Highpeak Energy Inc (HPK) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the HighPeak Energy 2024 Second Quarter Earnings Conference Call [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that today’s conference is being recorded.

美好的一天，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 HighPeak Energy 2024 年第二季財報電話會議 [操作員說明] 請注意，今天的會議正在錄音。

I would now like to hand the conference over to your first speaker today, Steven Tholen, CFO. Please go ahead.

現在我想將會議交給今天的第一位發言人，財務長史蒂文·托倫 (Steven Tholen)。請繼續。

Good morning, everyone and welcome to HighPeak Energy’s second quarter 2024 earnings call. Representing HighPeak today are Chairman and CEO, Jack Hightower; President, Michael Hollis; and I’m Steven Tholen, the Chief Financial Officer.

大家早安，歡迎參加 HighPeak Energy 的 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。今天代表 HighPeak 的是董事長兼執行長 Jack Hightower；總裁麥可·霍利斯；我是財務長 Steven Tholen。

During today’s call, we will make reference to our August Investor Presentation and our second quarter earnings release, which can be found on HighPeak’s website. Today’s call participants may make certain forward-looking statements relating to the Company’s financial condition, results of operations, expectations, plans, goals, assumptions, and future performance.

在今天的電話會議中，我們將參考我們的 8 月份投資者介紹和第二季度收益發布，這些資訊可以在 HighPeak 網站上找到。今天的電話會議參與者可能會就公司的財務狀況、經營業績、預期、計劃、目標、假設和未來業績做出某些前瞻性陳述。

So please refer to the cautionary information regarding forward-looking statements and related risks in the Company’s SEC filings, including the fact that actual results may differ materially from our expectations due to a variety of reasons, many of which are beyond our control. We will also refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures on today’s call, so please see the reconciliations in the earnings release and in our August Investor Presentation.

因此，請參閱本公司向 SEC 提交的文件中有關前瞻性陳述和相關風險的警示信息，包括實際結果可能由於多種原因而與我們的預期存在重大差異，其中許多原因超出了我們的控制範圍。我們也會在今天的電話會議上提及某些非 GAAP 財務指標，因此請參閱收益報告和 8 月份投資者簡報中的調整表。

I will now turn the call over to our Chairman and CEO, Jack Hightower.

我現在將把電話轉給我們的董事長兼執行長傑克·海塔爾 (Jack Hightower)。

Thank you, Steve and good morning, ladies and gentlemen and thank you for joining us today on this call. My prepared remarks will begin on slide 4, of our August Investor Presentation. I’m very proud to report that HighPeak had another solid quarter of execution across the board as we continue to stay committed to our 2024 core values, which include maintaining discipline operations, strengthening our balance sheet, and focusing on maximizing shareholder value.

謝謝史蒂夫，早安，女士們先生們，謝謝你們今天參加我們的電話會議。我準備好的發言將從我們 8 月投資者簡報的幻燈片 4 開始。我非常自豪地向大家報告，隨著我們繼續致力於 2024 年的核心價值觀，包括維持紀律運營、強化資產負債表以及專注於股東價值最大化，HighPeak 的整體執行力又取得了一個堅實的季度。

Operationally our drilling program continued to generate impressive production results and our operations team remains aggressively focused on optimizing daily operations and reducing our cost structure. Financially, we generated positive free cash flow for the fourth consecutive quarter, even taking into account that the second quarter will be our highest level of CapEx spend this year.

在營運方面，我們的鑽井計劃繼續產生令人印象深刻的生產成果，我們的營運團隊仍然積極專注於優化日常營運和降低成本結構。在財務上，我們連續第四個季度產生了正的自由現金流，即使考慮到第二季將是我們今年資本支出的最高水準。

And we continue to use our free cash flow to prioritize debt reduction while also executing our opportunistic share buyback program as we implement our primary objective of increasing shareholder value through improved operational results, our return of capital strategy and ultimately maximizing value through our strategic alternatives process.

我們繼續利用自由現金流來優先減少債務，同時執行機會主義股票回購計劃，因為我們透過改善營運績效、資本回報策略以及最終透過策略替代流程實現價值最大化來實現增加股東價值的主要目標。

The second quarter, if you turn to slide 5, was another strong operational success for HighPeak. Our production remained in the high 40,000 BOE range, which was a nice beat compared to our consensus estimate for the quarter.

如果你翻到投影片 5，第二季是 HighPeak 的另一個巨大的營運成功。我們的產量仍保持在 40,000 桶油當量的高位範圍內，這比我們對本季度的共識預期要好得多。

It is also worth noting that we were delayed bringing online a key pad, which pushed out some of our well turn on dates no later -- to later than we initially expected in the quarter. This materially reduced expected second quarter production volumes.

還值得注意的是，我們推遲了鍵盤的上線，這導致我們的一些良好的上線日期不晚於我們最初預計的本季度。這大大減少了第二季的預期產量。

Further, the quarter is off to a very strong start in the third quarter as production volumes have averaged over 52,000 barrels a day. And I want to emphasize that when you think of an average of 485 for the last quarter and then already in the third quarter here, we are over 52,000 barrels a day and seeing impressive early results from our recent Northern Extension wells in our flat top operating area. Mike will provide additional insights into our continued strong production results later in the presentation.

此外，第三季的開局非常強勁，平均每日產量超過 52,000 桶。我想強調的是，當你想到上個季度的平均產量為485 桶，以及第三季度的產量時，我們每天的產量超過52,000 桶，並且我們最近在平頂作業中的北部延伸井看到了令人印象深刻的早期結果區域。麥克將在稍後的演示中提供有關我們持續強勁的生產業績的更多見解。

But after achieving an impressive first quarter reduction in lease operating expenses, our operations team continued to maintain a significant sub-seven dollars per BOE cost level, even considering the lower production volumes due to the pad delay.

但在第一季租賃營運費用大幅減少後，我們的營運團隊繼續將每 BOE 的成本水準維持在 7 美元以下，即使考慮到焊盤延遲導致的產量下降。

Our continued operational success led to HighPeak maintaining its peer leading cash margin which equated to a net back for the quarter of over 80% of our realized price on a BOE basis. And our cash margins per BOE continue to be over 65% higher than our peer average, which Mike will emphasize is very important to our income stream and our success as a company.

我們持續的營運成功使 HighPeak 保持了同業領先的現金利潤率，這相當於本季度我們以 BOE 為基礎實現的價格的 80% 以上的淨回報。我們每個 BOE 的現金利潤率繼續比同業平均高出 65% 以上，麥克將強調這對我們的收入來源和我們作為一家公司的成功非常重要。

As a result of our solid production volumes and sustained lower operating expenses, we generated another strong quarter of cash flow and remain in a very healthy financial position. We also reduced long-term debt by another $30 million at par and continued to opportunistically implement our share buyback program by acquiring over 413,000 shares during the second quarter.

由於我們穩定的產量和持續較低的營運費用，我們又創造了強勁的季度現金流，並保持了非常健康的財務狀況。我們還以面額再減少了 3,000 萬美元的長期債務，並繼續機會主義地實施我們的股票回購計劃，在第二季度收購了超過 413,000 股股票。

Now if you will turn to slide 6. This is really an important slide, because we are exceeding our expectations. As a result of our successful first half 2024 results, we are updating our 2024 ranges in a few key categories.

現在請翻到投影片 6。這確實是一張重要的投影片，因為我們超出了我們的預期。由於我們 2024 年上半年取得了成功的業績，我們正在更新幾個關鍵類別的 2024 年產品系列。

We are raising our production guidance to 45,000 to 49,000 BOE a day, an approximate 4.5% increase compared to our initial 2024 range. Our production volumes continue to remain strong, and we are confident in lifting this bar for the remainder of the year. We are also lowering our lease operating expenses per BOE to $6.50 to $7.50 which is a 12.5% percent reduction from our initial expectations.

我們將產量指引上調至每天 45,000 至 49,000 桶油當量，與我們最初的 2024 年範圍相比增加了約 4.5%。我們的產量持續保持強勁，我們有信心在今年剩餘時間內提高這一標準。我們還將每個 BOE 的租賃營運費用降低至 6.50 至 7.50 美元，比我們最初的預期減少了 12.5%。

Our operations team has done an exceptional job optimizing our fill wide program throughout the first half of this year and I’m hopeful that there are incremental savings that we will continue to see throughout the remainder of the year.

今年上半年，我們的營運團隊在優化我們的填充範圍計畫方面做得非常出色，我希望在今年剩餘時間裡我們將繼續看到增量節省。

We are also narrowing our capital budget from our initial band of $85 million down to a band of only $40 million. This slight increase is due to some additional infrastructure projects that we undertook primarily related to our Northern extension area and Mike will provide some additional color on this in a few minutes.

我們也將資本預算從最初的 8,500 萬美元縮小到 4,000 萬美元。這一小幅增長是由於我們開展的一些額外基礎設施項目主要與我們的北部延伸區相關，邁克將在幾分鐘內對此提供一些額外的信息。

The key takeaway is that we have had a very impressive start to the year with our results exceeding initial expectations and we are confident in our ability to continue to achieve higher production volumes and lower costs for the remainder of the year.

關鍵的一點是，我們今年的開局令人印象深刻，我們的業績超出了最初的預期，我們對今年剩餘時間內繼續實現更高產量和更低成本的能力充滿信心。

With that I'll now turn the call over to our President, Mike Hollis, to provide an operational update as well as some additional details supporting our improved guidance.

現在，我將把電話轉給我們的總統邁克霍利斯 (Mike Hollis)，以提供最新的營運情況以及支持我們改進指導的一些其他詳細資訊。

Thanks, Jack. Now turning to slide 7. As Jack discussed, we are off to a great start this year shown by our higher-than-expected production volumes. Our first half production averaged approximately 49,100 BOE per day, which is an increase of roughly 8% compared to our 2023 annual average.

謝謝，傑克。現在轉到投影片 7。正如傑克所討論的，我們今年的產量高於預期，這表明我們今年有了一個良好的開端。我們上半年的平均產量約為每天 49,100 桶油當量，與 2023 年的年平均值相比增加了約 8%。

Further, our third quarter is off to a great start as well at over 52,000 BOE a day. And our current two rig development program is expected to continue to support higher volumes throughout the remainder of the year as evidenced by our raising the production guidance.

此外，我們的第三季也取得了良好的開局，每天產量超過 52,000 桶油當量。我們目前的兩台鑽機開發計畫預計將在今年剩餘時間內繼續支持更高的產量，我們提高了生產指導就證明了這一點。

A few key drivers of this success, our new wells in our Northern and Northeastern extension areas in Flat Top have exhibited higher initial performance than we originally modeled. Again, as prudent operators, we always start off very conservative as we move to any new area.

這一成功的幾個關鍵驅動因素是，我們在 Flat Top 北部和東北延伸區的新井表現出了比我們最初建模更高的初始性能。同樣，作為謹慎的運營商，當我們進入任何新領域時，我們總是一開始就非常保守。

Our Judith Well, located in the Northeast corner of Flat Top and is referenced by the number one on the map, exhibited a peak 30-day average IP of over 1,350 barrels of oil a day plus associated gas. It has cued approximately 85,000 BOEs during the first 70-days of production.

我們的 Judith 井位於 Flat Top 的東北角，由地圖上的第一號標記，其 30 天平均產量高峰為每天超過 1,350 桶石油和伴生天然氣。在生產的前 70 天裡，它已經提示了大約 85,000 個 BOE。

Our first 10,000 foot Wolfcamp A well located in our Northern expansion area, that is number two on the map, is currently making over 700 barrels a day of oil and is continuing to increase production as we can pull on the well longer.

我們的第一口 10,000 英尺 Wolfcamp A 油井位於我們的北部擴張區，在地圖上排名第二，目前每天生產 700 多桶石油，並且隨著我們可以延長油井的使用時間，我們將繼續增加產量。

We also have a two well pad further to the East on this new acreage denoted by the number three. The Wolfcamp A and Lower Spraberry wells on that pad have been drilled, completed, and we expect to turn them online during the third quarter.

我們還在東部更遠的地方有一個兩井井場，位於這個以數字 3 表示的新土地上。該平台上的 Wolfcamp A 井和 Lower Spraberry 井已鑽完並完成，我們預計將在第三季上線。

The petro-physical analysis and cuttings from these two wells confirm that the reservoir is consistent with what we see in our core Flat Top area. So we continue to be very encouraged and excited about this Northern area of the field.

這兩口井的石油物理分析和岩屑證實，儲層與我們在核心平頂區域看到的一致。因此，我們對該領域的北部地區繼續感到非常鼓舞和興奮。

And in addition to the successful new wells at our Northern extension areas, we are continuing to see strong well performance across our entire acreage. The operations team is firing on all cylinders and we continue to see better uptime and lower cost across the board.

除了我們北部延伸區成功的新井外，我們還在整個區域繼續看到強勁的油井表現。營運團隊正在全力以赴，我們繼續看到整體正常運作時間更長、成本更低。

Now turning to slide 8. As Jack previously mentioned, our team has been intensely focused on reducing cost across the board and they delivered again this quarter. HighPeak’s beaten rays to production and beaten lower to LOE guidance assuming second quarter pricing equates to $55 million of additional EBITDAX as well as free cash flow for 2024.

現在轉到投影片 8。正如傑克之前提到的，我們的團隊一直致力於全面降低成本，他們在本季度再次交付。假設第二季定價相當於 5,500 萬美元的額外 EBITDAX 以及 2024 年的自由現金流，HighPeak 的生產將受到影響，並會低於 LOE 指導。

Some key drivers to our step change in LOE year-over-year are optimization of our chemical program throughout the field; our operations team has been keenly focused on this initiative and continues to make further strides. Chemical cost is a significant component of our OpEx.

我們的 LOE 逐年變化的一些關鍵驅動因素是我們整個領域化學計劃的優化；我們的營運團隊一直密切關注這項舉措，並繼續取得進一步進展。化學品成本是我們營運支出的重要組成部分。

And as I mentioned last quarter, we continue to fully exploit our world class life of field infrastructure system. Part of this exploitation is being able to dispose of 100% of our produced water that is not being used for recycling through our company owned system and not having to rely on any third-party disposal. This drives significant OpEx cost reductions as third-party disposal is inherently more expensive.

正如我在上個季度提到的，我們將繼續充分利用我們世界一流的現場基礎設施​​系統壽命。這種利用的一部分是能夠透過我們公司擁有的系統處理 100% 未用於回收的採出水，而不必依賴任何第三方處理。這大大降低了營運支出成本，因為第三方處置本身就更昂貴。

On that note, a key contributor to our higher LOE in the second quarter compared to the first was the central tank battery delay that Jack commented on earlier. The battery commissioning was delayed about a month. We turned those wells on in the second quarter, had all of the usual costs associated with production and no BOEs to divide by. But as you can see in our quarter-to-date production numbers, those wells are now contributing. Had the wells come on a month earlier, our LOE would have been more in-line with the Q1.

在這一點上，與第一季相比，第二季度 LOE 較高的關鍵因素是傑克之前評論過的中央油箱電池延遲。電池調試推遲了大約一個月。我們在第二季啟用了這些油井，擁有與生產相關的所有常規成本，並且沒有可分攤的 BOE。但正如您在我們季度至今的產量數據中看到的那樣，這些油井現在正在做出貢獻。如果油井早一個月投產，我們的 LOE 會與第一季更加一致。

Our overhead electric power distribution system continues to pay huge dividends for HighPeak. Not only does it provide more reliability to our operations, i.e. uptime, but we have expanded it to the point to where we have been able to tie in extension area wells into the overhead electrical system at startup versus having to run new areas of the field on more expensive generator power until the overhead electrical system is ready.

我們的架空配電系統繼續為 HighPeak 帶來巨大的紅利。它不僅為我們的營運（即正常運行時間）提供了更高的可靠性，而且我們已將其擴展到能夠在啟動時將擴展區域井連接到架空電力系統的程度，而無需運行現場的新區域使用更昂貴的發電機電源，直到架空電力系統準備就緒。

And it is no secret that electrical power supply is getting tight in the Permian Basin. And additional power project timelines are being substantially pushed out. Our team has done a fantastic job in recognizing this situation well in advance, taking the initiative to secure an abundant supply and construct a distribution system that efficiently delivers reliable power across our entire field. HighPeak is in a great position for life of field development even at an increased development cadence.

二疊紀盆地的電力供應日益緊張已不是秘密。額外的電力項目時間表也被大大推遲。我們的團隊在提前認識到這種情況方面做得非常出色，主動確保充足的供應並建立了一個配電系統，可以在整個領域中高效地提供可靠的電力。即使開發節奏加快，HighPeak 在油田開發生命週期中仍處於有利地位。

In addition, our solar farm is now fully operational and is providing consistent renewable power to supplement our flattop overhead electrical system. One thing for sure, there is no shortage of abundant West Texas sunshine during the summer months, and now we are able to exploit this to our material benefit.

此外，我們的太陽能發電廠現已全面投入運營，並提供穩定的可再生能源，以補充我們的平頂架空電力系統。可以肯定的是，西德克薩斯州的夏季並不缺乏充足的陽光，現在我們可以利用這一點來獲取物質利益。

The solar farm will also help insulate our power cost during electrical spot pricing spikes that the region periodically faces throughout the summer months. Again, our operations team has done a tremendous job over the past few years in building out our world-class infrastructure and optimizing all field operations, all of which are now starting to materially improve our bottom line.

該太陽能發電廠還將有助於在該地區整個夏季定期面臨的電力現貨價格飆升期間降低我們的電力成本。同樣，我們的營運團隊在過去幾年中在建設世界一流的基礎設施和優化所有現場運營方面做出了巨大的工作，所有這些現在都開始實質地提高我們的利潤。

Now turning to focus on our capital budget for a moment. As we previously mentioned and messaged, our 2024, capital program was first half weighted and that is due to a number of reasons. Our first half turn in-line cadence is slightly higher at 55% of our annual guide range.

現在暫時關注我們的資本預算。正如我們之前提到和傳達的訊息，我們的 2024 年資本計畫是上半年加權的，這是由於多種原因造成的。我們的前半段直線轉彎節奏略高，為年度指引範圍的 55%。

This is primarily due to the additional wells that we carried into this calendar year from running a three rig program during the fourth quarter of last year and partially in Q1 of 2024. Furthermore, our second quarter turn in-lines were approximately 32% of our entire 2024 program which speaks to Q2 being our hottest CapEx quarter for the year.

這主要是由於我們在去年第四季和部分 2024 年第一季運行的三鑽機專案中增加了本日曆年的油井。此外，我們第二季的投入約佔整個 2024 年計畫的 32%，這表明第二季是我們今年資本支出最熱的季度。

In addition to the extra wells turned in-line during the first half, our infrastructure projects were also first half weighted. As we extended our systems to our new northern acreage areas in Flat Top, these extension projects provide immediate returns and were constructed in a manner to support full development of these new areas with only incremental future capital requirements.

除了上半年新增的油井投產外，我們的基礎建設項目也對上半年進行了加權。當我們將系統擴展到 Flat Top 的新北部種植區域時，這些擴展項目提供了立竿見影的回報，並且其建造方式支持這些新區域的全面開發，而僅增加了未來的資本需求。

Our facility spend was also first half weighted as we constructed new tank batteries in these extension areas of the field. As we progress in our development plan and drill more wells in these areas, our facility cost on a dollar per foot basis will drop considerably.

我們的設施支出也佔了上半年的比重，因為我們在這些領域的擴展區域建造了新的坦克電池。隨著我們的開發計劃取得進展並在這些地區鑽更多的井，我們每英尺的設施成本將大幅下降。

DC&E costs are holding steady at prices that we realized during the first quarter. As the industry has seen a reduction in rigs and Frac Spreads over the last quarter or several quarters, I would expect some additional softening this year, albeit small. And to that fact, we have narrowed our CapEx budget for the remainder of the year and feel very confident that we will remain within our guided range.

DC&E 成本與我們在第一季實現的價格保持穩定。由於上個季度或幾季該行業的鑽機數量和壓裂價差有所減少，我預計今年會出現進一步的疲軟，儘管幅度很小。事實上，我們已經縮小了今年剩餘時間的資本支出預算，並且非常有信心將保持在指導範圍內。

Now turning to slide 9, HighPeak’s margins per BOE continue a commanding lead amongst our peer group. Our second quarter unhedged EBITDAX margins remain strong at $50.07 per BOE, which continued to be over 65% higher than our peer group average. The chart on the slide highlights that high peaks EBITDAX margin over the past five quarters has averaged over 60% of average NYMEX oil prices.

現在轉向幻燈片 9，HighPeak 的每桶油當量利潤率繼續在同行中遙遙領先。我們第二季未對沖的 EBITDAX 利潤率依然強勁，為每桶油當量 50.07 美元，繼續比同業平均高出 65% 以上。投影片上的圖表突出顯示，過去五個季度的 EBITDAX 利潤率峰值平均超過 NYMEX 平均油價的 60%。

Or said another way, for every BOE that high peak produces; we realize a net profit of approximately $50, assuming an $80 NYMEX index price. But in comparison with our peer group, who on average only generate profit margins of roughly $30 per BOE at an $80 NYMEX oil price.

或者換句話說，對於高峰生產的每一個BOE；假設 NYMEX 指數價格為 80 美元，我們實現的淨利潤約為 50 美元。但與我們的同行相比，在紐約商業交易所 (NYMEX) 油價為 80 美元的情況下，每桶油當量的平均利潤率僅為 30 美元左右。

Another way we like to evaluate our margins is to compare EBITDAX margin per BOE as a percentage of our realized price per BOE. This is less of a comparison versus our peers and more of a view of how efficient we are at converting our produced BOEs into net profit for HighPeak.

我們評估利潤率的另一種方法是將每桶油當量的 EBITDAX 利潤率與我們每桶油當量的實現價格的百分比進行比較。這不是與我們的同行進行比較，而是更多地了解我們將生產的 BOE 轉化為 HighPeak 淨利潤的效率。

Our second quarter margins show that for every BOE that HighPeak produced, we converted over 80% of the realized sales price per BOE into net profit for the company. We have built a very efficient machine here at HighPeak, which will allow us to cost effectively convert our deep inventory of undrilled locations into substantial profit.

我們第二季的利潤率顯示，對於 HighPeak 生產的每個 BOE，我們將每個 BOE 實現銷售價格的 80% 以上轉換為公司的淨利潤。我們在 HighPeak 建造了一台非常有效率的機器，這將使我們能夠經濟高效地將未鑽探地點的大量庫存轉化為可觀的利潤。

And as we always say, not all BOEs are created equal, our high oil cut and our approved cost structure will allow HighPeak to continue to generate the differential profits for decades to come. With my comments now complete, I will turn the call back over to Jack.

正如我們常說的，並非所有京東方都是平等的，我們的高油價削減和我們批准的成本結構將使 HighPeak 在未來幾十年內繼續產生差異化利潤。我的評論現已完成，我會將電話轉回給傑克。

Thanks Mike and let’s turn to the next page on slide 10. And I want to congratulate our operations team for a very successful quarter. This slide is an important slide to look back and see where you have come from, from a historical growth comparative analysis.

謝謝麥克，讓我們翻到幻燈片 10 的下一頁。我要祝賀我們的營運團隊度過了一個非常成功的季度。這張投影片是一張重要的投影片，可以透過歷史成長比較分析來回顧並了解您來自哪裡。

And if you look at that we have been in business now four-years since we went public and we want to take the opportunity to highlight a few noteworthy company facts. As you can see, HighPeak has demonstrated a track record of significant financially responsible production growth on an annual basis over the past four-years. Production has increased by a factor of over 14 times during a short four-year life of the company.

如果你看看我們上市以來已經營業四年了，我們想藉此機會強調一些值得注意的公司事實。正如您所看到的，HighPeak 在過去四年中展現了每年顯著的經濟負責任的產量成長記錄。在公司成立短短四年的時間裡，產量增加了 14 倍以上。

Think about that in terms of looking forward into the future. Through '24, we have drilled 289 operated horizontal wells across our acreage position. Collectively these amounts to drilling over 3.5 million lateral feet and on a combined basis, our wells have produced over $50 million gross BOE since going public. This has led to HighPeak generating over $2.7 billion of revenue in over four-years, and we are now on-track to generate over $1 billion per year from this year on.

從展望未來的角度思考這一點。截至 2024 年，我們已在我們的區域鑽探了 289 口水平井。這些鑽探總計超過 350 萬橫向英尺，自上市以來，我們的油井總產油量已超過 5,000 萬美元。這使得 HighPeak 在四年多的時間裡創造了超過 27 億美元的收入，從今年開始，我們預計每年創造超過 10 億美元的收入。

So it shows you our history, but also can project into the future as to what our growth can be going forward. I think it is important to look back as well as look forward as you go forward in the future.

因此，它向您展示了我們的歷史，同時也可以預測未來我們的發展方向。我認為，在未來前進的過程中，回顧過去和展望未來都很重要。

So HighPeak and when you think about on the next slide, slide 11, the takeaways I want to leave you with today is we are continuing to execute on all cylinders. Our asset base continues to deliver strong production results full of oily high margin barrels. We expect this trend to continue, which is why we are confident in raising our production guidance.

HighPeak，當您思考下一張投影片（投影片 11）時，我今天想留給您的要點是，我們將繼續全力執行。我們的資產基礎持續帶來強勁的生產業績，充滿油性高利潤桶。我們預期這一趨勢將持續下去，這就是我們有信心提高生產指引的原因。

Throughout the past year, we have been intensely focused on optimizing our field wide operations, expanding our world class infrastructure system to reach all areas of the field and as Mike likes to say, lots of production going forward.

在過去的一年裡，我們一直專注於優化我們的現場運營，擴大我們世界一流的基礎設施系統以覆蓋現場的所有領域，正如邁克喜歡說的那樣，大量的生產正在進行中。

These have led to the realization of significant operating cost reductions as evidenced by our results through the first half of this year. We expect to maintain this lower step change in operating expenses going forward and as such are confident in lowering our LOE guidance range.

正如我們今年上半年的業績所證明的那樣，這些措施顯著降低了營運成本。我們預計未來將保持營運費用的較低變化，因此有信心降低我們的 LOE 指導範圍。

Second, we have positioned the company for optimal value creation. We have amassed a solvable, highly contiguous acreage position, prime for large scale development. It is truly one of the few remaining opportunities of significant scale in the most sought after basin in the country, the Permian Basin.

其次，我們將公司定位為最佳價值創造。我們已經累積了可解決的、高度連續的土地位置，為大規模開發奠定了基礎。這確實是該國最受歡迎的盆地二疊紀盆地中僅存的少數大規模機會之一。

We rapidly increased our oil weighted high margin production and reserves to a significant level. We have delineated a long runway of high value inventory, which spans our entire leasehold position.

我們迅速將石油加權高利潤產量和儲量提高到顯著水準。我們已經劃定了一條長長的高價值庫存跑道，橫跨我們的整個租賃位置。

The scarcity of sub $50 per barrel breakeven inventory amidst the current market trend of extreme consolidation puts HighPeak in a very unique and lucrative position. We have built out a world class infrastructure system, which will support life of field development and helps insulate our peer leading profit margin for decades to come.

在當前極端整合的市場趨勢中，每桶低於 50 美元的損益平衡庫存十分稀缺，這使得 HighPeak 處於非常獨特且利潤豐厚的地位。我們已經建立了世界一流的基礎設施系統，該系統將支援油田開發的生命週期，並有助於在未來幾十年內保持我們在同行中領先的利潤率。

I can’t really provide specific details at this time, but I do want to say that our strategic process is making significant progress and I’m very excited about what the future holds for HighPeak and our shareholders.

我目前無法提供具體細節，但我確實想說，我們的策略流程正在取得重大進展，我對 HighPeak 和股東的未來感到非常興奮。

With our comments now complete, I will open the call up to questions from analysts.

我們的評論現已完成，我將開始接受分析師提問。

John White with Ross MKM Capital.

約翰懷特 (John White) 與羅斯 MKM 資本 (Ross MKM Capital)。

Good morning, gentlemen. Congratulations on a nice production. In terms of lease operating expense, you talked about the pathways related to the tank battery, but weren’t there a higher amount of well workover expenses in the quarter?

早安，先生們。恭喜您取得了不錯的成果。在租賃營運費用方面，您談到了與罐組相關的途徑，但是本季修井費用不是更高嗎？

I will take that one, John. Yes, absolutely. Thank you for the question, and good morning. So if you are referring to quarter-over-quarter, Q1 we averaged about $0.39 per BOE for workover expenses and we were closer to $0.69 or $0.68 this quarter.

我會接受那個，約翰。是的，絕對是。謝謝你的提問，早安。因此，如果您指的是季度環比，則第一季我們平均每個 BOE 的修井費用約為 0.39 美元，本季我們接近 0.69 美元或 0.68 美元。

What drove a lot of that, again, we did 32% of our completions this quarter for the year. So if you look at kind of a general number and a good go forward kind of modeling number for HighPeak on a workover expense basis at our normal cadence it is somewhere between the $0.30 to $0.45 of BOE is kind of where I think we would run.

造成這一結果的主要原因是，我們本季完成了全年 32% 的工作。因此，如果你看一下 HighPeak 的一般數字和良好的前進模型數字，以我們正常節奏的修井費用為基礎，我認為我們會運行的 BOE 介於 0.30 美元到 0.45 美元之間。

So that $0.25 difference between each Q1 and Q2 was associated with a lot of the work that we did bringing these wells on and completing those 26 wells throughout the quarter. And whenever you do that, you do impact some of the wells on either side of what you are completing and that heavy cadence of completions did drive us to have to do some expense workovers on some of the offset wells around there. So that is what drove the change in Q2.

因此，第一季和第二季每季之間 0.25 美元的差異與我們在整個季度啟動這些井並完成這 26 口井所做的大量工作有關。每當你這樣做時，你確實會影響你正在完成的兩側的一些油井，而完井的沉重節奏確實迫使我們不得不對周圍的一些補償井進行一些費用修井。這就是推動第二季變化的原因。

Okay. Thanks for that detail. I appreciate it, and I'll turn the call back to the queue.

好的。謝謝你的詳細資料。我很感激，我會將電話轉回隊列。

Jeff Robertson at Water Tower Research.

水塔研究中心的傑夫羅伯森。

Thank you. Jack and Mike, I apologize, I missed part of your prepared remarks, so if you have answered these questions, I will read about it in the transcript if you want. But two questions, one on slide 11, your last follow-up point, you talk about infrastructure supporting life of field development in Flat Top. And can you just talk about how that infrastructure investment that you have made would impact capital efficiency and returns going forward as you progress through your development program?

謝謝。傑克和麥克，我很抱歉，我錯過了你們準備好的部分發言，所以如果你們已經回答了這些問題，如果你們願意的話，我會在文字記錄中閱讀。但有兩個問題，一個在幻燈片 11 上，即您的最後一個跟進點，您談到了支持 Flat Top 現場開發生命的基礎設施。您能否談談隨著您的開發計劃的進展，您所做的基礎設施投資將如何影響未來的資本效率和回報？

Yes, Mike, you can answer that.

是的，麥克，你可以回答這個問題。

You bet, Jeff. And thank you for that question, because It is often overlooked, the value of the infrastructure that you put in. Obviously, it helps us initially when we build our infrastructure to, for instance, our new Northern area where we built a lot of infrastructure to tie in one battery.

你敢打賭，傑夫。感謝您提出這個問題，因為您投入的基礎設施的價值經常被忽略。顯然，當我們在新的北部地區建造基礎設施時，它最初對我們有幫助，我們在那裡建造了許多基礎設施來連接一個電池。

So from a capital efficiency standpoint of the initial dollars you put in, it is pretty low day one. However, when we develop that area and have 35, 40 wells coming through that same infrastructure, your kind of dollar per completed lateral foot cost associated with future wells goes down dramatically.

因此，從您最初投入的資金的資本效率角度來看，第一天的投入相當低。然而，當我們開發該地區並擁有 35、40 口井通過相同的基礎設施時，與未來井相關的每完成側英尺成本將大幅下降。

So as we have built out and have already spent the money on the vast majority of all the infrastructure that HighPeak needs, again, as Jack mentioned, for life of field, and that is for all of the multiple zone that we planned to drill and at whatever cadence here at one time we were running in six rigs.

因此，正如 Jack 所提到的，我們已經建造了 HighPeak 所需的絕大多數基礎設施，並且已經將資金投入了整個油田的使用壽命中，即我們計劃鑽探和鑽探的所有多區域。節奏，我們一次都在六台鑽孔機上運行。

So again, in the future, depending on commodity price and balance sheet strength, if we ever wanted to increase activity, we could. And we have always kind of talked about the ability to pull back the range if oil prices were to go lower into the future. We have the leasehold position that is a very differential leasehold position that allows us to hold this whole 137,000 acres with just one rig or less running.

因此，在未來，根據大宗商品價格和資產負債表的實力，如果我們想增加活動，我們可以做到。我們一直在談論如果未來油價走低，有能力縮小區間。我們擁有的租賃權位置是一種非常差異化的租賃權位置，使我們能夠僅用一台或更少的鑽機運行來持有這整個 137,000 英畝的土地。

So it is a very unique system that we have built. And as you pointed out, every additional well that we drill in the future gets the benefit from that money that we have spent over the last 3.5 years building out that infrastructure.

所以這是我們建立的一個非常獨特的系統。正如您所指出的，我們未來鑽探的每一口新井都會受益於我們過去 3.5 年用於建設基礎設施的資金。

And I would add, Jeff, to that. If you think about we have got an infrastructure now that can go all the way up to 550,000 barrels of product to support our growth and when you think of 2,600 locations potentially, even if you go back to 1150 locations just in the Wolf A and Lower Spraberry and some other zones, that is expanding rapidly.

傑夫，我想補充一點。如果您考慮我們現在擁有的基礎設施可以一直生產 550,000 桶產品來支持我們的成長，而當您考慮到潛在的 2,600 個地點時，即使您回到 Wolf A 和 Lower 地區的 1150 個地點Spraberry 和其他一些區域正在迅速擴張。

And so we and others have invested almost $1 billion now on infrastructure here and that will allow us to expand all over across our entire acreage position and be able to handle with 100% recycling of the oil and the water as well as completions in the future and be able to handle that and dispose of the excess with our own saltwater disposal system. So that infrastructure now is basically in place. We will spend a few additional capital dollars going forward, but it will be very limited expenditures.

因此，我們和其他人現在在這裡的基礎設施上投資了近 10 億美元，這將使我們能夠擴展到整個區域，並能夠處理 100% 的石油和水回收以及未來的竣工並能夠使用我們自己的鹽水處理系統處理並處理多餘的物質。所以現在基礎設施已經基本到位了。未來我們將花費一些額外的資本，但這將是非常有限的支出。

And Jeff, also on obviously, we reduced LOE in the guide down from a midpoint of $8 to a midpoint of $7 and again being conservative, we want to make sure that we meet and beat that as well. And you kind of see that on kind of Slide 7 on the production side where we are sitting with production in the guide that we increased the midpoint from 45,000 BOEs to 47,000.

傑夫，顯然，我們將指南中的 LOE 從 8 美元的中點降低到 7 美元的中點，並且再次保守，我們希望確保我們也能達到並超越這個水平。您可以看到，在生產方面的幻燈片 7 上，我們在指南中進行生產，將中點從 45,000 個 BOE 增加到 47,000 個。

And since you weren’t on the you may have missed this in the prepared remarks, those two changes in guide over the 2024 calendar year equate to an EBITDA change of about $55 million and since we are in a free cash flow mode going forward this full-year as well as going forward, all of that additional EBITDA goes to free cash flow as well. So, again, all of this money and systems and infrastructure we have put in place is paying dividends now and will continue in the future.

由於您沒有參加，您可能在準備好的評論中錯過了這一點，2024 日曆年指南中的這兩項變化相當於 EBITDA 變化約 5500 萬美元，而且由於我們未來處於自由現金流模式今年以及未來，所有額外的EBITDA 也將轉化為自由現金流。因此，我們投入的所有資金、系統和基礎設施現在正在帶來紅利，並將在未來繼續下去。

Nicholas Pope with Seaport Research.

尼可拉斯波普與海港研究中心。

I was hoping you guys could talk a little bit about the uses of cash. And obviously, it is a good problem to have, but we are kind of looking at three items here with dividends, share repurchases the last two quarters, and options to pay down debt. And I was curious how you are thinking about that going forward. Obviously, that debt is very high interest payments it is 20% of EBITDA. So curious like how you are kind of weighing that relative to these other to shareholder return options that you have in place?

我希望你們能談談現金的用途。顯然，這是一個好問題，但我們在這裡關註三個項目，包括股息、過去兩個季度的股票回購以及償還債務的選擇。我很好奇你如何看待未來的發展。顯然，這筆債務的利息支出非常高，佔 EBITDA 的 20%。很好奇，你如何權衡你現有的其他股東回報選擇？

Nick that is a great question and we are going to stick with our program to pay down debt. Now, we are going to keep the cash on the balance sheet because right now we have Make-Whole provisions and we want to make sure we pay that debt down at par.

尼克，這是一個很好的問題，我們將堅持我們的計劃來償還債務。現在，我們將把現金保留在資產負債表上，因為現在我們有“整體撥備”，我們希望確保按面值償還債務。

And of course, our Make-Whole provisions run out in March. We are fully aware that we could refinance and our costs at BB rating would go down to six-something, even with the new issuance in the seven-something percent range.

當然，我們的 Make-Whole 條款將於三月到期。我們充分意識到，我們可以進行再融資，即使新發行的債券價格在百分之七左右，我們在 BB 評級下的成本也會下降到百分之六左右。

But we have got to pretty well make that Make-Whole payment between now and March, so it is probably after that before we would consider changing. But our goal is to pay down debt. Now, we have the optionality of drilling more if oil prices happen to go way up.

但從現在到三月份，我們必須很好地支付全額付款，所以可能在那之後我們才會考慮改變。但我們的目標是償還債務。現在，如果油價大幅上漲，我們可以選擇進行更多鑽探。

But we are going to stick with our program and stick with what we have been doing in the past. And eventually, if we don’t successfully have a strategic alternative by then, we would refinance our term debt and pay off our bonds and go forward.

但我們將堅持我們的計劃並堅持我們過去一直在做的事情。最終，如果我們到那時還沒有成功找到策略替代方案，我們將為我們的定期債務再融資並償還我們的債券並繼續前進。

And, of course, the difference in the cost of that debt compared to what a bond would be today is almost $220 million a year of additional cash flow. So we have good optionality, but we are very encouraged by our strategic alternative process.

當然，這些債務的成本與今天的債券成本相比，每年的額外現金流幾乎相差 2.2 億美元。因此，我們有很好的選擇餘地，但我們對我們的策略替代流程感到非常鼓舞。

Got it, that is helpful. Switching to something a little more fun, these new wells. Curious, like going into these Northern - in the Northeastern kind of extensional areas on the newer acreage, I’m curious, as you went into those, were there any big questions that you thought needed to be answered and as you get the data from the production of these new wells, is there new zones, new productivity. How does that match up, I guess, with what the expectations were going into the wells and do you think that affects inventory and the numbers that we have talked about in the past?

明白了，很有幫助。切換到更有趣的東西，這些新井。好奇，就像進入這些北部 - 在新土地上的東北延伸地區一樣，我很好奇，當你進入這些地區時，是否有任何你認為需要回答的大問題以及當你獲得數據時從這些新井的投產來看，是否有新的區域、新的產能。我想，這與對油井的預期是否相符？

I will let Mike answer that, and then I will follow-up if he leaves something out that I think is important.

我會讓麥克回答這個問題，如果他遺漏了我認為重要的內容，我會跟進。

Yeah. So Nick great questions. Again, any operator, as you move more than a couple miles away from known production, we are all kind of engineers in the background, so we like to be conservative.

是的。尼克提出了很好的問題。再說一次，任何操作員，當你離開已知的生產線幾英里之外時，我們都是幕後工程師，所以我們喜歡保守。

When we say they beat expectations, yes, these wells beat the expectations they were using as we were modeling to make sure we had enough risk for that kind of two-mile walkout or as we went North, to go yet another two miles North of where we were.

當我們說它們超出了預期時，是的，這些井超出了他們在建模時使用的預期，以確保我們有足夠的風險進行兩英里的罷工，或者當我們向北行駛時，再向北行駛兩英里我們在哪裡。

But from a petro-physical standpoint, from log analysis, from the cuttings, everything suggested that it should be just as good as what we had down in what we call the core of the Flat Top area. So, were we not expecting to see what we did? No, the answer was we fully expected to get this result. And to answer your question about additional zones, these wells were Wolfcamp A well and Lower Spraberry.

但從石油物理的角度來看，從測井分析、岩屑來看，一切都顯示它應該與我們所說的平頂區域核心的情況一樣好。那麼，我們難道沒有期待看到我們所做的事情嗎？不，答案是我們完全期望得到這個結果。為了回答您關於其他區域的問題，這些井是 Wolfcamp A 井和 Lower Spraberry。

Now, I have mentioned it at the end of last quarter that we were most likely going to drill a Middle Sprayberry well sometime in the near future. Well, we have already drilled and completed our first Middle Sprayberry well, which sits down in kind of the center part of Flat Top, and we are running the pump in the ground today. So we will have some information for the third quarter call.

現在，我在上個季度末提到過，我們很可能會在不久的將來的某個時候鑽一口 Middle Sprayberry 井。好吧，我們已經鑽探並完成了第一口 Middle Sprayberry 井，該井位於 Flat Top 的中心部分，今天我們正在地下運行泵。因此，我們將獲得第三季電話會議的一些資訊。

Again, there is offset wells touching the west side of our acreage block, and as we drilled that Middle Spraberry well, all things were encouraging from cuttings to oil cut that we saw in some of the returns while drilling.

同樣，有一些偏置井接觸到我們區塊的西側，當我們鑽探中斯普拉伯里井時，我們在鑽探過程中看到的一些回報中看到，從岩屑到石油開採，一切都令人鼓舞。

So again, we should be able to give an update on that additional zone that we have targeted in Flat Top. But no, these two new areas are acting as we suspected they would and as they should for modeling. It is just when we do guidance we always try to put a little left in there for the good guys.

再次強調，我們應該能夠更新我們在 Flat Top 中定位的附加區域。但事實並非如此，這兩個新領域的表現正如我們所懷疑的那樣，並且正如它們應該進行建模一樣。只是當我們進行指導時，我們總是盡力為好人留下一點。

The only thing I would add, Nick, to what Mike said is from a geological and petro-physical and oil-in-place analysis, we feel like our whole acreage position, even moving to the east. And as you can well imagine, we still have certain companies that think as we move East that the production is going to decline and yet our Judith well, which is our furthest eastern well outside the well in Scurry County, the Virginia well, is our most successful well.

尼克，我對麥克所說的唯一要補充的是，從地質、石油物理和石油地質分析來看，我們感覺我們的整個面積位置，甚至向東移動。正如您可以想像的那樣，我們仍然有某些公司認為，隨著我們向東移動，產量將會下降，但我們的朱迪思井，這是我們在斯庫裡縣的弗吉尼亞井之外最東邊的井，是我們的最成功的好。

And it was a little bit of we anticipated potentially, but it is turning out to be one of our very best wells and definitely adding more locations to the east and at least being able to prove that up to potential suitors and so that was an exciting arrangement.

這有點符合我們的預期，但事實證明它是我們最好的井之一，並且肯定會在東部增加更多地點，至少能夠向潛在的追求者證明這一點，所以這是一個令人興奮的事情安排。

And then going forward, we are probably going to drill another Wolf B well and we will drill some more Middle Spraberry wells and we will probably drill another well down to the South at Signal Peak in the Hutto zone, the Wolfcamp C zone. So a lot of good things are happening for us and that definitely adds to the number of locations that we have.

然後，我們可能會再鑽探另一口 Wolf B 井，我們將鑽探更多的 Middle Spraberry 井，我們可能會在 Hutto 區域的 Signal Peak 南部鑽另一口井，即 Wolfcamp C 區域。因此，我們正在發生很多好事，這肯定會增加我們擁有的地點數量。

And it's all very interesting. I appreciate it. Thanks, guys,

這一切都非常有趣。我很感激。謝謝你們，

This concludes the question and answer session. Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect.

問答環節到此結束。感謝您參加今天的會議。這確實結束了該程式。您現在可以斷開連線。