Hess Midstream LP (HESM) 2025 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Second Quarter 2025 Hess Midstream Conference Call. My name is Gigi, and I'll be your operator for today. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded for replay purposes. I would now like to turn the conference over to Jennifer Gordon, Vice President of Investor Relations.

女士們、先生們，大家好，歡迎參加 2025 年第二季 Hess Midstream 電話會議。我叫 Gigi，今天我將擔任您的接線生。（操作員指示）請注意，今天的會議將被錄音以供重播。現在，我想將會議交給投資者關係副總裁 Jennifer Gordon。

Please proceed.

請繼續。

Thank you, Gigi. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for participating in our second quarter earnings conference call. Our earnings release was issued this morning and appears on our website, www.hessmidstream.com. Today's conference call contains projections and other forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ from those expressed or implied in such statements.

謝謝你，吉吉。大家下午好，感謝大家參加我們的第二季財報電話會議。我們的財報已於今早發布，並刊登於我們的網站 www.hessmidstream.com。今天的電話會議包含聯邦證券法所定義的預測和其他前瞻性陳述。這些聲明受到已知和未知的風險和不確定性的影響，可能導致實際結果與這些聲明中表達或暗示的結果不同。

These risks include those set forth in the Risk Factors section of Hess Midstream's filings with the SEC. Also on today's conference call, we may discuss certain GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of the differences between these non-GAAP financial measures and the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures can be found in the earnings release. With me today are Jonathan Stein, Chief Executive Officer; John Gatling, President and Chief Operating Officer; and Mike Chadwick, Chief Financial Officer. I'll now turn the call over to Jonathan Stein.

這些風險包括 Hess Midstream 向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中「風險因素」部分中列出的風險。此外，在今天的電話會議上，我們可能會討論某些 GAAP 財務指標。這些非 GAAP 財務指標與最直接可比較的 GAAP 財務指標之間的差異可在收益報告中找到。今天與我一起出席的有首席執行官喬納森·斯坦 (Jonathan Stein)、總裁兼首席營運官約翰·加特林 (John Gatling) 和首席財務官邁克·查德威克 (Mike Chadwick)。現在我將把電話轉給喬納森·斯坦。

Thanks, Jennifer. Welcome, everyone, to our second quarter 2025 earnings call. I have a few opening comments, and then I'll hand the call over to John Gatling to review our operations and Mike Chadwick to review our financials.

謝謝，珍妮佛。歡迎大家參加我們的 2025 年第二季財報電話會議。我有幾個開場白，然後我會把電話交給約翰·加特林來審查我們的營運情況，並把電話交給麥克·查德威克來審查我們的財務狀況。

I wanted to first say that we are all excited and eager to work together with our new Chevron colleagues to continue to drive value for our shareholders. Our new board members, including our new Chair, [Andy Walls], Chevron's President of Downstream, Midstream and Chemicals have significant experience across the upstream, midstream and downstream businesses and complement the operational and financial expertise of our current Board members. I am also excited to welcome Mike Chadwick to his new role as Chief Financial Officer of Hess Midstream. I've worked alongside Mike for the past 20 years as these progress through various financial roles at Hess Corporation, and we are fortunate to have his experience and leadership capabilities working with the midstream. I am also excited to step into my new role as CEO of Hess Midstream.

首先我想說，我們都很興奮並渴望與我們的新雪佛龍同事一起繼續為我們的股東創造價值。我們的新董事會成員，包括我們的新主席 [Andy Walls]，雪佛龍下游、中游和化學品總裁，在上游、中游和下游業務方面擁有豐富的經驗，並補充了我們現任董事會成員的營運和財務專業知識。我也非常高興地歡迎 Mike Chadwick 出任 Hess Midstream 財務長的新職務。過去 20 年來，我一直與 Mike 並肩工作，在 Hess Corporation 擔任過各種財務職務，我們很榮幸能夠擁有他在中游業務方面的經驗和領導能力。我也很高興能夠擔任 Hess Midstream 執行長的新職位。

Since our IPO, we have created value for shareholders through operational excellence and execution that drives a visible trajectory of growth and supported by a financial strategy that includes a differentiated combination of balance sheet strength and a priority on shareholder returns. With the continuity of the midstream team in place, we are excited to take this strategy forward as we continue to build Hess Midstream with a unique combination of sector-leading growth and shareholder returns. Today, I want to focus briefly on three themes. First, we continue to deliver outstanding operational performance, which you can see reflected in the quarter that we reported today and also in our fourth annual sustainability report, which we issued a few weeks ago and which highlights our commitment and track record of safe and reliable execution. In the second quarter, throughput increased across all segments, and we are in line with our annual guidance for volumes to grow by approximately 10% across all oil and gas systems in 2025 compared with 2024.

自首次公開募股以來，我們透過卓越的營運和執行為股東創造了價值，推動了明顯的成長軌跡，並得到了包括資產負債表實力和股東回報優先的差異化組合在內的財務策略的支持。隨著中游團隊的連續性，我們很高興繼續推動這項策略，繼續以業界領先的成長和股東回報的獨特組合打造赫斯中游。今天我想簡單談三個主題。首先，我們繼續提供出色的營運業績，您可以在我們今天報告的季度報告中看到這一點，也可以在我們幾週前發布的第四份年度永續發展報告中看到這一點，該報告強調了我們對安全可靠執行的承諾和業績記錄。第二季度，所有部門的吞吐量均有所增加，並且我們符合年度指導，即 2025 年所有石油和天然氣系統的吞吐量將比 2024 年增長約 10%。

Second, we continue to deliver outstanding financial performance. We are estimating an approximate 11% increase and adjusted EBITDA growth in 2025, with approximately 7% growth at the midpoint in the second half of the year. With total expected capital expenditures of approximately $300 million, we expect to generate adjusted free cash flow of approximately $725 million to $775 million, which more than covers our targeted 5% annual distribution growth and generate excess free cash flow. And third, we are committed to our ongoing financial strategy, which prioritizes return of capital to our shareholders and has made Hess Midstream's total shareholder return yield, one of the highest of our midstream peers, while also maintaining one of the lowest leverage ratios. Highlighting our balance sheet strength, last week has Midstream's senior unsecured debt was upgraded by S&P to an investment-grade rating of BBB- following the close of the Chevron Hess merger.

第二，我們持續取得優異的財務表現。我們預計 2025 年調整後 EBITDA 將成長約 11%，下半年中期將成長約 7%。預計總資本支出約為 3 億美元，我們預計將產生約 7.25 億美元至 7.75 億美元的調整後自由現金流，這將超過我們 5% 的年分銷成長目標，並產生超額自由現金流。第三，我們致力於持續的財務策略，該策略優先考慮向股東返還資本，並使 Hess Midstream 的總股東回報率成為我們中游同行中最高的之一，同時還保持最低的槓桿率之一。為凸顯我們資產負債表的實力，上週在雪佛龍赫斯合併完成後，標準普爾將 Midstream 的優先無擔保債務評級上調至 BBB- 投資級。

Since 2021, we have returned greater than $2 billion to shareholders through accretive repurchases and have increased our distribution per Class A share by more than 60% to 5% targeted annual distribution growth and distribution level increases following each share repurchase transaction. We expect to generate greater than $1.25 billion of financial flexibility through 2027 for incremental shareholder returns, including the potential for further unit and share repurchases over this period. With a consistent strategy at Hess Midstream, we are excited for the future. We have a visible trajectory of growth that underpins our unique and differentiated financial strategy with a continued focus on consistent and ongoing return of capital to our shareholders. With that, I'll hand the call over to John to review our operational performance for the second quarter.

自 2021 年以來，我們透過增值回購向股東返還了超過 20 億美元，並將每股 A 類股的分配額提高了 60% 以上，以達到 5% 的目標年度分配增長和每次股票回購交易後的分配水平增長。我們預計到 2027 年將產生超過 12.5 億美元的財務彈性，以增加股東回報，包括在此期間進一步回購單位和股票的可能性。憑藉 Hess Midstream 的一貫策略，我們對未來充滿期待。我們擁有清晰的成長軌跡，這支撐了我們獨特且差異化的財務策略，並持續致力於為股東帶來持續不斷的資本回報。說完這些，我將把電話交給約翰來回顧我們第二季度的營運表現。

Thanks, Jonathan. Today, I'll discuss our second quarter performance, then Mike will review our financial results and guidance. In the second quarter, Hess Midstream delivered record operating performance. throughput volumes averaged 449 million cubic foot per day for gas processing, 137,000 barrels of oil per day for crude terminalling and 138,000 barrels of water per day for water gathering. Throughput increased across all segments of our business, with gas processing and oil terminaling volumes increasing by approximately 6% and 10%, respectively, from the first quarter, primarily driven by outstanding upstream production performance and high midstream system availability.

謝謝，喬納森。今天，我將討論我們第二季的業績，然後麥克將回顧我們的財務表現和指導。第二季度，赫斯中游公司實現了創紀錄的營運表現。天然氣處理量平均為每天 4.49 億立方英尺，原油碼頭處理量平均為每天 137,000 桶石油，水收集量平均為每天 138,000 桶水。我們所有業務部門的吞吐量都有所增加，其中天然氣加工量和石油終端處理量分別較第一季度增長了約 6% 和 10%，這主要得益於上游生產表現優異和中游系統可用性高。

Turning to Hess Midstream guidance. We're again reaffirming our previously announced full year 2025 oil and gas throughput guidance. In the third quarter, we expect volume growth from the second quarter across our oil and gas systems, partially offset by higher seasonal maintenance activity. Turning to Hess Midstream's capital program. Our multiyear projects continue as planned.

轉向 Hess Midstream 指導。我們再次重申先前宣布的 2025 年全年石油和天然氣吞吐量指引。我們預計第三季度我們的石油和天然氣系統的產量將比第二季度有所增長，但部分增長將被季節性維護活動的增加所抵消。談到 Hess Midstream 的資本計畫。我們的多年期項目正在按計劃繼續進行。

In 2025, we remain focused on the completion of two new compressor stations and associated gathering systems as well as continuing to progress the Capa gas plant. Full year 2025 capital expenditures remain unchanged and are expected to total approximately $300 million. In summary, we remain focused on executing our strategy of disciplined low-risk investments to meet basin demand while maintaining reliable operations and strong financial performance. We expect our growth strategy to generate sustainable cash flow and create opportunities to return capital to our shareholders. I'll now turn the call over to Mike to review our financial results and guidance.

2025 年，我們將繼續致力於完成兩個新的壓縮機站和相關收集系統，並繼續推進卡帕天然氣廠的建設。2025 年全年資本支出保持不變，預計總額約 3 億美元。總之，我們仍然專注於執行嚴格的低風險投資策略，以滿足盆地需求，同時保持可靠的營運和強勁的財務表現。我們期望我們的成長策略能夠產生可持續的現金流並創造向股東返還資本的機會。現在我將把電話轉給麥克來審查我們的財務結果和指導。

Thanks, John, and good afternoon, everyone. I wanted to say first that I'm really excited to join the Hess Midstream team and look forward to meeting you in the future. Today, I'm going to review our results for the second quarter and our financial guidance and then we will open the call for questions. For the second quarter of 2025, net income was $180 million compared to $161 million for the first quarter. Adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter of 2025 was $316 million compared to $292 million for the first quarter.

謝謝，約翰，大家下午好。首先我想說的是，我很高興加入 Hess Midstream 團隊，並期待將來與你們見面。今天，我將回顧我們第二季的業績和財務指導，然後我們將開始提問。2025 年第二季淨收入為 1.8 億美元，而第一季為 1.61 億美元。2025 年第二季調整後 EBITDA 為 3.16 億美元，而第一季為 2.92 億美元。

The increase in adjusted EBITDA relative to the first quarter was primarily attributable to the following: total revenues, excluding pass-through revenues, increased by approximately $30 million, primarily driven by higher throughput volumes resulting in segment revenue changes as follows: gathering revenues increased by approximately $16 million, processing revenues increased by approximately $9 million, terminaling revenues increased by approximately $4 million and third-party services and other income increased by approximately $1 million. Total costs and expenses, excluding depreciation and amortization, pass-through costs and net of our proportional share of LM4 earnings increased by approximately $6 million, primarily from higher seasonal maintenance activity and third-party processing fees. This resulted in adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter of 2025 of $316 million. Our gross adjusted EBITDA margin for the second quarter was maintained at approximately 80%, above our 75% target, highlighting our continued strong operating leverage. Second quarter capital expenditures were approximately $70 million and net interest, excluding amortization of deferred finance costs, was approximately $52 million, resulting in adjusted free cash flow of approximately $194 million.

調整後 EBITDA 與第一季相比有所增加，主要原因如下：總收入（不包括轉嫁收入）增加了約 3000 萬美元，這主要是由於吞吐量增加導致分部收入發生如下變化：收集收入增加約 1600 萬美元，處理收入增加約 900 萬美元，終端收入增加約 400 萬美元，第三方服務和其他收入增加約 100 萬美元。總成本和費用（不包括折舊和攤提、轉嫁成本以及我們在 LM4 收益中所佔比例的淨額）增加了約 600 萬美元，主要原因是季節性維護活動和第三方處理費用增加。這導致 2025 年第二季的調整後 EBITDA 達到 3.16 億美元。我們第二季的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率維持在 80% 左右，高於 75% 的目標，突顯了我們持續強勁的營運槓桿。第二季資本支出約為 7,000 萬美元，不包括遞延融資成本攤提的淨利息約為 5,200 萬美元，調整後的自由現金流量約為 1.94 億美元。

We had a drawn balance of $273 million on our revolving credit facility at quarter end. In January, we announced that we are targeting annual distribution per Class A share growth of at least 5% through 2027 which is supported by our existing [MVCs]. This week, we announced our second quarter distribution that included our targeted 5% annual growth per Class A share and an additional increase utilizing the excess adjusted free cash flow available for distributions following the repurchase. Turning to guidance. For the third quarter of 2025, we expect net income to be approximately $175 million to $185 million and adjusted EBITDA to be approximately $315 million to $325 million, reflecting higher volumes and revenues, partially offset by seasonally higher maintenance costs.

截至季末，我們的循環信貸額度已提取餘額 2.73 億美元。今年 1 月，我們宣布，我們的目標是到 2027 年，A 類股每股年分配額至少成長 5%，這得益於我們現有的[MVC]。本週，我們宣布了第二季度的分配，其中包括我們目標的每股 A 類股票 5% 的年增長率，以及利用回購後可用於分配的超額調整自由現金流的額外增長。轉向指導。對於 2025 年第三季度，我們預計淨收入約為 1.75 億美元至 1.85 億美元，調整後 EBITDA 約為 3.15 億美元至 3.25 億美元，這反映了更高的銷售和收入，但部分被季節性更高的維護成本所抵消。

We also expect CapEx to increase in the third quarter, consistent with seasonally higher activity levels. For the full year 2025, we are updating net income and adjusted free cash flow guidance to include the impact of an incremental $15 million in expected interest expense, mainly on higher debt balance following the repurchase transactions completed so far this year. The updated net income guidance also includes the impact of an incremental $15 million in expected income tax expense resulting from ownership changes following the previously completed secondary equity offerings and repurchase transactions. As a result, we now expect net income of $685 million to $735 million. We are maintaining our adjusted EBITDA guidance range of $1.225 billion to $1.285 billion implying growth of approximately 7% in adjusted EBITDA at the midpoint in the second half of the year.

我們也預期第三季資本支出將會增加，與季節性較高的活動水準一致。對於 2025 年全年，我們將更新淨收入和調整後的自由現金流指引，以包括預期利息支出增加 1,500 萬美元的影響，這主要是因為今年迄今完成的回購交易導致債務餘額增加。更新後的淨收入指引還包括先前完成的二次股票發行和回購交易後所有權變更導致的預計所得稅費用增加 1500 萬美元的影響。因此，我們現在預計淨收入為 6.85 億美元至 7.35 億美元。我們維持調整後的 EBITDA 指引範圍 12.25 億美元至 12.85 億美元，這意味著下半年中期調整後的 EBITDA 將成長約 7%。

With total expected capital expenditures of approximately $300 million, we now expect to generate adjusted free cash flow of approximately $725 million to $775 million. With distributions per Class A share targeted to grow at least 5% annually from the new higher distribution level, we expect excess adjusted free cash flow of approximately $125 million after fully funding our targeted growing distributions. We continue to have more than $1.25 billion of financial flexibility through 2027, that can be used for continued execution of our return of capital framework, including potential ongoing unit and share repurchases. This concludes my remarks. We will be happy to answer any questions.

預計總資本支出約為 3 億美元，我們現在預計將產生約 7.25 億美元至 7.75 億美元的調整後自由現金流。由於 A 類股每股分配額的目標是從新的更高分配水準每年增長至少 5%，我們預計在完全資助我們目標成長分配額後，超額調整自由現金流約為 1.25 億美元。到 2027 年，我們仍將擁有超過 12.5 億美元的財務靈活性，可用於繼續執行我們的資本回報框架，包括潛在的持續單位和股票回購。我的發言到此結束。我們將很樂意回答您的任何問題。

And I will now turn the call over to the operator.

現在我將把電話轉給接線員。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Jeremy Tonet, JPMorgan Securities LLC.

摩根大通證券有限責任公司的傑里米·託內特 (Jeremy Tonet)。

Hey, good morning. This is [Broth] on for Jeremy. I wanted to start off with the Hess deal now closed, if you guys have any insight into Chevron's view on the Bakken and whether the rig count there could change and if there were to be changed, could you remind us of the sensitivity to HESM in terms of the EBITDA growth you guys have laid out in the expectation for higher volumes across the systems in '26 and '27?

嘿，早安。這是為 Jeremy 準備的 [Broth]。我想從現在已經結束的 Hess 交易開始，如果你們對雪佛龍對巴肯的看法以及那裡的鑽機數量是否會發生變化以及是否會發生改變有任何見解，如果發生改變，你能否提醒我們，就 EBITDA 增長而言，HESM 對你們在 26 年和 27 年整個系統的產量增加的預期中表現出的產量增加？

Yes. Maybe I'll touch on it and then Jonathan and Mike can hit it as well. But just from our perspective, we're currently running four rigs. We've seen very strong upstream performance level delivery with our increased laterals and the midstream availability has just been phenomenal. We'll continue to execute strongly and stay focused on that.

是的。也許我會談一下，然後喬納森和麥克也可以談一下。但從我們的角度來看，我們目前正在運行四個鑽孔機。隨著橫向管道的增加，我們看到上游性能水平交付非常強勁，中游可用性也非常驚人。我們將繼續大力執行並專注於此。

And as we -- every year, we'll update our development plan as we get an update with Chevron coming in as our sponsor. So that will happen at the -- towards the end of the year, and then we'll be issuing guidance in January.

每年，隨著雪佛龍成為我們的贊助商，我們都會更新我們的發展計畫。所以這將在年底發生，然後我們將在一月份發布指導。

Got it, thank you. And then turning to capital allocation. I wondering if you could talk a little bit specifically about your appetite for buybacks at current prices. And with [GIP] sell down now complete, if we should think about any change in the magnitude of repurchases going forward.

知道了，謝謝。然後轉向資本配置。我想知道您是否可以具體談談您對以當前價格回購的興趣。現在 [GIP] 拋售已經完成，我們應該考慮未來回購規模的任何變化。

Yes. So with buybacks, as we announced in January, we have about $1.25 billion of financial flexibility through 2027, and we expect to do multiple repurchases a year as we've done in the past. So there's no change to that guidance. As we previously mentioned, our January repurchase that was in lieu of not having completed a repurchase in Q4 of last year. Our May repurchase of $200 million which included the public for the first time.

是的。因此，透過回購，正如我們在一月份宣布的那樣，到 2027 年，我們將擁有約 12.5 億美元的財務靈活性，並且我們預計每年將進行多次回購，就像我們過去所做的那樣。因此該指導意見沒有改變。正如我們之前提到的，我們一月份的回購是為了彌補去年第四季未完成的回購。我們在五月回購了 2 億美元，其中首次包括公眾。

That got us back into our cadence of about $100 million every quarter. However, the size of that is not set in stone. But generally, $100 million a quarter is what we will be completing as we have done over the last couple of years.

這使我們恢復了每季約 1 億美元的節奏。然而，其規模並不是一成不變的。但一般來說，我們每季的完成額是 1 億美元，就像過去幾年一樣。

And this is Jonathan. As we said at the beginning, as I said in my comments, overall, there's no change to our strategy in terms of our business strategy and to our financial strategy. And you saw that just this week we issued, as Mike said, our quarterly dividend announcement on Monday night that included our distribution level increase as well as the $200 million increase on the $200 million share buyback that we did earlier. So really no change in our return on capital program going forward. You mentioned [GP], obviously, [JP] out in terms of secondaries.

這是喬納森。正如我們一開始所說的，正如我在評論中所說，總體而言，我們的業務策略和財務策略並沒有改變。正如麥克所說，您也看到了，就在本週，我們於週一晚上發布了季度股息公告，其中包括分紅水平的提高，以及在我們之前進行的 2 億美元股票回購基礎上增加 2 億美元。因此，我們的資本回報計劃未來實際上不會發生任何變化。您提到了 [GP]，顯然，[JP] 在次要方面被排除在外。

That's not something that we expect. But in terms of return on capital, which is really always focused on that framework that continues as is.

這不是我們所期望的。但就資本報酬率而言，我們實際上始終關注的是維持現狀的框架。

Makes sense. Thank you guys.

有道理。謝謝你們。

Saumya Jain, UBS.

瑞銀的 Saumya Jain。

Hi, good afternoon. Congrats on the quarter. I was wondering how are you guys seeing [GORs] trending in the near term? And along with that, what's your outlook on the Bakken for heading into 3Q?

嗨，下午好。恭喜本季取得佳績。我想知道你們如何看待 [GOR] 的近期趨勢？除此之外，您對巴肯進入第三季有何展望？

Yes. So the [GORs] really haven't changed. As the basin matures over the longer term, GORs are expected to increase, which they're acting as exactly as we would expect them to. Looking at the North Dakota Pipeline Authority, [Justin Krinsted] and the team there are kind of looking at longer-term basin growth in the gas space. And it is anticipated that Bakken gas is going to grow over the long term.

是的。所以[GOR]其實沒有改變。隨著盆地的長期成熟，GOR 預計會增加，其表現正如我們預期的那樣。看看北達科他州管道管理局，[賈斯汀克里斯泰德] 和那裡的團隊正在研究天然氣領域的長期盆地增長。預計巴肯天然氣產量將長期成長。

And we would expect the Hess and Chevron Bakken volumes to basically do the same trend the same way. So we're expecting oil to remain in the pipeline authorities forecast, they're expecting oil to remain flattish with gas growing over the longer term.

我們預期赫斯和雪佛龍巴肯的產量將基本上呈現相同的趨勢。因此，我們預計石油價格將保持在管道當局的預測範圍內，他們預計長期來看石油價格將保持平穩，而天然氣價格將成長。

Got it, thank you. And then could you detail where gas processing volumes are at now over the past months? Any changes to note? Just trying to understand the cadence and same with oil terminal.

知道了，謝謝。那麼，您能詳細說明一下過去幾個月天然氣加工量的情況嗎？有什麼需要注意的變化嗎？只是想了解節奏以及與石油碼頭相同的節奏。

Yes. I think generally speaking, we've seen and expect to continue to see the growth through the end of the year as our guidance has supported that. So again, we had a very, very strong second quarter. We do continue to expect to see growth in the third and fourth quarters and finish the year at guidance. So I would say you would continue to see that grow through '26, '27 as the MVCs have kind of outlined.

是的。我認為總體而言，我們已經看到並預計到今年年底仍將持續成長，因為我們的指導支持這一點。因此，我們第二季的表現非常非常強勁。我們確實繼續預計第三季和第四季將出現成長，並按預期完成今年的業績。因此我想說，正如 MVC 所概述的那樣，你會繼續看到這種增長持續到 26 年和 27 年。

And again, if there's any changes to the development plan that will happen as part of our normal annual development pro process, and that will be updated in January.

再次強調，如果開發計劃有任何變化，這將作為我們正常年度開發流程的一部分進行，並將在一月更新。

Got it. Thank you.

知道了。謝謝。

Yes, thank you.

是的，謝謝。

Doug Irwin, Citi.

花旗銀行的道格‧歐文 (Doug Irwin)。

Hey, thanks for the question. Congrats, Jonathan, Mike, on the new roles as well. I'm just trying to start with the guidance range here. If I just take the first half guidance, first half '25 guidance, just in the aggregate, I think you're turning about $15 million above the guided midpoint year-to-date and now third quarter is pointing to a bit more growth from here. Is it fair to say you're turning above the annual midpoint at this point? Or are there may be some variances versus your initial outlook that has kind of shifted around the timing throughout the year here versus your initial second half expectations?

嘿，謝謝你的提問。恭喜喬納森和麥克獲得新的職位。我只是想從這裡的指導範圍開始。如果我只採用上半年指引、25 年上半年指引，僅從總體來看，我認為今年迄今為止的指引中點將高出約 1500 萬美元，而現在第三季將略有增長。現在是否可以說您已經超過了年度中點？或者與您最初的展望相比，可能存在一些差異，即全年的時間安排與您最初的下半年預期相比有所變化？

Maybe I'll touch on the operational side, and then I can hand it over to Mike and Jonathan. But overall, again, we had an extremely strong second quarter, very little weather impact, essentially no maintenance activity. Coming out of the first quarter, which was a bit more challenging, we were really just trying to stabilize operations, and I think we are very pleased with how both the upstream perform, but also how the midstream performed we're going to continue to see that growth going into the third and fourth quarters. But as we transition in, we are expecting to see a little bit more maintenance in the second half of the year. And that will probably be kind of in the later part of the year.

也許我會談及營運方面，然後我可以將其交給麥克和喬納森。但總體而言，我們第二季的表現非常強勁，天氣影響很小，基本上沒有維護活動。走出第一季度，這更具挑戰性，我們實際上只是試圖穩定運營，我認為我們對上游的表現非常滿意，而且中游的表現也讓我們繼續看到這種增長進入第三季度和第四季度。但隨著我們的過渡，我們預計下半年將看到更多的維護工作。這可能將在今年晚些時候發生。

We're still kind of planning all of the activity, but there's still some room there. And we're -- again, I think we're still very comfortable with the guidance that we've got currently.

我們仍在規劃所有活動，但仍有一些空間。而且我們——我再說一次，我認為我們對目前所得到的指導仍然非常滿意。

Yes. Thanks, John. And I'll just tag on the back of that as we have seen -- we're keeping our adjusted EBITDA guidance for the year, which already includes quite a lot of growth baked into the second half. As Jonathan said and I said in my notes, taking the midpoint of our full year guidance, we expect about 7% higher EBITDA in the second half of the year compared to the first half. And so while revenues are expected to grow on higher volumes, as John described, phasing of maintenance costs means expenses are expected to be higher in Q3 and we also retained some winter weather contingency in Q4.

是的。謝謝，約翰。正如我們所見，我只是在此基礎上進行標記——我們將維持今年的調整後 EBITDA 指引，其中已經包含了下半年的相當多的增長。正如喬納森和我在筆記中所說，根據我們全年指引的中點，我們預計下半年的 EBITDA 將比上半年高出約 7%。因此，雖然預計收入會隨著銷量的增加而增長，但正如約翰所描述的，維護成本的分階段意味著預計第三季度的支出將會更高，而且我們在第四季度還保留了一些冬季天氣應急準備金。

And while winter where they can also lower maintenance costs, Q4 also typically see some variability in our allocation costs. So we're keeping guidance there for the second quarter.

雖然冬季他們也可以降低維護成本，但第四季度我們的分配成本通常也會出現一些變化。因此，我們維持第二季的指導。

Okay, that's helpful. Thank you. And then -- maybe another on buybacks, just asking a slightly different way. It's obviously early on in the relationship with Chevron here. I'm just curious if you expect them to participate in buybacks kind of similar to how Hess did or will buybacks going forward pretty much be entirely dependent on buying back shares from public owners.

好的，這很有幫助。謝謝。然後——也許還有另一個關於回購的問題，只是問的方式稍微不同。顯然，我們與雪佛龍的合作關係才剛開始。我只是好奇，您是否希望他們參與類似於 Hess 的回購，或者未來的回購是否完全依賴從公眾股東手中回購股票。

And to the extent that you are buying back more public shares does just general liquidity of those public shares impact kind of your ability to maintain the run rate kind of in a smooth cadence as you have in the past?

在您回購更多公開發行股票的範圍內，這些公開發行股票的整體流動性是否會影響您像過去一樣保持平穩運行率的能力？

Sure. This is Jonathan. Yes. Look, there's no change. As we had said in the past, when we had secondaries and buybacks happening simultaneously, there are really two separate objectives.

當然。這是喬納森。是的。瞧，沒有什麼改變。正如我們過去所說的那樣，當我們同時進行二級市場發行和回購時，實際上有兩個不同的目標。

While the secondaries were changing ownership level. The buyback program is really just a return of capital program. And so you would expect over time that we'll have the same participation, more closer to the relative proportional levels of the public and Chevron going forward. So really no change to our approach there. We did include, as you know, now we have the kind of [road tested alcohol use] the ASR process last time to include the public in our buyback program and have that mechanism available for us to be able to do that going forward as well.

而二級市場的所有權等級正在改變。回購計劃其實只是一項資本回報計劃。因此，您可以預期，隨著時間的推移，我們的參與度將更加接近公眾和雪佛龍未來的相對比例水準。所以我們的方法其實沒有改變。如您所知，我們確實納入了上次的 ASR 流程，將公眾納入我們的回購計劃，並且有這種機制讓我們能夠在未來也這樣做。

So really no change there. And in terms of our liquidity, I think you've seen that our liquidity has continue to increase as we did all the secondary transactions and the public ownership went up or liquidity at this point in average -- a trading volume is more than sufficient to handle our buyback program at the level that we've done in the past and expect to do going forward.

所以實際上沒有變化。就我們的流動性而言，我想你已經看到，隨著我們進行所有二級交易，我們的流動性持續增加，而且公眾持股量上升，或者說平均流動性上升——交易量足以應付我們過去所做的回購計劃，並預計未來仍將如此。

Great, that's all for me. Thanks, Sean.

太好了，對我來說就這些了。謝謝，肖恩。

Praneeth Satish, Wells Fargo.

富國銀行的 Praneeth Satish。

Thanks. Good afternoon. Also congrats, Jonathan and Michael on the new roles. Maybe can you just provide any more context around GIP's decision to exit its investment in Hess Midstream back in May? I mean selling down their stake. So it wasn't really a surprise. But I guess why do it in May versus maybe after the merger with Chevron?

謝謝。午安.同時祝賀喬納森和邁克爾獲得新職位。您能否提供更多關於 GIP 5 月決定退出 Hess Midstream 投資的背景資訊？我的意思是出售他們的股份。所以這並不奇怪。但我想，為什麼要在五月而不是與雪佛龍合併之後才這麼做呢？

Sure. So as you know, we've -- over the past three years plus, we've been executing secondaries in a very disciplined fashion. Each one increasing in size generally over time and with increasingly tighter discounts, a very disciplined approach. GIP saw an opportunity, as we always said, the second were based on demand from investors, and then [JP] would assess that relative to their value proposition expectations and that opportunity existed in May and so they continue taking that opportunity. They, of course, have their own investors and time line and really, really executing relative to demand and the expectations really independent of at that point, any potential merger timing. So really just continuing the disciplined execution that we had in the past an opportunity presented itself.

當然。如你所知，在過去三年多的時間裡，我們一直在以非常嚴謹的方式執行二級市場交易。隨著時間的推移，每個品牌的規模都會不斷擴大，折扣也會越來越小，這是一種非常有紀律的方法。正如我們常說的那樣，GIP 看到了機會，第二個機會基於投資者的需求，然後 [JP] 會根據他們的價值主張預期來評估這一點，並且這個機會在 5 月份就存在了，所以他們會繼續抓住這個機會。當然，他們有自己的投資者和時間表，並且確實根據需求和期望執行，而與當時的任何潛在合併時機無關。因此，實際上只要繼續我們過去的嚴格執行，機會就會出現。

Got it. And then maybe as a follow-up, I guess, right or wrong, some investors have viewed GIP is providing an independent voice that's kind of helped balance the sponsor interest with those of the public. So I guess with GIP now out, how do you think about the new governance structure versus having that third-party institutional investor at the table?

知道了。然後也許作為後續行動，我想，無論對錯，一些投資者認為 GIP 提供了一種獨立的聲音，有助於平衡贊助商的利益和公眾的利益。所以我想，現在 GIP 已經推出，您如何看待新的治理結構與第三方機構投資者的參與？

Sure. Yes. No, we agree that one of our differentiating strengths relative to other sponsored midstream companies has been our balanced governance and certainly with GIP. Historically part of the Board that provided some level of that.

當然。是的。不，我們同意，相對於其他受贊助的中游公司，我們的差異化優勢之一是我們均衡的治理，當然還有 GIP。從歷史上看，董事會的一部分提供了一定程度的此類服務。

So consistent with that approach, as you saw, we updated our governance in June following the GIP's exit, and that included that certain key decisions require the approval of one independent director. That includes things like leverage above a certain level, issuing equity or major capital decision, among other key strategic decisions. That mechanism is now in place. As you know, we're adding also a fourth independent Board member, but this mechanism is in place independent of the number of Board members at the time or the timing of the fourth independent member joining the Board. So I think it really highlights our continued belief in the value of a balanced government that we've had historically.

因此，正如您所看到的，與這種方法一致，我們在 GIP 退出後的 6 月更新了我們的治理，其中包括某些關鍵決策需要獨立董事的批准。其中包括高於一定程度的槓桿、發行股票或重大資本決策以及其他關鍵策略決策。該機制現已到位。如您所知，我們也將增加第四位獨立董事會成員，但機制與當時的董事會成員人數或第四位獨立成員加入董事會的時間無關。所以我認為這確實凸顯了我們對歷史上平衡政府價值的持續信念。

And then with this new mechanism in place that we will continue to have going forward.

我們將根據這項新機制繼續推進這項工作。

Got it. Thank you.

知道了。謝謝。

John Mackay, Goldman Sachs.

高盛的約翰·麥凱。

Hey everyone, thanks for the time. I wanted to pick up a little bit more on the Chevron side. I totally understand it's early and you're, you'll have your annual review of activity levels later in the year, but Hess had been talking about this kind of 200kOE a day target for a long time, and then we've kind of thought about that as the reasonable run rate for the footprint. Can you maybe just acknowledging that can I guess change, but can you maybe just remind us kind of how that 200 a day level was set, kind of what the thought process behind it was, and then, maybe from that any read on on why that might be the right level going forward.

大家好，感謝你們的時間。我想多了解雪佛龍方面的情況。我完全理解現在還為時過早，您將在今年晚些時候對活動水平進行年度審查，但 Hess 長期以來一直在談論這種每天 200kOE 的目標，然後我們認為這是合理的足跡運行率。您能否承認這一點，我想可以改變，但您能否提醒我們每天 200 個的水平是如何設定的，其背後的思考過程是什麼，然後，也許從中可以了解為什麼這可能是未來的正確水平。

Again, I think as we think about the 200,000 barrels a day it was really kind of hitting the over 100,000 barrels a day of gross oil or of net oil and then the gas growth over time. And as we've been doing just from an overall field development plan perspective, as we've really been trying to optimize the upstream drilling activity with the midstream infrastructure plan. And so it's really about having the infrastructure in place and then keeping that infrastructure as utilized as it possibly can be. And so we -- when we looked at the build over time and looked at the infrastructure development and kind of where we felt like the development -- the field development from a drilling perspective was happening, we felt like that, that 200,000 barrels a day is about the right level. So outside of the two compressor stations that we're building this year were in the process of progressing the Capa gas plant.

再說一次，我認為當我們考慮每天 20 萬桶時，實際上相當於每天產生超過 10 萬桶的總石油產量或淨石油產量，然後隨著時間的推移，天然氣產量也會增長。正如我們從整體油田開發計劃的角度所做的那樣，我們一直在嘗試透過中游基礎設施計劃來優化上游鑽井活動。因此，這實際上是關乎基礎設施的到位，然後盡可能地利用該基礎設施。因此，當我們回顧一段時間內的建設情況，並觀察基礎設施的發展情況以及我們認為的發展情況時，從鑽井角度來看，油田的開發正在進行中，我們覺得每天 20 萬桶是合適的水平。因此，除了我們今年正在建造的兩個壓縮機站之外，我們還在建造卡帕天然氣廠。

As far as material long-term infrastructure activity, we're kind of at that level where the infrastructure is stable. And so from our perspective, we're kind of looking at this as how does the drilling activity and the infrastructure system really complement each other so that you get very, very high utilization of that equipment and really optimize the system itself. So that's really kind of where we are and how we've continued to look at it. And as we continue to look longer term, we'll look at our development plan again, which, again, it's a very integrated activity between the upstream and the midstream. That will happen in the fall, and then we'll be updating our longer-term guidance in January.

就長期實質基礎設施活動而言，我們目前處於基礎設施穩定的水平。因此，從我們的角度來看，我們正在研究鑽井活動和基礎設施系統如何真正地相互補充，以便非常高地利用該設備並真正優化系統本身。這就是我們現在的狀況以及我們持續看待這個問題的方式。隨著我們繼續著眼於長遠，我們將再次審視我們的發展計劃，這是一個上游和中游之間高度整合的活動。這將在秋季發生，然後我們將在一月份更新我們的長期指導。

This is Jonathan. One thing just to highlight, John really picked it up on the end, and I think it's important to highlight at this stage, which is one of the historic strengths of Hess Midstream has been the partnership that we've had between the upstream and the midstream between Hess Midstream and the upstream it has to be able to develop the Bakken in the most optimal way. And now as we go forward with Chevron, there's no change to that partnership. There's no change to the focus on both of us working together to optimize the Bakken and develop it, as John described, and as you said, the normal process will continue, where we get an updated development plan, we'll figure out what's the right infrastructure required to meet that development plan going forward and then we'll update our guidance based on that going forward. So really continuing in that strong partnership that has really been a hallmark of our relationship historically.

這是喬納森。需要強調的一點是，約翰最後確實抓住了這一點，我認為在這個階段強調這一點很重要，這是赫斯中游的歷史優勢之一，是我們上游和中游之間建立的合作夥伴關係，赫斯中游和上游之間必須能夠以最優的方式開發巴肯。現在，隨著我們與雪佛龍的合作不斷推進，這種合作關係不會改變。正如約翰所描述的，我們雙方共同努力優化巴肯並進行開發的工作重點沒有改變，正如你所說，正常流程將繼續，我們將獲得更新的開發計劃，我們將弄清楚未來滿足該開發計劃所需的正確基礎設施是什麼，然後我們將在此基礎上更新我們的指導。因此，我們能夠繼續保持這種強大的夥伴關係，這確實是我們歷史上關係的一個標誌。

That's helpful. And that's all clear. Maybe just one related one. Since you've seen kind of increased efficiencies on the upstream side there. Just what's been the latest commentary around related inventory life?

這很有幫助。這一切都很清楚。也許只有一個相關的。因為您已經看到上游的效率有所提升。關於相關庫存壽命的最新評論是什麼？

Yes. I mean I think we're still -- everybody gets still hung up on rig count and well counts and all of that. And really as we move into an extended lateral program, it really is the lateral footage drilled. And so from our perspective, the overall lateral footage that's been drilled as far as what's available to develop really remains unchanged. And in fact, we're actually seeing a little bit of growth in that space just from the standpoint of as those extended laterals become a bigger part of the portfolio, that creates opportunities for improved economics on those wells where they may be in more challenged areas.

是的。我的意思是，我認為我們仍然——每個人仍然對鑽機數量、油井數量等問題感到困惑。實際上，當我們進入擴展橫向鑽探程序時，它實際上是鑽探橫向鑽探鏡頭。因此，從我們的角度來看，已經鑽探的總體橫向長度以及可供開發的深度實際上保持不變。事實上，從延伸水平井成為投資組合中更大一部分的角度來看，我們實際上看到了該領域的一些成長，這為那些可能位於更具挑戰性的地區的油井改善經濟效益創造了機會。

But if you're drilling a three, four-mile lateral, your -- the economics get much better, and that unlocks some of the rock that may have been challenged before. So I think we're -- we continue to be extremely optimistic in that space, and that's something that continues to be a tailwind for us as we look forward for the basin development.

但是如果你鑽的是三、四英里長的水平井，你的經濟效益就會大大提高，而且可以打開一些以前可能遇到挑戰的岩石。所以我認為我們——我們對這個領域仍然非常樂觀，這對我們期待盆地發展仍然是一個順風。

Alright, that's clear. I appreciate the time thank you.

好的，很清楚了。我很感激您抽出時間，謝謝。

Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。