輕我們從行業中看到的一些問題，在親子乾擾和延遲目標的影響方面。以及您對將去年產生的油井生產率提高水平維持到未來的想法。

Yes. Good question, Arun. In 2018 and early 2019, we were really studying this co-development strategy intently. And the significant observation that we made from our analysis was that essentially, all of these zones talk to each other. And if they talk to each other, which means you actually have pressure communication during the fracking operations, which subsequently also means that you're kind of sharing the reserves, as an individual well is produced that if you don't get them upon initial -- the initial development that when you go back in later, you'll find those zones have experienced some depletion and that depletion degrades the efficiency of your stimulated rock volume, which ultimately changes the production profile. And so, in order to address that, we examined our spacing assumptions, both side to side and top to bottom, and made adjustments to try to minimize those frac pressure interferences. Spread some zones out further, spread some zones above and below further, but essentially went into a section, half of section this time was our development strategy, and completed all the wells at one time and then brought them all on, at one time. And that was a painful decision because it's not a lot easier. In fact, I've been -- I've said it before, that I'll take criticism from drilling the very best zone, but we found out that, that actually wasn't the right development strategy, and we took some time for that, in 2019. But as you can see, we put some details in our -- on Slide 16, as you alluded to. We're in the Midland Basin, our well results are equivalent to what, we were seeing in 2017. So very proud of the technical team and their diligence to try to crack a very difficult problem, and then the courage to stay with that decision through periods when we were questioned about that development strategy. So, I hope that answers your question, Arun.

是的。好問題，阿倫。在 2018 年和 2019 年初，我們確實在認真研究這種共同發展戰略。我們從分析中得出的重要觀察結果是，基本上，所有這些區域都在相互交流。如果他們互相交談，這意味著您實際上在水力壓裂作業期間進行了壓力溝通，這隨後也意味著您在某種程度上分享了儲量，因為如果您最初沒有得到它們，就會生產一口單獨的油井- 最初的開發，當你稍後回去時，你會發現這些區域已經經歷了一些枯竭，並且這種枯竭會降低你的增產岩石體積的效率，最終改變生產概況。因此，為了解決這個問題，我們檢查了我們的間距假設，從一邊到另一邊和從上到下，並進行了調整以盡量減少這些壓裂壓力干擾。把一些區再往外鋪，把一些區再往上往下舖，但本質上是一個區，一半區，這次是我們的開發策略，一次打完所有的井，然後全部上來，一次。這是一個痛苦的決定，因為它並不容易。事實上，我一直——我之前說過，我會接受鑽探最佳區域的批評，但我們發現，這實際上不是正確的發展戰略，我們花了一些時間為此，在 2019 年。但是正如你所看到的，我們在幻燈片 16 上放了一些細節，正如你提到的那樣。我們在米德蘭盆地，我們的油井結果相當於我們在 2017 年看到的結果。非常為技術團隊感到自豪，他們努力解決一個非常困難的問題，然後有勇氣堅持這個決定在我們被問及該發展戰略的時期。所以，我希望這能回答你的問題，Arun。

That's helpful. And maybe just a follow-up. I wanted to get some thoughts on some of the initial well results from FireBird. I believe in that transaction, you guys underwrote just over 350 gross locations, but you highlighted some potential upside based on code development opportunities. I was wondering, thoughts on maybe some of the initial results in the Wolfcamp A, which I don't think was part of your original assessment of locations that you paid for.

這很有幫助。也許只是一個後續行動。我想對 FireBird 的一些初始井結果有一些想法。我相信在那筆交易中，你們承保了 350 多個總位置，但你們強調了基於代碼開發機會的一些潛在優勢。我想知道，關於 Wolfcamp A 的一些初步結果的想法，我認為這不是您對您支付的地點的原始評估的一部分。

Yes, great question, Arun. I think FireBird, at the end of the day, is the quintessential Diamondback deal, where we know the space and like the back of our hand and have been communicating with the FireBird team, as they tested their position further west in the basin than others have in the past. And we follow the results closely, and posted a couple of recent results that I think, confirm a couple of things, but also give us some hope on upside in the central prospect. And there's a couple of wells that Nakeisha-Mayberry on the far west side. This was probably the farthest west test to date, and not an area we underwrote, and you have a very good Wolfcamp A result far west. And then, in the southern portion of the position, you have the Sally -- sorry, you have the 4 corners 2 wells Wolfcamp A and Lower Spraberry. And we underwrote Lower Spraberry with Wolfcamp A upside across the central prospect, and it's looking more like you can have Lower Spraberry with Wolfcamp A co-development across that position. So early days yet, but definitely a positive sign from the FireBird deal and our technical teams work in getting that deal, across the finish line.

是的，好問題，阿倫。我認為，歸根結底，FireBird 是典型的響尾蛇交易，我們了解空間，就像我們的手背一樣，並且一直在與 FireBird 團隊溝通，因為他們測試了他們在盆地中比其他人更西的位置有過去。我們密切關注結果，並發布了一些我認為最近的結果，證實了一些事情，但也給了我們一些在中央前景上行的希望。 Nakeisha-Mayberry 在最西邊有幾口井。這可能是迄今為止最遠的西部測試，而不是我們承保的區域，而且你在西部的 Wolfcamp A 結果非常好。然後，在該位置的南部，你有 Sally——抱歉，你有 4 個角落、2 個井 Wolfcamp A 和 Lower Spraberry。我們承銷了 Lower Spraberry 和 Wolfcamp A 在中央前景的優勢，看起來你可以在 Lower Spraberry 和 Wolfcamp A 共同開發這個職位。現在還早，但 FireBird 交易絕對是一個積極的信號，我們的技術團隊正在努力完成這筆交易。

Our next question comes from David Deckelbaum from Cowen.

我們的下一個問題來自 Cowen 的 David Deckelbaum。

The first question was really -- the first question is really just a follow-up on Arun's question. (inaudible) you've seen a thematic of your peers testing additional zones this year. Maybe can you give us a sense of the 330 to 350 wells you're doing this year? (inaudible) current inventory?

第一個問題實際上是——第一個問題實際上只是對 Arun 問題的跟進。 （聽不清）您已經看到同行今年測試其他區域的主題。也許你能給我們介紹一下你今年正在做的 330 到 350 口井？ （聽不清）當前庫存？

Yes, David, you're breaking up a little bit there. So I'm going to try to repeat, what I thought you said, which is, what other zones are we testing outside of our traditional development zones across the basin. Is that correct?

是的，大衛，你在那裡有點分手了。因此，我將嘗試重複一遍，我想你說過的話，即我們正在整個盆地的傳統開發區之外測試哪些其他區域。那是對的嗎？

That's correct. Sorry about that.

這是正確的。對於那個很抱歉。

Yes, no problem. So generally, right, the majority of our capital is going to be allocated to the best zones, co-development. A big development this year, in kind of the sale of Robertson ranches and the Central Martin County area. So that's where the majority of capital is getting deployed. Certainly, there are deeper tests going on throughout the basin. We have our Limelight Prospect, which covers that those deeper zones, a tariff structure on the eastern side of the Midland Basin, where we're going to be developing some Woodford and Barnett. Generally, we're probably going to drill 3 or 4 wells there, this year. I don't think it's going to be 10, 15 plus. But I think generally, promising results from the deeper zones across the basin and the benefit of our position is that we hold a lot of those deeper zones, and we have a significantly large mineral company that owns mineral rights to the center of the earth forever, in all those zones. So if those zones start getting leased up, it's a great benefit to the Diamondback FireBird relationship.

是沒有問題。所以一般來說，我們的大部分資金將分配給最好的區域，共同開發。今年的一項重大發展是出售羅伯遜牧場和中央馬丁縣地區。所以這就是大部分資本被部署的地方。當然，整個盆地都在進行更深入的測試。我們有我們的 Limelight Prospect，它涵蓋了那些更深的區域，米德蘭盆地東部的關稅結構，我們將在那裡開發一些 Woodford 和 Barnett。一般來說，今年我們可能會在那裡鑽 3 或 4 口井。我不認為它會是 10、15 加。但我認為，總的來說，整個盆地更深區域的結果是有希望的，我們的位置的好處是我們擁有很多更深的區域，而且我們擁有一家非常大的礦業公司，永遠擁有地球中心的礦產權，在所有這些區域。因此，如果這些區域開始出租，這對 Diamondback FireBird 關係來說是一個很大的好處。

And then (inaudible) third year now of being in relatively a maintenance mode or low-growth mode. Have you seen noticeable differences year-over-year in benefits from perhaps improved base declines? And how does decline (inaudible) on '22 or '21?

然後（聽不清）現在處於相對維護模式或低增長模式的第三年。您是否看到基數下降的改善帶來的收益逐年顯著差異？ 22 年或 21 年的下降（聽不清）如何？

Yes, again, breaking up a little bit, but talking about base declines. I think the base business, obviously, the base decline continued to decrease since being a maintenance mode, from 2020. We did add 2 acquisitions in FireBird and Lario, where they have built a lot of rate very quickly. And so those 2 deals have a higher decline rate than the base business, but I think we've managed that in our guidance and also manage that in how we're going to complete wells across the pro forma position. So certainly, base decline is coming down, but I really think the best benefit of this lower growth environment is that, we can grow per share metrics while not having to change our development plan with every $10 move in oil price, right? The plan is the plan right now. Share has certainly become longer cycle with these bigger pads, and so we're not having to put a stress on the ops teams to move pads around, if oil moves $5 or $10 a barrel.

是的，又是一點點突破，但談論的是基數下降。我認為基礎業務，很明顯，自 2020 年以來，作為一種維護模式，基礎業務的下降幅度繼續下降。我們確實在 FireBird 和 Lario 中增加了 2 筆收購，他們很快就建立了很多速度。因此，這兩項交易的下降率高於基礎業務，但我認為我們已經在我們的指導中做到了這一點，並且在我們將如何完成備考職位的油井方面也做到了這一點。所以當然，基礎下降正在下降，但我真的認為這種低增長環境的最大好處是，我們可以增長每股指標，而不必隨著油價每 10 美元的波動而改變我們的發展計劃，對吧？計劃就是現在的計劃。有了這些更大的墊片，份額肯定會變得更長的周期，所以如果油價每桶移動 5 美元或 10 美元，我們就不必向操作團隊施加壓力來移動墊片。

Our next question comes from the line of Jeanine Wai from Barclays.

我們的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的 Jeanine Wai。

Our first question maybe just following up on David's question there, on capital efficiency. Capital efficiency looked great in Q4, and you turned to sales about 55 net wells and you hit oil when your guidance, we think, implied like 73 net wells, so that's great. For 2023, the number of wells to sales looks a little bit higher than what we would have expected, if we just use the amount of wells you did in '22, and then we add in the Lario and the FireBird deal wells. So are we looking at that math correctly, for 2023? And any color you would have would be helpful since including the divestitures, we still think the '23 outlook looks conservative, and we're assuming that the priority is really to beat on CapEx and not volumes.

我們的第一個問題可能只是跟進 David 關於資本效率的問題。第四季度的資本效率看起來很好，你轉向銷售大約 55 口淨井，當你的指導，我們認為，暗示 73 口淨井時，你遇到了石油，這很好。對於 2023 年，銷售的油井數量看起來略高於我們的預期，如果我們只使用你在 22 年所做的油井數量，然後我們添加 Lario 和 FireBird 交易井。那麼我們是否正確地看待 2023 年的數學？自從包括資產剝離以來，你所擁有的任何顏色都會有所幫助，我們仍然認為 23 年的前景看起來很保守，我們假設優先事項確實是在資本支出而不是數量上。

Yes, Jeanine, I think a couple of things, right? Q4 was going to be a great quarter, going into December. We had obviously, we all had a winter storm here. Diamondback did not announce the winter storm impact, but certainly, the winter storm did impact our production. So going into the last 10 days of the quarter, we felt very good about where we sat and, still hit guidance. And therefore, from a POP perspective, we kind of moved some wells from Q4 into Q1 to get a head start on POPs. It's not a huge capital impact, but it is a number where we guide to first production. So there's a good amount of POPS in Q1 2023, because we were ahead of schedule in Q4 and feeling good about where we started Q1 this year.

是的，珍妮，我想了幾件事，對吧？進入 12 月，第四季度將是一個很棒的季度。很明顯，我們都在這裡經歷了一場冬季風暴。 Diamondback 沒有宣布冬季風暴的影響，但可以肯定的是，冬季風暴確實影響了我們的生產。因此，進入本季度的最後 10 天，我們對自己的位置感覺非常好，並且仍然達到了指導。因此，從持久性有機污染物的角度來看，我們將一些油井從第四季度移到了第一季度，以便在持久性有機污染物方面取得領先。這不是一個巨大的資本影響，但它是我們指導首次生產的一個數字。所以 2023 年第一季度有大量的持久性有機污染物，因為我們在第四季度提前完成了計劃，並且對我們今年第一季度的開始感覺很好。

Okay. Great. And then maybe just going back to return of capital. Looking at, just the buyback plus the variable amount for this quarter, the buyback was about 44% between the 2 of those. Is that rough split kind of indicative of what we should be expecting in the future? Or is it really just more opportunistic every quarter. We're just really just checking in, if there's any change in how you're viewing the variable versus the buyback.

好的。偉大的。然後也許只是回到資本回報。看看，僅回購加上本季度的可變金額，兩者之間的回購約為 44%。這種粗略的分裂是否預示著我們對未來的期望？或者它真的只是每個季度都更具機會主義色彩。如果您查看變量與回購的方式有任何變化，我們真的只是在檢查。

Yes, no change, Jeanine. Really, the variable is the output of how many shares we didn't buy back in a particular quarter, and the buyback is still going to be very opportunistic. And I think, now that we've kind of gone through this for 4 or 5 quarters. You can see that we step in and buy back when things are weaker. There's still been a lot of volatility in the space. We're going through a period of that volatility, right now. And so you look back at a quarter like Q4, bought back less shares in October and November, but hit the buyback very hard in December. And I think, you can expect us to keep doing that and then having the variable be the output of what base dividend plus buyback doesn't get through in a particular quarter.

是的，沒有變化，珍妮。真的，變量是我們在特定季度沒有回購的股票數量的輸出，回購仍然是非常機會主義的。而且我認為，現在我們已經經歷了 4 或 5 個季度。你可以看到我們介入並在情況較弱時回購。該領域仍然存在很大的波動性。我們正在經歷一段動盪時期，現在。所以你回顧一下第四季度這樣的季度，在 10 月和 11 月回購的股票較少，但在 12 月回購非常嚴重。而且我認為，您可以期望我們繼續這樣做，然後讓變量成為特定季度未通過的基本股息加回購的輸出。

Derrick Whitfield from Stifel has our next question.

Stifel 的 Derrick Whitfield 有我們的下一個問題。

Congrats on a strong year-end.

祝賀年終表現強勁。

Thank you, Derrick.

謝謝你，德里克。

Thanks, Derrick.

謝謝，德里克。

Building on an earlier question, I wanted to focus on your well productivity. Aside from the development sequencing impacts, are there 1 to 2 primary drivers that would explain the improvement you observed in well performance year-over-year?

基於先前的問題，我想關注您的油井生產率。除了開發順序的影響之外，是否有 1 到 2 個主要驅動因素可以解釋您觀察到的油井性能逐年改善？

I think the biggest benefit, Derrick, is not only the assets we acquired from QEP and Guidon. I think that deal while done at a tough time hit exactly what you're looking for in a transaction, right? We allocate more capital to those assets that we would have allocated to the business prior to the deals. So we're seeing a little benefit there. Those assets are also in areas where you have 3 or 4 or even 5 zone development, and so we're having massive pads come on in high-return areas, with a little bit of a benefit on the Viper side, with high mineral interest across that position. So space, as Travis mentioned earlier in the call, taking a close look at spacing, learning from other operators in the basin, what to do and what not to do, and implementing that very quickly into our plan is paying dividends.

我認為最大的好處，Derrick，不僅是我們從 QEP 和 Guidon 獲得的資產。我認為這筆交易雖然在艱難時期完成，但正是您在交易中尋找的東西，對吧？我們將更多的資本分配給那些我們在交易前本應分配給業務的資產。所以我們在那裡看到了一點好處。這些資產也在你有 3 或 4 甚至 5 區開發的區域，因此我們在高回報區域有大量的墊子，在 Viper 方面有一點好處，具有很高的礦產興趣越過那個位置。因此，正如特拉維斯早些時候在電話會議中提到的那樣，密切關注空間間距，向流域內的其他運營商學習該做什麼和不該做什麼，並迅速將其實施到我們的計劃中，這會帶來回報。

Perfect. And for my follow-up, I wanted to focus on your 2023 capital program. If we were to assume a flat commodity price environment, where are your greatest headwinds and tailwinds from a service cost perspective?

完美的。對於我的後續行動，我想關注你的 2023 年資本計劃。如果我們假設商品價格環境持平，那麼從服務成本的角度來看，您最大的逆風和順風在哪裡？

The biggest headwind over the last 6 quarters has been casing costs. Now we can certainly see around the corner, that maybe we're seeing some softening there. I'm not going to count on it until we see it, but casing has moved up from, let's call it, $40 or $50 a foot to $110 a foot. It's 20% of our Midland Basin well cost now, and that's a significant headwind over the last 6 quarters. I think the headwind is going to ease. If not, it's a little bit out of our control. But the things that we can control are the efficiencies gained from simul-frac operations. We'll probably have 4 simul-frac crews running by Q2 of this year, which is highly efficient, saves about $30 a foot versus conventional crews. And on top of that, 2 of those crews are going to be the Halliburton and e-fleet Zeus crews, and those use less fuel, but also run on cheap Waha gas right now. So that saves another $15 or $20 a foot. So we're doing what we can, to cut costs and keep costs as low as possible in an inflationary environment.

過去 6 個季度最大的阻力是套管成本。現在我們肯定可以看到拐角處，也許我們在那裡看到了一些軟化。在我們看到它之前我不會指望它，但是套管已經從每英尺 40 美元或 50 美元上漲到每英尺 110 美元。現在它占我們米德蘭盆地油井成本的 20%，這是過去 6 個季度的重大不利因素。我認為逆風將會減弱。如果不是，那就有點超出我們的控制了。但我們可以控制的是從同步壓裂操作中獲得的效率。到今年第二季度，我們可能會有 4 個模擬壓裂機組運行，效率很高，與傳統機組相比，每英尺可節省約 30 美元。最重要的是，其中 2 名機組人員將成為 Halliburton 和 e-fleet Zeus 機組人員，它們使用更少的燃料，但現在也使用廉價的 Waha 汽油。這樣每英尺又可以節省 15 或 20 美元。因此，我們正在盡我們所能，在通貨膨脹的環境中削減成本並儘可能降低成本。

Our next question comes from Roger Read from Wells Fargo Securities.

我們的下一個問題來自 Wells Fargo Securities 的 Roger Read。

I'd just like to maybe dive into the gas takeaway question and how you're -- I understand how you're positioned not to have Waha basis risk for the most part, but what are you looking at in terms of flow assurance this year, and to the extent you can say next year?

我只想深入探討天然氣外賣問題以及您的情況 - 我了解您如何定位大部分情況下沒有 Waha 基礎風險，但您在流量保證方面有何看法年，明年可以說到什麼程度？

Good question, Roger. I don't think flow assurance is going to be an issue for us, but we are exposed to the Waha price based on how the contracts are written. Through the history of Diamondback, we've been very acquisitive, and when we acquire things, it comes with contracts. And so all those contracts are with private equity backed or some of the public Gas Gathering and processors in the basin. So I feel really good about our flow assurance and our contracts, the issue is going to be price. And what we've seen in the basin is some tightness coming out of the basin on Waha, when pipelines have gone up or gone down over the last 6 months. But really, there's a lot of processing capacity that's now coming on in the early part of 2023, particularly with 2 of our Midland Basin gatherers and processors. And I think that generally is going to move the issue further downstream. So it's going to be a tight gas market in the Permian. Henry Hub prices obviously aren't helping as well, but we feel good that the gas will move, and we're well hedged financially to protect from that downside.

問得好，羅傑。我認為流量保證不會成為我們的問題，但根據合同的編寫方式，我們會受到 Waha 價格的影響。縱觀 Diamondback 的歷史，我們一直非常貪婪，當我們獲得東西時，它伴隨著合同。因此，所有這些合同都是由私募股權支持或盆地中的一些公共天然氣收集和加工商支持的。所以我對我們的流量保證和合同感覺非常好，問題將是價格。我們在盆地中看到的是 Waha 盆地的一些緊張情況，過去 6 個月管道上升或下降。但實際上，到 2023 年初，會有很多處理能力出現，尤其是我們的 2 個米德蘭盆地採集器和處理器。我認為這通常會將問題進一步推向下游。因此，二疊紀的天然氣市場將變得緊張。亨利樞紐的價格顯然也無濟於事，但我們對天然氣的走勢感到滿意，並且我們在財務上進行了很好的對沖以防止這種下行。

Okay. Appreciate that. And the other question I wanted to follow up on -- I'm just looking for the right page. Yes, Page 23 on the hedge summary. Any thoughts on -- if we look at where Q1 is hedged, Q2 really kind of similar. Is that what you'd want to do ultimately for the back half of the year, as we draw in closer and it becomes more financially reasonable to do that? Or are you, at this point, more comfortable going a little less hedged, just given the overall structure of the balance sheet, presumably with these dispositions coming, a little more cash coming in.

好的。感謝。我想跟進的另一個問題——我只是在尋找正確的頁面。是的，第 23 頁上的對沖摘要。任何想法——如果我們看一下 Q1 的對沖位置，Q2 確實有點相似。這就是你最終想要在今年下半年做的事情嗎，因為我們越來越近了，這樣做在經濟上變得更合理了？或者，在這一點上，你是否更願意減少對沖，只是考慮到資產負債表的整體結構，大概隨著這些處置的到來，會有更多的現金流入。

Great question, Roger. We don't believe in no hedges, I think, primarily because our balance sheet is a hedge. Our cost structures are hedged, but we consider our base dividend debt, right? And our base dividend is now $3.20 a share. It's almost $550 million of outflows a year. We think it's well protected today at $40 a barrel, but we don't want to put that in harm's way. So we buy puts as fire insurance, and we basically use the front quarter to extend duration 3 or 4 quarters out. We try to be 50% to 60% hedged going into a particular quarter on oil down to 0% hedge 4, 5 quarters out. So I think you can continue to expect us to do that, and your observations are 100% correct, that in the back half of the year, it will grow as we go through the year.

好問題，羅傑。我認為，我們不相信沒有對沖，主要是因為我們的資產負債表是一種對沖。我們的成本結構是對沖的，但我們考慮了我們的基本股息債務，對吧？我們的基本股息現在是每股 3.20 美元。每年流出近 5.5 億美元。我們認為它今天以每桶 40 美元的價格得到了很好的保護，但我們不想讓它受到傷害。所以我們購買看跌期權作為火災保險，我們基本上使用前一個季度將久期延長 3 或 4 個季度。我們試圖在進入特定季度時對沖 50% 至 60% 的石油，在 4、5 個季度後降至 0%。所以我認為你可以繼續期望我們這樣做，你的觀察是 100% 正確的，在今年下半年，它會隨著我們度過這一年而增長。

Our next question comes from Jeoffrey Lambujon from Perella Weinberg Partners.

我們的下一個問題來自 Perella Weinberg Partners 的 Jeoffrey Lambujon。

Just a couple for me, follow-ups on the service cost environment and Diamondback read-through specifically. I guess, first, I appreciate the comments on what you're watching for and how Diamondback is positioned to really maximize with (inaudible) control. But I wonder, if you could speak a little more broadly to what you're expecting in terms of year-over-year changes on inflation. I think the materials speak to 15%, as the base case and really more so how that compares to what you're seeing on a leading-edge basis? And then I guess last one is, how we should think about the balance of the CapEx guide for this year, in that context? And then the second part of my question is, just looking for a snapshot of well cost today, on a per foot basis are tracking relative to the full year guide range and also relative to the mid-November snapshot that we got in last quarter's earnings?

對我來說只是一對夫婦，關於服務成本環境的跟進和響尾蛇的具體通讀。我想，首先，我很欣賞關於您正在觀看的內容以及 Diamondback 如何定位以真正最大化（聽不清）控制的評論。但我想知道，您是否可以更廣泛地談談您對通貨膨脹同比變化的預期。我認為這些材料佔 15%，作為基本情況，實際上更多，所以與您在前沿基礎上看到的相比如何？然後我想最後一個是，在這種情況下，我們應該如何考慮今年資本支出指南的平衡？然後我的問題的第二部分是，只是尋找今天井成本的快照，以每英尺為基礎跟踪相對於全年指導範圍以及相對於我們在上一季度收益中獲得的 11 月中旬快照？

Good question, Jeoff. I think, generally, we guided to this year being around 15% year-over-year well costs, sub-10% from what we highlighted in November. And I would say, generally, those numbers still fit today. I would say, we're probably in the upper half of our well cost guidance for both Midland and Delaware today. But generally, there are some things coming our way outside of service cost deflation, and that's another Halliburton, Zeus, e-fleet moving to 4 simul-fracs versus last year, we ran 3 in a spot crew. So that last simul-frac adds some efficiency. And I kind of put the budget 2 ways this year. I think if we see deflation, we're going to be closer to the lower half of our guide. And if we stay flat, we'll be to midpoint to the higher end. But I think generally, the anecdotes are coming in, that some things are heading our way from a service cost perspective. And unlike last year, not everything -- not every line item will go up in the AFE.

問得好，傑夫。我認為，總的來說，我們指導今年的油井成本同比增長 15% 左右，低於我們在 11 月強調的水平的 10%。我會說，總的來說，這些數字今天仍然適用。我想說的是，我們今天可能處於米德蘭和特拉華州井成本指導的上半部分。但總的來說，除了服務成本緊縮之外，還有一些事情正在發生，這是另一個 Halliburton、Zeus、e-fleet 與去年相比移動到 4 個 simul-fracs，我們在一個現場工作人員中運行了 3 個。所以最後的 simul-frac 增加了一些效率。今年我將預算分為兩種方式。我認為如果我們看到通貨緊縮，我們將更接近我們指南的下半部分。如果我們保持平穩，我們將達到中點到高端。但我認為，總的來說，軼事不斷湧現，從服務成本的角度來看，有些事情正在朝著我們的方向發展。與去年不同的是，並非所有 - 並非每個項目都會出現在 AFE 中。

And our next question comes from Scott Gruber from Citigroup.

我們的下一個問題來自花旗集團的 Scott Gruber。

I want to circle back on the completion efficiency comments, e-frac obviously brings a pretty good fuel savings given the gas diesel spread here and obviously, associated ESG benefits. But do you think e-frac additions will be additive to the improvement in cycle times, above and beyond what you're seeing from simul-frac?

我想回過頭來談談完成效率的評論，考慮到這裡的天然氣柴油價差以及相關的 ESG 收益，e-frac 顯然可以節省相當多的燃料。但是您認為電子壓裂的添加是否會增加循環時間的改進，超出您從模擬壓裂中看到的？

I think, generally, Scott, they complete a similar amount of lateral feet, as the simul-frac crews as we're seeing early time. But on top of that, e-fleets on a fuel efficiency basis, not just the type of fuel, but the efficiency of the fuel used is -- has been a positive surprise. I think the last thing I would add is that it does operate on a much smaller footprint. So maybe your moves are smaller, but you do have some electrical infrastructure associated with those fleets. Dan, do you want to add anything on that?

我認為，一般來說，斯科特，他們完成了類似數量的側腳，就像我們早期看到的模擬壓裂工作人員一樣。但最重要的是，基於燃油效率的電子車隊，不僅是燃料的類型，而且所用燃料的效率——一直是一個積極的驚喜。我認為我要補充的最後一件事是它確實佔用了更小的空間。因此，也許您的移動規模較小，但您確實擁有與這些車隊相關的一些電氣基礎設施。丹，你想補充什麼嗎？

Yes. I think we've only been running the first crew for about 6 months, and we've been really impressed with the performance thus far. It's outperformed our other fleets kind of on the margin, but not too measurable. We do believe that over time, you'll see that gap widen in performance, just really believe, that the maintenance required around the e-fleet equipment will be substantially less. So we're excited to learn through that with Halliburton and recognize some added efficiencies on top of just fuel savings, as we go forward.

是的。我認為我們只運行了大約 6 個月的第一批工作人員，到目前為止的表現給我們留下了深刻的印象。它在某種程度上優於我們的其他機隊，但不是太可衡量。我們確實相信，隨著時間的推移，您會看到性能差距擴大，只是真的相信，圍繞電子艦隊設備所需的維護將會大大減少。因此，我們很高興與哈里伯頓一起學習這一點，並認識到在我們前進的過程中，除了節省燃料之外，還可以提高一些效率。

And if service costs do start to slip in the Permian with Haynesville rigs and frac crews coming out migrating over, how quickly do you think that will hit your D&C costs? If that starts to kind of pivot here in the near future, is there an ability for you to realize that in the second half? Or we really talk about the 2024 benefit just given your contracts kind of in place at this juncture?

如果隨著海恩斯維爾鑽井平台和壓裂工作人員的遷移，二疊紀的服務成本確實開始下滑，您認為這將以多快的速度降低您的 D&C 成本？如果這種情況在不久的將來開始出現這種情況，你是否有能力在下半場意識到這一點？或者我們真的只是在考慮到此時此刻您的合同已經到位的情況下談論 2024 年的好處？

Yes. I mean we don't really have any long-term contracts in place. We kind of have shorter cycle pricing agreements. I think, generally, we're exposed to market pricing across the board. And we certainly have some protections in place on some of our consumables, but if we start seeing the market soften, which we feel like is a pretty good likelihood with where we see gas prices today, that should trickle down into the oil basins, particularly on the drilling services side of things first. And we've certainly not seen a lot of upward pressure on pricing in the first part of this year. It's been pretty quiet, and hopefully, we'll start seeing some help on the inflation front here through the second and third quarter.

是的。我的意思是我們真的沒有任何長期合同。我們有更短週期的定價協議。我認為，總的來說，我們會全面接觸市場定價。我們當然對我們的一些消耗品採取了一些保護措施，但如果我們開始看到市場走軟，我們認為這很有可能與我們今天看到的天然氣價格相適應，這應該會滲透到油盆地，特別是首先在鑽井服務方面。在今年上半年，我們當然沒有看到很大的定價上行壓力。一直很安靜，希望我們會在第二和第三季度開始看到通脹方面的一些幫助。

Our next question comes from Kevin MacCurdy from Pickering Energy Partners.

我們的下一個問題來自 Pickering Energy Partners 的 Kevin MacCurdy。

Congratulations on the great free cash flow quarter. It looks like cash taxes came in well under expectations, and the guidance for 2023 cash taxes was below our model. I wonder if you can talk about what is driving the cash taxes lower, and any benefits you may be receiving from acquisitions?

祝賀偉大的自由現金流季度。現金稅似乎遠低於預期，2023 年現金稅的指導低於我們的模型。我想知道您能否談談降低現金稅的原因，以及您可能從收購中獲得的任何好處？

Yes. Good question, Kevin. The biggest benefit we did receive in the fourth quarter, obviously, commodity prices came down quarter-over-quarter, Q3 to Q4. So that was a surprise for the positive on cash taxes. I guess that hurts you overall. But the biggest deferral we got, was when we closed the FireBird deal, that came with about $100 million of midstream assets and some other fixed assets that we're able to depreciate right away. And so that allowed us to defer more taxes into 2023. As we've modeled 2023, we still have about $1 billion of NOL that will be exhausted this year. But on top of that, also closing the FireBird or the Lario transaction, which added some midstream and fixed assets as well. So generally, this is kind of our last year before being a full cash taxpayer. About 2 well time deals allowed us to push out a little more cash. Obviously, it's not the reason why we do the deals, but it's a nice tangential benefit.

是的。問得好，凱文。我們在第四季度確實獲得的最大好處顯然是商品價格環比下降，從第三季度到第四季度。因此，這對現金稅的積極影響是一個驚喜。我想這傷害了你的整體。但我們獲得的最大延期是在我們完成 FireBird 交易時，其中包括大約 1 億美元的中游資產和我們能夠立即折舊的其他一些固定資產。因此，這使我們能夠將更多稅收推遲到 2023 年。正如我們為 2023 年建模的那樣，我們仍有大約 10 億美元的 NOL 將在今年用完。但除此之外，還關閉了 FireBird 或 Lario 交易，這也增加了一些中游和固定資產。所以總的來說，這是我們成為全額現金納稅人之前的最後一年。大約 2 次井期交易使我們能夠推出更多現金。顯然，這不是我們進行交易的原因，但這是一個很好的切線利益。

Our next question comes from Leo Mariani from ROTH MKM.

我們的下一個問題來自 ROTH MKM 的 Leo Mariani。

I was hoping you could talk a little bit about LOE trends. Just looking at the guide here. In '23, you guys are expecting LOE to come up a little bit kind of versus, where it was in '22? Maybe just a little color around what you're sort of seeing there.

我希望你能談談 LOE 趨勢。只是看看這裡的指南。在 23 年，你們希望 LOE 能夠與 22 年的情況有所不同？也許只是你在那裡看到的東西周圍有一點顏色。

Yes. I think you've got just a couple things that are impacting LOE. First, we're fairly exposed to the power market, and we rode through the back half of last year fairly unhedged through the -- we're up in gas prices and that really impacted our real-time power pricing, and you've seen kind of real-time power pricing, kind of stay a little elevated through the first part of 2023 here. And so trying to guess, where we're going to land with respect to power, and have an opportunity to get hedged to protect ourselves, but -- so that's adding about a dime. And then you've got another impact from the FireBird acquisition with about 900 vertical wells, which had another dime or 2 to our consolidated LOE. So between those 2 things, you're looking at about a quarter, and we think we're probably running in the lower end of the guide today. And if we see some things come our way, we think we could potentially be under the guide, but we're not baking that into our guidance.

是的。我認為您只有一些影響 LOE 的事情。首先，我們對電力市場的敞口相當大，去年下半年我們沒有對沖——我們的天然氣價格上漲，這確實影響了我們的實時電價，你已經看到了一種實時電價，在 2023 年上半年這裡保持了一點高。因此，試圖猜測，我們將在權力方面著陸，並有機會進行對沖以保護自己，但是 - 所以這增加了大約一毛錢。然後你從 FireBird 的收購中得到了另一個影響，大約有 900 個垂直井，這對我們合併的 LOE 又有一分錢或兩分錢。因此，在這兩件事之間，您看到的是大約四分之一，我們認為我們今天可能處於指南的低端。如果我們看到一些事情發生，我們認為我們可能會在指導下，但我們不會將其納入我們的指導。

Okay. Appreciate that. And then just on M&A, obviously, you guys were helpful in terms of talking about some of these noncore asset sales, but I think, you did mention in your prepared comments that perhaps, some of those proceeds could go to bolt-ons out there in the space. I was hoping you guys could just give us a little color in terms of what you're seeing? Are there bolt-ons available that are kind of in and around your asset base? And how would you kind of characterize the market now? Do you think that generally speaking, expectations from sellers are reasonable these days. Just trying to get a sense of whether or not there's a decent chance you might pick something up here in '23?

好的。感謝。然後就併購而言，很明顯，你們在談論其中一些非核心資產出售方面很有幫助，但我認為，你在準備好的評論中確實提到，其中一些收益可能會用於補強在空間中。我希望你們能根據你們所看到的給我們一些顏色？您的資產基礎內部和周圍是否有可用的螺栓固定裝置？您如何看待現在的市場特徵？您是否認為一般來說，這些天賣家的期望是合理的。只是想了解一下你是否有機會在 23 年在這裡挑選一些東西？

Yes. I don't know, if sellers are ever reasonable, Leo. But generally, I do think the 2 larger transactions did happen because Diamondback's cost structure was differential in the second half of the year and going into 2023, right? We're drilling wells $2 million, $3 million, $4 million cheaper in the Midland Basin than peers, and that is when you underwrite pads, that drives value to the -- so the good guys even if you're not running strip oil pricing. So I think generally, that's what's happened. There's less and less large opportunities like the 2, that we announced last fall. So it's relatively quiet at the moment. But some of the smaller things that tend to trend with the large deals, like the blocking and tackling, a couple of other deals that FireBird and Lario we're working on, when they sold. That's the kind of stuff that we're focused on right now.

是的。我不知道，如果賣家是合理的，Leo。但總的來說，我確實認為這兩筆較大的交易確實發生了，因為 Diamondback 的成本結構在下半年和進入 2023 年時有所不同，對吧？我們在米德蘭盆地鑽井的成本比同行低 200 萬、300 萬、400 萬美元，這就是當你承保墊片時，這會推動價值——所以即使你沒有運行剝離石油定價，好人.所以我認為一般來說，這就是發生的事情。像我們去年秋天宣布的 2 這樣的大機會越來越少。所以目前比較安靜。但是，一些較小的事情往往會隨著大交易的發展而趨向，例如攔截和攔截，我們正在處理的 FireBird 和 Lario 的其他幾筆交易，當他們出售時。這就是我們現在關注的事情。

Our next question comes from Paul Cheng from Scotiabank.

我們的下一個問題來自豐業銀行的 Paul Cheng。

In your presentation, you show a number of the energy ownership, that in the pipeline and gas processing. Just curious that if any of those that you will consider, your strategically important for you to own their equity ownership? Or that -- I mean just trying to see that I mean, whether any of them have that strategic importance to you? Second question is that when we're looking at your inventory backlog, for those you consider over 10,000 feet, like to link you roughly say, call it, 5,500. Just want to see if we can drill a little bit more into that, and what percentage of those wells you can actually do maybe 3 miles? And whether there's an opportunity for trade and swap that you think, you may be able to improve on that?

在您的演示中，您展示了一些能源所有權，即管道和天然氣處理。只是好奇，如果您會考慮其中的任何一個，您擁有他們的股權對您具有戰略重要性嗎？或者——我的意思是只是想看看我的意思是，他們中的任何一個對你來說是否具有戰略重要性？第二個問題是，當我們查看您的庫存積壓時，對於那些您認為超過 10,000 英尺的庫存，想粗略地鏈接一下，稱其為 5,500。只是想看看我們是否可以多鑽一點，以及這些井中有多少實際上可以鑽 3 英里？是否存在您認為的貿易和互換機會，您可以對此進行改進？

Great. Thank you, Paul. I'll take the first one on the JVs. We did highlight all of these JVs. I think generally, these all sat at our Rattler entity before consolidating it. Generally, from a financial perspective, I think they're all good investments that eventually, will be monetized at higher value than what we paid, what we put in. But the strategy behind why we did these things is that, we got commercial agreements and benefits locked in with the financial piece. So whether it's -- like the Gray Oak pipeline, right? We got 100,000 barrels a day of space on the pipeline, that's not changing even though we sold our equity interest in the pipe. On the gas processing side, we invested 20% into WTG. We and our partners decided to build 200 million a day Carlyle plants immediately after closing the deal, and that is alleviating a lot of the gas flaring and gas processing issues in the Northern Midland Basin. So we try to drive value through molecules committed to these investments, but generally, at some point, it makes sense to monetize them. On the inventory side, we try to drill 15,000 feet wherever we can. I think most of our land in the Midland Basin is pretty locked up from a lateral length perspective. I think generally, if we had 4 sections north to south, we would drill through 10,000-foot laterals. If we had 5 sections north to south, which is rare, we would drill 2 sets of 12,500 foot laterals. And if we had 3 sections, we would drill 15,000-foot laterals over 27,500-foot laterals. So we underwrote the FireBird deal with a lot of 15,000 footers because that is a big contiguous block. And on the other side, Lario, pretty landlocked in the center of Martin County with a lot of competitors around. So we kind of had to live with the lateral length, as they were presented.

偉大的。謝謝你，保羅。我將在 JV 上採取第一個。我們確實強調了所有這些合資企業。我認為一般來說，這些在合併之前都存在於我們的 Rattler 實體中。一般來說，從財務的角度來看，我認為它們都是很好的投資，最終會以比我們付出的和投入的更高的價值貨幣化。但我們做這些事情背後的策略是，我們達成了商業協議以及與財務部分鎖定的利益。那麼它是否——就像 Gray Oak 管道一樣，對嗎？我們在管道上每天有 100,000 桶的空間，即使我們出售了我們在管道中的股權，這也沒有改變。在天然氣處理方面，我們向 WTG 投資了 20%。我們和我們的合作夥伴決定在交易完成後立即建造每天 2 億個 Carlyle 工廠，這將緩解北米德蘭盆地的許多天然氣燃燒和天然氣加工問題。因此，我們試圖通過致力於這些投資的分子來推動價值，但一般來說，在某些時候，將它們貨幣化是有意義的。在庫存方面，我們盡可能地鑽探 15,000 英尺。我認為從橫向長度的角度來看，我們在米德蘭盆地的大部分土地都非常封閉。我認為一般來說，如果我們從北到南有 4 個部分，我們將鑽穿 10,000 英尺的橫向井。如果我們有 5 個從北到南的部分（這種情況很少見），我們將鑽 2 組 12,500 英尺的水平井。如果我們有 3 個部分，我們將在 27,500 英尺的支路上鑽 15,000 英尺的支路。因此，我們承保了 FireBird 的大量 15,000 頁腳交易，因為那是一個很大的連續區塊。而在另一邊，拉里奧 (Lario) 位於馬丁縣的中心，非常內陸，周圍有很多競爭對手。所以我們有點不得不忍受橫向長度，正如它們所呈現的那樣。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Our next question comes from Doug Leggate from Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的 Doug Leggate。

So I'll just ask, I think it was the case. I think you did touch on the M&A line of sight. I wonder, if I could just dig into that a little bit more, particularly on the remaining asset sales and whether those are midstream weighted? Do you see additional opportunities in front of you that are midstream rated? And if so, are you basically looking to pay back your main exposure? I guess, I'm really trying to understand how that impacts the cash flow would be in key business?

所以我只想問，我認為是這樣的。我認為你確實觸及了併購的視線。我想知道，我是否可以更深入地研究一下，特別是剩餘的資產出售以及這些資產是否是中游加權的？您是否看到您面前的其他中游評級機會？如果是這樣，你基本上是想償還你的主要風險嗎？我想，我真的想了解這對關鍵業務的現金流有何影響？

Yes. Good question, Doug. I would say, generally, we were surprised at the amount of E&P assets we sold, relative to initial expectations of $500 million of noncore asset sales because we raised that to $1 billion. We're at $750 million to date. It's logical that most of those -- most of the rest of the $250 million or more come from that noncore asset sales comes from midstream assets. I will say, if they're -- it's going to be harder for us to sell operated midstream assets versus non-op midstream assets like the JVs that we highlighted in the back of our deck like you inferred. Operated midstream assets do have an impact on LOE and financials. Whereas non-operated assets, you do have a cash flow impact from less distributions from those assets, but not as meaningful to the parent co. So I think it's logical that more non-op stuff is top of mind, but for the right value, some operated stuff would be on the table. Just we'd be cognizant of what that would do to our operating metrics.

是的。問得好，道格。我想說的是，總的來說，相對於最初預期的 5 億美元的非核心資產銷售，我們對我們出售的 E&P 資產的數量感到驚訝，因為我們將其提高到 10 億美元。迄今為止，我們的收入為 7.5 億美元。合乎邏輯的是，其中大部分 - 其餘 2.5 億美元或更多的大部分來自非核心資產銷售來自中游資產。我會說，如果他們是 - 我們將更難出售運營中流資產與非運營中流資產，例如我們在甲板背面突出顯示的合資企業，就像您推斷的那樣。運營的中游資產確實會對 LOE 和財務產生影響。鑑於非經營性資產，您確實會因這些資產的分配減少而對現金流量產生影響，但對母公司而言意義不大。所以我認為更多非操作的東西是最重要的是合乎邏輯的，但為了正確的價值，一些操作的東西會擺在桌面上。只是我們會意識到這會對我們的運營指標產生什麼影響。

Okay. I guess we'll watch and see how the raise is obviously a positive. So thanks for the clarification. Guys, I apologize for being predictable. I'm going to put myself in the cross here a little bit, and go back to the cash tax question because it's through a sort of bit of a loop, to be perfectly honest. But it's about 50% bigger than the P&L tax. And what we are trying to figure out is, when E&P kicks in, which I guess would be the end of this year because you'll have had $1 billion of earnings presumably for 3 consecutive years, not assuming the $45 million of deferred tax, it's about 1/3 of your free cash flow. What do you think the normalized level of deferred tax would be if the conditions were the same? Is that an easy question to answer?

好的。我想我們會觀察並了解加薪顯然是積極的。所以謝謝你的澄清。伙計們，我為我的預測道歉。我要讓自己陷入困境，然後回到現金稅問題，因為老實說，這是一個循環。但它比損益稅高出約 50%。我們試圖弄清楚的是，當 E&P 開始時，我想這將是今年年底，因為你可能連續 3 年獲得 10 億美元的收益，而不是假設 4500 萬美元的遞延稅，這大約是您自由現金流的 1/3。如果條件相同，您認為遞延稅的標準化水平是多少？這是一個容易回答的問題嗎？

Yes. I mean, I guess the answer would be, we're going to get through all of our NOL in 2023. So that will be exhausted, and we'll be a full cash taxpayer, although as you mentioned, we will be able to defer some with respect to intangible drilling costs and the CapEx we spend on the business. So I guess it will be dependent upon where -- obviously, where commodity prices are in 2024. And second to that, where CapEx is, I think we're obviously in a world where we're going to be spending -- continue to spend less than we make. So it's logical that there will be a tax burden. There's just too many variables right now to predict 2024.

是的。我的意思是，我想答案是，我們將在 2023 年完成所有的 NOL。所以這將耗盡，我們將成為一個全額現金納稅人，儘管正如你提到的，我們將能夠推遲一些無形鑽井成本和我們在業務上花費的資本支出。所以我想這將取決於 - 顯然，2024 年商品價格的位置。其次，資本支出在哪裡，我認為我們顯然處於一個我們將要支出的世界 - 繼續花的比我們賺的少。因此，稅收負擔是合乎邏輯的。現在有太多變量無法預測 2024 年。

With no further questions, I would like to hand it back to Travis Stice, Chairman and CEO, for closing remarks. Travis?

沒有其他問題，我想把它交還給董事長兼首席執行官 Travis Stice，請他作閉幕詞。特拉維斯？

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

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

Okay. That's it for today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect. Thank you.

好的。這就是今天的會議。這確實結束了程序。您現在可以斷開連接。謝謝。