Liberty Energy Inc (LBRT) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Welcome to the Liberty Energy Earnings Conference call. (Operator Instructions). Please note, this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Anjali Voria, Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

歡迎參加自由能源收益電話會議。（操作員指令）。請注意，此事件正在被記錄。現在，我想將會議交給投資者關係總監 Anjali Voria。請繼續。

Thank you, Wyatt. Good morning, and welcome to the Liberty Energy Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Earnings Conference Call. Joining us on the call are Ron Gusek, incoming Chief Executive Officer; and Michael Stock, Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝你，懷亞特。早安，歡迎參加 Liberty Energy 2024 年第四季和全年財報電話會議。參加電話會議的還有即將上任的執行長 Ron Gusek；以及財務長邁克爾·斯托克（Michael Stock）。

Before we begin, I would like to remind all participants that some of our comments today may include forward looking statements reflecting the company's views about future prospects, revenues, expenses or profits. These matters involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from our forward-looking statements. These statements reflect the company's beliefs based on current conditions that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that are detailed in our earnings release and other public filings.

在我們開始之前，我想提醒所有參與者，我們今天的一些評論可能包括前瞻性陳述，反映了公司對未來前景、收入、費用或利潤的看法。這些事項涉及風險和不確定性，可能導致實際結果與我們的前瞻性陳述有重大差異。這些聲明反映了公司基於當前情況的信念，這些信念受到我們的收益報告和其他公開文件中詳細說明的某些風險和不確定性的影響。

Our comments today also include non-GAAP financial and operational measures. These non-GAAP measures, including EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income, adjusted net income per diluted share and cash return on invested capital are not a substitute for GAAP measures and may not be comparable to similar measures of other companies.

我們今天的評論還包括非公認會計準則財務和營運指標。這些非 GAAP 指標，包括 EBITDA、調整後的 EBITDA、調整後的淨收入、調整後的每股稀釋淨收入和投資資本現金回報率，不能取代 GAAP 指標，也可能無法與其他公司的類似指標進行比較。

A reconciliation of net income to EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA, net income to adjusted net income, and adjusted net income per diluted share and the calculation of adjusted pretax return on capital employed and cash return on invested capital, as discussed on this call are available on our Investor Relations website.

本次電話會議中討論的淨收入與 EBITDA 和調整後 EBITDA 的對帳、淨收入與調整後淨收入的對帳、調整後每股攤薄淨收入的對帳以及調整後稅前資本使用回報率和投資資本現金回報率的計算均可在我們的投資者關係網站上查閱。

I will now turn the call over to Ron.

現在我將電話轉給羅恩。

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us to discuss our full year and fourth quarter 2024 operational and financial results. Liberty delivered strong leadership in technological innovation and executional excellence in 2024. Solid financial performance and several operational records were achieved even as industry activity softened through the year.

大家早安，感謝您加入我們討論我們的 2024 年全年和第四季度營運和財務業績。2024 年，Liberty 在技術創新和卓越執行方面發揮了強大的領導作用。儘管全年行業活動有所疲軟，但仍取得了穩健的財務表現和多項營運記錄。

We concluded the year with revenue of $4.2 billion, net income of $316 million and adjusted EBITDA of $922 million. Full year return of capital employed was 17% and our 2024 cash return on capital invested of 21% exceeded the 13-year S&P average. We executed on our fleet transition initiatives, cost optimization efforts using AI-enhanced digital systems and expansion of our nat gas fueling and delivery capacity to optimal scale.

我們本財年的營收為 42 億美元，淨收入為 3.16 億美元，調整後 EBITDA 為 9.22 億美元。全年資本使用報酬率為 17%，2024 年投資資本現金報酬率為 21%，超過了標準普爾 13 年的平均值。我們實施了船隊轉型計劃、利用人工智慧增強數位系統進行成本優化以及將天然氣加油和輸送能力擴大到最佳規模。

We are relentlessly focused on long-term value creation, balancing compelling growth opportunities with return of capital to shareholders. Since July 2022, we have distributed $550 million to shareholders through the retirement of 15% of shares outstanding and quarterly cash dividends.

我們堅持不懈地專注於長期價值創造，平衡引人注目的成長機會與股東資本回報。自 2022 年 7 月以來，我們透過註銷 15% 的流通股和季度現金股息向股東分配了 5.5 億美元。

We have built strong partnerships and investments across the energy corridor, in geothermal, nuclear, battery, power, generation technologies and the Australian Beetaloo Basin assets. Today, we have an undeniable opportunity to leverage our knowledge, experience and expertise in energy systems to meet a rise in power demand in North America.

我們在能源走廊、地熱、核能、電池、電力、發電技術和澳洲 Beetaloo 盆地資產領域建立了強大的合作夥伴關係並進行了投資。今天，我們擁有不可否認的機會利用我們在能源系統方面的知識、經驗和專業技能來滿足北美日益增長的電力需求。

As we embark on an extraordinary chapter for our company, our founder, Chris Wright, is similarly charting a new path as the US Secretary of Energy. On behalf of the Liberty family, I'd like to extend a heartfelt congratulations to my dear friend of over 20 years for his visionary leadership and significant contribution to Liberty and the broader energy sector.

當我們的公司開啟非凡篇章時，我們的創辦人克里斯·賴特也同樣以美國能源部長的身份規劃著一條新的道路。我謹代表 Liberty 大家庭，向我 20 多年的好友致以衷心的祝賀，祝賀他富有遠見的領導才能以及為 Liberty 和更廣泛的能源領域做出的重大貢獻。

Entering 2025, we have 2 key strategic priorities: continued technology innovation and leadership in completion services and significant expansion of our burgeoning power generation services business. As the preeminent completion service provider, the innovation cycle in software, equipment and design is driving long-term margin enhancement, improvement in capital looking and lower emissions. Our technology team has led advances in design and development of the latest engine technologies for completion services applications.

進入2025年，我們有兩個關鍵的策略重點：繼續在完井服務方面進行技術創新和維持領導地位，以及大幅擴展我們蓬勃發展的發電服務業務。作為卓越的完井服務提供者，軟體、設備和設計的創新週期正在推動長期利潤率的提高、資本前景的改善和排放的降低。我們的技術團隊在完井服務應用的最新引擎技術的設計和開發方面一直處於領先地位。

Yesterday, we announced the latest iteration of development for our digiPrime platform with the industry's first natural gas -- rival speed, large displacement engine with -- tons, a partner of ours since the founding of our firm. This engine enhances our already industry-leading digi fleet offering by combined high fuel efficiency with the ability to manage transient load and precision rate control, unrivaled in the industry.

昨天，我們宣布了 digiPrime 平台的最新開發版本，該平台採用了業界首款天然氣發動機，速度可與 200 噸相媲美，是我們公司成立以來的合作夥伴。這具引擎將高燃油效率與管理瞬態負載和精確速率控制的能力相結合，增強了我們本已處於行業領先地位的數位車隊產品，在行業中無與倫比。

We have built an integrated ecosystem of software that seamlessly brings together our Digi technologies with advanced cloud-based software for our pump control systems, power generation, demand management and logistics platform and all site fuel management software systems. This ecosystem reduces the total cost of delivery, improving our returns, lowering the cost to bring a barrel of oil to the surface for our customers.

我們已經建立了一個整合的軟體生態系統，將我們的 Digi 技術與先進的基於雲端的軟體無縫結合在一起，用於我們的泵浦控制系統、發電、需求管理和物流平台以及所有站點燃料管理軟體系統。這個生態系統降低了總運輸成本，提高了我們的回報，並降低了為客戶將一桶石油輸送到地面的成本。

We are also excited to celebrate incredible operational feat achieved by one of our digiPrime fleets. In 2024, this Liberty fleet set a single crew company record of 7,143 hours pumped in a year, averaging nearly 600 hours per month. This equates to approximately 96% of available hours of the year on normal dedicated fleet utilization.

我們也很高興慶祝我們的一支 digiPrime 艦隊所取得的令人難以置信的營運壯舉。2024年，這支自由號船隊創下了單一船員公司一年作業長達 7,143 小時的記錄，平均每月近 600 小時。這相當於專用車隊正常使用情況下全年可用小時數的約 96%。

As we look ahead, Liberty has an historic opportunity to deliver differentiated power services and solutions to meet growing energy demand. During 2024, we put into motion our distributed energy business that provides a compelling alternative to traditional generation and transmission. Harmful -- policy, high regulatory barriers and decades of underinvestment in infrastructure have increased the fragility of the grid and hindered the ability to respond quickly to growing demand.

展望未來，Liberty 擁有歷史性機會來提供差異化的電力服務和解決方案，以滿足日益增長的能源需求。2024 年，我們將啟動分散式能源業務，為傳統發電和輸電提供引人注目的替代方案。有害——政策、高監管壁壘以及數十年來的基礎設施投資不足增加了電網的脆弱性，阻礙了其快速響應不斷增長的需求的能力。

The rising demand for electrons from the proliferation of data centers onboarding of manufacturing activity, expansion in mining operations and industrial electrification -- as a supportive backdrop to expand our power generation business outside the oil field. We are uniquely positioned to rapidly deploy distributed modular power solutions with low emission, scalable power infrastructure tailored to meet specific project demands.

隨著資料中心的激增、製造業活動的開展、採礦業務的擴張和工業電氣化，對電子的需求不斷增長——為我們在油田以外擴展發電業務提供了支持背景。我們擁有獨特的優勢，能夠快速部署分散式模組化電源解決方案，並提供低排放、可擴展的電力基礎設施，以滿足特定的專案需求。

Liberty brings together a distinct -- strength that put us in an advantaged position to grow a successful power business. Since 2011, we have deployed almost $5 billion in capital to build a high returns completion business which now operates and maintains more than 3,000 pieces of rotating heavy equipment in remote harsh environments across North America. We have a foundational culture that attracts and retains great people all of whom strive to deliver at the highest level.

Liberty 匯集了獨特的優勢，使我們佔據有利地位，成功發展電力業務。自 2011 年以來，我們已投入近 50 億美元的資金，打造高回報的完井業務，目前該業務在北美偏遠惡劣的環境中運營和維護 3,000 多台旋轉重型設備。我們擁有一種基礎文化，可以吸引和留住優秀人才，他們都力求在最高水準上實現目標。

Our service delivery is augmented by extensive engineering expertise in engine technologies, mobile power plant assembly and asset operation in the rigors of the oil field, ensuring thoughtful power generation asset selection and easing future -- implement in other applications. We all have critical supply chain relationships built over our history that enhance the innovation cycle and ensure timely access to key components.

我們在發動機技術、移動發電廠組裝和嚴酷的油田資產運營方面的豐富工程專業知識增強了我們的服務交付，確保周到的發電資產選擇和輕鬆未來在其他應用中的實施。我們在歷史上建立了重要的供應鏈關係，以增強創新週期並確保及時獲得關鍵組件。

We have our operations platform across the United States and Canada, including equipment packaging capabilities to ensure we can fabricate, deliver and support each installation. Together, these strengths enabled us to build a distributed power business with durability and longevity over the coming years.

我們的營運平台遍佈美國和加拿大，包括設備包裝能力，以確保我們能夠製造、交付和支援每個安裝。這些優勢使我們能夠在未來幾年內建立持久、長久的分散式電力業務。

We are growing our partnerships in the areas of critical technology and infrastructure development to ensure we can provide a coordinated solution that addresses all aspects of a power generation application, reliability expectations, load variability, gas supply quality, emissions requirements and cooling needs, amongst other considerations, demand strong engineering support paired with a range of technology offerings.

我們正在關鍵技術和基礎設施開發領域擴大合作夥伴關係，以確保我們能夠提供協調的解決方案，解決發電應用的各個方面，可靠性預期、負載變化、天然氣供應質量、排放要求和冷卻需求等考慮因素，需要強有力的工程支援和一系列技術產品。

We will provide an infrastructure delivery mechanism for electrons that fits the specific application. In the near term, we are getting merchant power, data centers, commercial EV charging stations and micro grids for resource extraction applications. We have already successfully deployed 130 megawatts, probably for digi fleet applications. By the end of 2026, we expect to take delivery of and deploy an incremental 400 megawatts of power generation with the initial deployments commencing late this year.

我們將提供適合特定應用的電子基礎設施傳輸機制。短期內，我們將獲得商用電力、資料中心、商業電動車充電站和用於資源提取應用的微電網。我們已經成功部署了 130 兆瓦，可能用於數位車隊應用。到 2026 年底，我們預計將接收和部署增量 400 兆瓦的發電量，初期部署將於今年底開始。

Frac markets reached a trough at the end of 2024 after progressive quarterly declines in industry activity since early 2023, early signs of an inflection in completions activity have now emerged from 2024 Lowe's. Oil producers, which comprise the vast majority of frac activity are working to simply maintain production and are returning to anticipated activity levels after the year-end slowdown. Improving natural gas fundaments are encouraging.

自 2023 年初以來，壓裂市場逐季下滑，並在 2024 年底跌至低谷，目前，2024 年 Lowe's 的數據顯示，完井活動已經出現拐點。佔壓裂活動絕大部分的石油生產商正在努力維持產量，並在年底放緩後恢復到預期的活動水準。天然氣基礎的改善令人鼓舞。

For the full year, industry-wide lateral footage completed is expected to be approximately flat with 2024. The slowing pace of activity in late 2024 resulted in near-term price pressure to start 2025. And most notably impacting conventional fleets. The fundamental outlook for next-generation higher-quality fleets remain strong as operators continue to demand technologies that provide significant emissions reductions, fuel savings and operational efficiency advantages.

就全年而言，預計全行業完成的水平井進尺量將與 2024 年大致持平。2024 年末活動速度放緩導致 2025 年初短期價格面臨壓力。其中最顯著的影響是常規船隊。由於營運商不斷要求能夠大幅減少排放、節省燃料並提高營運效率的技術，下一代更高品質車隊的基本前景仍然強勁。

The growing complexities of E&P demands and the continued drive for efficiency gains necessitate continued investment in technology and partnerships with high-quality serve companies. Liberty is well positioned to meet this demand.

勘探與生產需求日益複雜以及對提高效率的持續追求使得持續投資技術並與優質服務公司建立合作夥伴關係成為必要。Liberty 完全有能力滿足這項需求。

Fleet piling, attrition and cannibalization of aging equipment likely accelerate in the next two years as a large swath of Tier 2 equipment reaches end of life. Concurrently, fleet sizes continue to expand to meet increased horsepower requirements for higher-intensity fracs. These two dynamics imply the supply and demand balance in horsepower is tighter than industry frac fleet counts inferred. And improvement in frac activity through the year could support better pricing dynamics.

隨著大量 2 級設備達到使用壽命，未來兩年內，老化設備的堆積、損耗和拆卸可能會加速。同時，車隊規模不斷擴大，以滿足更高強度壓裂對馬力的更高要求。這兩種動態意味著馬力的供需平衡比產業壓裂船隊數量推斷的更為緊張。全年壓裂活動的改善可能會支持更好的定價動態。

Global oil markets reflect ongoing uncertainties in geopolitics, Chinese economic growth, OPEC+ production plans and a change in the domestic political climate, but the resulting commodity price fluctuation has not yet led to a meaningful change in E&P activity plans. Natural gas demand is supported by LNG export capacity expansion and a large projected multiyear increase in North American power consumption.

全球石油市場反映了地緣政治、中國經濟成長、OPEC+生產計畫和國內政治氣候變遷的持續不確定性，但由此產生的大宗商品價格波動尚未導致勘探與生產活動計畫發生重大變化。液化天然氣出口能力的擴大以及北美電力消耗預計在未來數年內的大幅成長將支持天然氣需求。

Power demand is rising at the fastest pace since the start of the century as accelerating demand from data centers is converging with the reshoring of manufacturing activity and projected increases from mining, electrification and other commercial and industrial applications. This pace of growth requires power infrastructure solutions that can be adapted to the dynamic needs of individual customers. Liberty is well positioned to meet this demand with a modular solution that offers reliability, redundancy and the ability to accelerate deployment time lines and scale alongside growing load requirements.

由於資料中心需求加速、製造業活動回流以及採礦、電氣化和其他商業和工業應用預計的成長，電力需求正以本世紀初以來最快的速度成長。這種成長速度需要能夠適應個別客戶動態需求的電力基礎設施解決方案。Liberty 憑藉其模組化解決方案很好地滿足了這一需求，該解決方案具有可靠性、冗餘性以及加快部署時間表和隨著負載需求不斷增長而擴展的能力。

Entering 2025, we are excited to lead the industry with innovative and durable technologies that will drive our continued success in the years ahead. We are investing to build truly differential competitive advantages, both in the completions arena and in our new power business to generate significant value for our customers and our shareholders. We expect our investments today will lead to strong returns in the coming years.

進入 2025 年，我們很高興能夠以創新和持久的技術引領產業，這將推動我們在未來幾年繼續取得成功。我們正在投資建立真正差異化的競爭優勢，無論是在完井領域還是在新電力業務中，從而為我們的客戶和股東創造巨大價值。我們預期今天的投資將在未來幾年帶來豐厚的回報。

In the first quarter, we anticipate a modest sequential increase in revenue and adjusted EBITDA. For the full year, within the Completion Services business, we expect solid free cash flow generation as capital expenditures moderate even as pricing headwinds impact profitability. As we embark on the next chapter of Liberty story, we will also significantly grow our investment in power infrastructure to take advantage of a generational opportunity in power demand growth.

我們預計第一季營收和調整後 EBITDA 將環比小幅成長。就全年而言，在完井服務業務中，我們預計儘管定價阻力影響獲利能力，但隨著資本支出放緩，將產生穩健的自由現金流。當我們開啟 Liberty 故事的下一篇章時，我們還將大幅增加對電力基礎設施的投資，以利用電力需求成長的世代機會。

With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Michael Stock, our CFO, to discuss our financial results and outlook.

接下來，我想將電話轉給我們的財務長 Michael Stock，討論我們的財務表現和前景。

Good morning, everyone. We are pleased to achieve solid financial results with strong returns and free cash flow, which has allowed us to deliver a healthy return of capital to shareholders while reinvesting in our long-term initiatives. While markets are continuously evolving, the way we manage our investment remains the same.

大家早安。我們很高興取得了穩健的財務表現、強勁的回報和自由現金流，這使我們能夠為股東帶來健康的資本回報，同時對我們的長期計劃進行再投資。儘管市場不斷發展，但我們管理投資的方式始終保持不變。

Growing our competitive advantage, generating strong cash returns and maintaining a fortress balance sheet while delivering strong returns to shareholders through cycles. We're at an exciting time in Liberty's journey, as we accelerate growth in our power business and advanced technology innovation in the completions business.

增強我們的競爭優勢，產生強勁的現金回報，維持穩健的資產負債表，同時在整個週期中為股東帶來強勁的回報。我們正處於 Liberty 發展歷程中令人興奮的時刻，因為我們正在加速電力業務的成長和完井業務的先進技術創新。

The North American completions industry is reaching maturation and required completions activity to meet E&P production goals. Our growth opportunity in completions is now defined leading-edge engineering technology innovation driving organic market share gains and margin enhancement by leveraging digital systems and vertical integration. We are continually pushing beyond our prior achievements and will lead the industry regards of where we are in the cycle.

北美完井產業正在成熟，需要完井活動來滿足勘探與生產的生產目標。我們在完井方面的成長機會現在被定義為利用數位系統和垂直整合推動有機市場份額成長和利潤率提高的前沿工程技術創新。我們將繼續超越先前的成就，並引領產業在周期中的位置。

In Power, we now have an unprecedented opportunity here to build a differential business. Just as we completions 13 years ago, a business that has delivered an average CROCI of 24% over its history. We are building a power business with significant competitive advantages driven by the unique people and culture of Liberty designed to deliver strong cash returns on organic technology and equipment investments in the years ahead.

在電力領域，我們現在面臨前所未有的機會來打造差異化業務。正如我們 13 年前完成的那樣，該企業在其歷史上實現了平均 24% 的 CROCI。我們正在打造一個具有顯著競爭優勢的電力業務，由 Liberty 獨特的人才和文化驅動，旨在未來幾年在有機技術和設備投資上實現豐厚的現金回報。

During the next two years, you will see us execute on a variety of power generation installations, including merchant power generation, commercial and industrial projects, including data centers and distributed mining good generation for the energy and mining sectors. We have a strong pipeline of opportunities that provide significantly more demand for Liberty Power that we will be able to supply in the next 2 years.

在接下來的兩年裡，您將看到我們實施各種發電設施，包括商用發電、商業和工業項目，包括資料中心和為能源和採礦業提供的分散式採礦良好發電。我們擁有大量的機會，可以為 Liberty Power 提供更多的需求，我們將能夠在未來 2 年內供應這些需求。

We're designing our power business with a diverse array of end markets, which we believe will be inherently less cyclical and have a lower risk profile than our historic frac business. We are targeting a long-term CROCI in the high teen percentage rate.

我們正在為多種終端市場設計我們的電力業務，我們相信這些市場本質上將不那麼受週期影響，而且與我們歷史上的壓裂業務相比，風險狀況也更低。我們的目標是使長期 CROCI 達到高水準。

We are building an enduring business for the decades to come. We are focused on bringing together great technology and partners and investing in advantaged assets that provide sustainable long-term advantages. We aim to be the partner of choice for the delivery of power.

我們正在為未來幾十年打造一個持久的企業。我們專注於匯集優秀的技術和合作夥伴，並投資於可提供可持續長期優勢的優勢資產。我們的目標是成為電力傳輸領域的首選合作夥伴。

For the full year, revenue was $4.3 billion compared to $4.7 billion in 2023, representing a 9% decline. Net income totaled $316 million and adjusted net income was $277 million and excludes $39 million of tax-affected unrealized gains on investments.

全年營收為 43 億美元，而 2023 年為 47 億美元，下降 9%。淨收入總計 3.16 億美元，調整後淨收入為 2.77 億美元，不包括 3,900 萬美元的受稅收影響的投資未實現收益。

Fully diluted net income per share was $1.87 and adjusted net income per diluted share was $1.64. Full year adjusted EBITDA was $922 million compared to $1.2 billion in the prior year. In the fourth quarter of 2024, revenue was $944 million, representing a sequential decline of 17% driven by market headwinds, larger-than-expected -- absorption and a partial quarter impact of two fuel fleets deployed.

每股全面攤薄淨利潤為 1.87 美元，調整後每股攤薄淨利潤為 1.64 美元。全年調整後 EBITDA 為 9.22 億美元，上年度為 12 億美元。2024 年第四季度，營收為 9.44 億美元，季減 17%，原因是市場逆風、吸收量大於預期以及部署兩支燃料車隊對部分季度的影響。

Fourth quarter net income of $52 million compared to $74 million in the prior quarter. Adjusted net income of $70 million compared to $76 million in the prior quarter and excludes $35 million of tax-affected unrealized gain on investments. Fully diluted net income per share was $0.31 compared to $0.44 in the prior quarter and adjusted net income per diluted share was $0.10 compared to $0.45 in the prior quarter.

第四季淨收入為 5,200 萬美元，而上一季為 7,400 萬美元。調整後淨收入為 7,000 萬美元，而上一季為 7,600 萬美元，不包括受稅收影響的 3,500 萬美元未實現投資收益。每股完全攤薄淨利潤為 0.31 美元，而上季為 0.44 美元；調整後每股攤薄淨利潤為 0.10 美元，而上季為 0.45 美元。

Fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA was $156 million, compared to $248 million in the prior quarter. General and administrative expenses totaled $56 million in the fourth quarter, a large mine for the third quarter and included noncash stock-based compensation of $2 million.

第四季調整後 EBITDA 為 1.56 億美元，上一季為 2.48 億美元。第四季的一般和行政開支總計 5,600 萬美元，為第三季的一大開支，其中包括 200 萬美元的非現金股票薪酬。

Other income items in total included $33 million for the quarter, inclusive of the aforementioned $45 million of unrealized gains on investments, interest expense of $8 million and a $3 million loss related to tax receivables. Fourth quarter tax expense was $6 million, approximately $0.10 of pretax income. Cash taxes were a $5 million source of cash as a result of the collection of a prior period over payment, while we expect tax expense rate in 2025 to be approximately 22% of pretax income and cash taxes to be 1% to 2% higher than that than our effective book tax rate.

本季其他收入項目總額為 3,300 萬美元，其中包括前文提到的 4,500 萬美元未實現投資收益、800 萬美元利息支出以及 300 萬美元應收稅款損失。第四季稅費為 600 萬美元，約佔稅前收入的 0.10 美元。現金稅是 500 萬美元的現金來源，是由於收取了前期的超額付款，而我們預計 2025 年的稅費率約為稅前收入的 22%，現金稅將比我們的有效帳面稅率高出 1% 至 2%。

We ended the year with a cash balance of $20 million and net debt of $171 million. Net debt increased by $67 million from the prior year. In 2024, cash flows were used to fund capital expenditures, $127 million in share buybacks and $48 million in cash dividends. Total liquidity at the end of the year, including availability of the credit facility was $135 million. Net capital expenditures were $188 million in the fourth quarter and $627 million for the full year, which included investments in digi fleet, gas compression and delivery infrastructure, with -- technology, capitalized maintenance spending and other projects.

截至年底，我們的現金餘額為 2,000 萬美元，淨債務為 1.71 億美元。淨債務較上年增加 6,700 萬美元。2024 年，現金流用於資助資本支出、1.27 億美元的股票回購和 4,800 萬美元的現金股利。年末總流動資金（包括可用信貸額度）為 1.35 億美元。第四季淨資本支出為 1.88 億美元，全年淨資本支出為 6.27 億美元，其中包括對數位車隊、天然氣壓縮和輸送基礎設施、技術、資本化維護支出和其他項目的投資。

Our 2024 results show us our ability to deliver a robust return of capital program while investing in high-return projects to expand at a competitive advantage. By 2.5 years ago, we reinstated a return of capital program post pandemic. Since then, we have now distributed over $0.5 billion to shareholders through our share buybacks and cash dividends.

我們的 2024 年業績表明，我們有能力提供強勁的資本回報計劃，同時投資高回報項目以獲得競爭優勢。兩年半前，我們在疫情後恢復了資本回報計畫。自那時起，我們已透過股票回購和現金股利向股東分配了超過 5 億美元。

We are committed to shareholder returns and in the fourth quarter, we repurchased $28 million or approximately 1% of our shares outstanding and increased our dividend by 14% to $0.08 share. We now have $294 million remaining on a buyback authorization.

我們致力於股東回報，在第四季度，我們回購了 2,800 萬美元，約占我們已發行股票的 1%，並將股息提高 14%，至每股 0.08 美元。我們目前還剩餘 2.94 億美元的回購授權。

As Ron shared earlier, we expect a modest sequential uptick in the first quarter for revenue and adjusted EBITDA. For the full year, we anticipate adjusted EBITDA will be in the $700 million to $750 million range, as we head from the late 2024 service pricing impact offset favorable fleet mix and optimization efforts. As the year progresses, we believe the opportunity for price improvement could materialize as frac activity improves through the year.

正如 Ron 之前所說，我們預計第一季營收和調整後 EBITDA 將環比小幅上升。就全年而言，我們預計調整後的 EBITDA 將在 7 億至 7.5 億美元之間，因為我們將從 2024 年末的服務定價影響中抵消有利的機隊組合和優化工作。隨著時間的推移，我們相信，隨著壓裂活動的改善，價格上漲的機會可能會實現。

Our completions capital expenditures moderated in 2025 to approximately $450 million including $175 million in maintenance capital expenditures and the remaining related to the replacement cycle of 4 to 5 digi fleets as we retire legacy completion equipment. Our pace of next-generation deployment moderates to these levels versus the accelerated investment in the early part of the cycle.

我們的完井資本支出在 2025 年有所放緩至約 4.5 億美元，其中包括 1.75 億美元的維護資本支出，其餘部分與我們淘汰傳統完井設備時 4 到 5 個數位車隊的更換週期有關。與週期初期的加速投資相比，我們的下一代部署步伐已放緩至這些水準。

Within our Power business, we expect to take delivery of approximately 150 megawatts of power generation by the end of 2025 and another 250 megawatts by the end of 2026. Our 2025 capital expenditure, power generation and related ancillary equipment are expected to be approximately $200 million. Together, total capital expenditures will be approximately $650 million in 2025.

在我們的電力業務中，我們預計到 2025 年底將交付約 150 兆瓦的發電量，到 2026 年底將交付另外 250 兆瓦的發電量。我們 2025 年的資本支出、發電和相關輔助設備預計約為 2 億美元。總資本支出在 2025 年將達到約 6.5 億美元。

We have significant flexibility in adjusting our capital spending to meet incremental demand. We are focusing on vesting for the long-term competitive advantages and are excited for the coming years as we lean into the growth an expansion of a truly differentiated partners and in reinforcing continued leadership in our completions business.

我們在調整資本支出以滿足增量需求方面具有很大的靈活性。我們專注於獲得長期競爭優勢，並對未來幾年感到興奮，因為我們致力於真正差異化的合作夥伴的成長和擴張，並加強我們在完井業務中的持續領導地位。

I will now turn it back to the operator for Q&A, after which, Ron will have closing comments at the end of the call.

我現在將主題交還給接線員進行問答，之後 Ron 將在通話結束時發表結束語。

(Operator Instructions).

（操作員指令）。

Stephen Gengaro, Stifel.

史蒂芬·根加羅（Stephen Gengaro），Stifel。

Thanks. Good morning, everybody. Two things for me. First, on the frac pricing side, can you talk a little bit about when you -- Michael gave some sort of commentary on '25 EBITDA expectations. Can you talk about kind of in rough terms where you're seeing frac pricing right now relative to maybe 12 months ago?

謝謝。大家早安。對我來說有兩件事。首先，在分壓定價方面，您能否談談邁克爾對 25 年 EBITDA 預期做出的一些評論。您能否粗略地談談目前的壓裂價格相對於 12 個月前的水平？

Yes. Certainly, Stephen. Obviously, frac pricing has softened a little bit over the last year as well. As we've said already, we saw a peak in the market probably mid- to late 2022. And we've had a slow and steady trend downwards from that point in time. And we certainly felt that headed into the RFP season for 2025.

是的。當然，史蒂芬。顯然，壓裂價格在過去一年也略有下降。正如我們已經說過的，我們看到市場可能在 2022 年中後期達到頂峰。從那時起，我們就一直呈現緩慢而穩定的下降趨勢。我們確實感覺到，2025 年的 RFP 季節即將到來。

And so we're off there a little. Exactly levels vary depending on the technology you're talking about. So the older Tier 2 assets probably most impacted by that. We've seen very good resiliency in the pricing for next-generation assets even as we head into 2025. So the digi platform holding up very, very well from a margin standpoint.

因此我們稍微偏離了這一點。確切的水平取決於您所談論的技術。因此，較舊的二級資產可能受此影響最大。即使進入 2025 年，我們也看到下一代資產的定價具有非常好的彈性。因此，從利潤率的角度來看，數位平台表現非常非常好。

Yes, I'll just add a little color to that. I mean this very much feels like the trough coming in, it was a very soft Q4. So therefore, it was a sort of a soft repricing environment already sort of feeling a little bit more sort of positive as we've sort of turned the corner into the beginning of the year. So it feels like we're kind of at the trough of the cycle, but I mean, history will prove.

是的，我只想添加一點顏色。我的意思是，這很像低谷即將來臨，這是一個非常疲軟的 Q4。因此，隨著我們進入今年年初，這是一個溫和的重新定價環境，感覺更加積極。所以感覺我們正處於週期的低谷，但我的意思是，歷史會證明一切。

One thing about that one, Steve, I just want to kind of point out that by the looks of it, the average profitability fleet at the moment the trough of this cycle looks to be about sort of the midpoint or a little bit higher than the midpoint of the last cycle. So as we've sort of talked about before, the completions business is getting better. There's less providers, there is less excess equipment, the movements in the cycle is violent. So it's very, very -- we think it's proving to be very, very positive.

關於這一點，史蒂夫，我只想指出，從表面上看，目前的平均盈利船隊，即本週期的低谷，似乎大約位於中點，或者略高於上一個週期的中點。正如我們之前談到的，完工業務正在好轉。供應商越來越少，過剩設備也越來越少，週期變動也越來越劇烈。所以，我們認為，這被證明是非常非常積極的。

Great. And then my other question, exactly sure how to ask us. But when we think about the power gen business and we think about the power needs for frac, how does either the E&P or you think about the arbitrage between using the power outside of the oil patch where maybe people are less price sensitive versus power new fleets, which you have to do to run fracs, where the pricing might be lower? Or how do you balance that sort of price ARP.

偉大的。然後是我的另一個問題，確切地知道如何問我們。但是當我們考慮發電業務並考慮水力壓裂的電力需求時，E&P 或您如何考慮使用石油區以外的電力（可能人們對價格不太敏感）與為新船隊供電（您必須為運行水力壓裂而使用電力，其中價格可能更低）之間的套利？或者你如何平衡這種價格 ARP。

Interesting question, Stephen. But of course, we got into the power generation for a very specific reason. As we deploy assets into frac, we always want to have as much control over the key variables that play into the success of frac operations as we can. That includes vertical integration and supply chain, manufacturing of key components for a while. We were in the wellhead business because that was holding up frac operations. We were very intentional about our decision to get into supply and power for the frac business to support our digi deployment. And that was for a couple of reasons.

有趣的問題，史蒂芬。但當然，我們進入發電業是有非常特殊的原因的。當我們將資產部署到壓裂作業時，我們始終希望盡可能控制影響壓裂作業成功的關鍵變數。其中包括垂直整合和供應鏈，以及一段時間內關鍵零件的製造。我們從事井口業務是因為它阻礙了壓裂作業。我們非常有意地決定進入壓裂業務的供應和電力領域，以支援我們的數位部署。這是出於幾個原因。

Number one, we want to be able to deliver efficiency at the levels our customers have come to know and expect from Liberty. And that happens by virtue of having control over all of those aspects of the business, including the fuel supply for that. So LPI CNG molecule delivery and the power generation assets themselves. And that remains an important priority for us today.

首先，我們希望能夠提供客戶所了解和期望的 Liberty 水準的效率。這是因為我們能夠控制業務的所有方面，包括燃料供應。因此 LPI CNG 分子輸送和發電資產本身。如今這對我們來說依然是重要優先事項。

Digi is a key piece of our puzzle out there. It's working hard for some of our great partners in the Permian Basin and in the digi and so we have power generation attached to that with the goal of ensuring the levels of service they've come to expect from Liberty over the long term, and we're not going to waver from that.

Digi 是我們面臨的難題中的關鍵部分。它正在為我們在二疊紀盆地和數位領域的一些偉大合作夥伴努力工作，因此我們將發電附加在其上，目標是確保他們長期期望從 Liberty 獲得的服務水平，我們不會動搖這一點。

Yes. So I mean, also, I'd just remind you, we have a sort of a two-pronged view of how we do the natural gas is -- natural gas for frac, right? We have our digi frac fleets, which are pure electric, where we have electric generation into a PDU unit that can also be integrated into the grid. And then we have Energy prime units, which are more -- have a lower average per capital cost and a slightly more efficient on the fuel usage that a direct drive, right? So we have a balance of assets there.

是的。所以我的意思是，我只是想提醒你，我們對如何處理天然氣——用於壓裂的天然氣——有一種雙管齊下的看法，對嗎？我們擁有純電動的數位壓裂車隊，我們將電力輸送到 PDU 單元，該 PDU 單元也可以整合到電網中。然後我們有能源主要單位，它們的平均資本成本更低，燃料使用效率也比直接驅動略高，對嗎？因此我們的資產是平衡的。

And so therefore, when we look at that, it sort of allows us to have sort of a very, very good focus on purely sort of driving next-generation technologies, and that's example by our new Cummins announcement, for use of frac and then also having that flexibility that when we have our mobile power generation for frac, when it is the grid arrives for the customers that need that, and some of those units may be free.

因此，當我們考慮這一點時，它使我們能夠非常非常專注於純粹推動下一代技術，這就是我們新發布的康明斯公告的例子，關於水力壓裂的使用，同時還具有這種靈活性，當我們擁有用於水力壓裂的移動發電時，當電網到達需要它的客戶時，其中一些設備可能是免費的。

They industry -- easily be rolled into a data commissioning project for a data center for sort of mobile power for that. So again, electrons are sort of able to be used in multiple areas, and this is a very, very sort of like flexible of products and modular products that we build.

它們可以輕鬆地融入資料中心的資料調試專案中，為行動電源提供動力。所以，電子產品可以應用於多個領域，這是我們製造的產品和模組化產品的非常靈活的形式。

Arun Jayaram, JPMorgan.

摩根大通的阿倫‧賈亞拉姆 (Arun Jayaram)。

Good morning, Ron and Michael. Gentlemen, I was wondering if you could help us think about or frame the returns opportunities from deploying mobile power generation understanding that you're still in the process of deploying more of capacity outside of the oil and gas industry. But how should we think about paybacks and investments and returns relative to your frac business?

早上好，羅恩和邁克爾。先生們，我想知道您是否可以幫助我們思考或建立部署行動發電的回報機會，因為您仍然在石油和天然氣行業之外部署更多的產能。但是，我們應該如何考慮與壓裂業務相關的回報、投資和收益呢？

Yes. Good question, Arun. So as we've kind of outlined, we have a multipronged approach to deploying our power generation outside of oil and gas. We've identified a number of areas that we think we can deliver differentiated service in. And so those include a merchant power opportunity. That includes, we announced a partnership with digi grid around EV charging.

是的。好問題，阿倫。正如我們所概述的，我們採取多管齊下的方法來部署石油和天然氣以外的發電。我們確定了一些我們認為可以提供差異化服務的領域。因此，這些都包括商人權力的機會。其中包括，我們宣布與 Digi grid 建立圍繞電動車充電的合作夥伴關係。

Data centers will, of course, be a part of our puzzle along with some other commercial and industrial applications. and then, of course, some work inside of resource extraction oil and gas and remote mining as well. Now each of those has a bit of a different outlook and a little bit different duration, let's say, on the contract term that we would have with them.

當然，資料中心將與一些其他商業和工業應用一起成為我們難題的一部分。當然，還有一些在資源開採、石油和天然氣以及遠端採礦方面的工作。現在，每個人的觀點都有一點不同，而且我們與他們簽訂的合約期限也有一點不同。

And we'll think about the returns profile for each of those in accordance with that. So for example, if we are going to provide long-term firm power for a data center, and we have a 20-year PPA to go along with that, we would accept a different returns profile in that environment than we might in a shorter-term bridge power environment where we could be looking at a contract or maybe 2 years or so.

我們將根據這一點來考慮每種情況的回報狀況。舉例來說，如果我們要為數據中心提供長期穩定電力，並且我們有一個 20 年的 PPA，那麼在這種環境下我們接受的回報狀況與我們在短期過橋電力環境中接受的回報狀況不同，在短期過橋電力環境中我們可能需要簽訂一份合同，或者可能是兩年左右。

And so as we progress the conversations for each of these opportunities we have in the pipeline, that's really the consideration. We're going to have some stuff that's going to be in that maybe 2 to 6, 7, 8 year range. We're going to have some stuff that's going to be in the 15 to 20-plus year range, and we'll balance the return profiles of each of those accordingly. But as Michael said in his prepared remarks, we're targeting average across that business a return profile that has -- that is somewhere in the mid- to high teens across that entire portfolio.

因此，當我們就正在籌劃的每一個機會進行對話時，這才是真正需要考慮的問題。我們將會推出一些可能在 2 至 6、7、8 年範圍內的產品。我們將會有一些為期 15 到 20 多年期限的項目，並且會相應地平衡每個項目的回報情況。但正如麥可在準備好的發言中所說，我們的目標是讓整個業務的回報率平均達到 15% 到 19% 左右。

I think to counter on that one, Arun, is yes, by balancing those different return -- primes, as Ron said, we still plan to significantly exceed the average of the S&P 500, which is, of course, and with a lot less cyclical business, than the completion has been over the last 12 years.

我認為阿倫對此的回答是肯定的，透過平衡這些不同的回報 - 正如羅恩所說，我們仍然計劃大幅超過標準普爾 500 指數的平均水平，當然，與過去 12 年相比，這其中的周期性業務要少得多。

Understood. I wanted to follow up on the release with Cummins on the new variable speed natural gas-powered engine. Ron, is there any IP that Liberty has as part of this? And also just wanted to get your thoughts as you deploy this capacity in 2025, what are some of the financial benefits to Liberty.

明白了。我想跟進康明斯關於新型變速天然氣引擎的發布。羅恩，Liberty 是否擁有其中的任何知識產權？另外，我只是想聽聽您的想法，當您在 2025 年部署這種容量時，Liberty 會獲得哪些財務利益。

You mentioned lower fuel costs, obviously, that will accrue to the customer. But from a -- is it lower maintenance CapEx? How do we think about the impact from this in terms of your OpEx or anything like that relative to the current digi fleets that you have out there?

您提到了降低燃料成本，顯然，這將由客戶承擔。但從—來看，它的維護資本支出是否較低？就您的營運支出或與您現有的數位車隊相比的其他方面而言，我們如何看待此事的影響？

So from an IP standpoint, we do have some IP on the digi platform that is an important piece of our puzzle. In this case, the IP around the specific engine would be Cummins IP. And so we leave that to them. But we do have an arrangement with them as the launch partner of this that has us in an advantaged position for the deployment of that engine over the coming years.

因此，從 IP 的角度來看，我們在 Digi 平台上確實擁有一些 IP，這是我們問題的重要組成部分。在這種情況下，特定引擎周圍的 IP 將是康明斯 IP。所以我們就把這個交給他們了。但我們確實與他們達成了協議，作為該產品的啟動合作夥伴，這使我們在未來幾年部署該引擎方面處於有利地位。

As far as what that means out in the field, the great thing about moving to a natural gas engine, while there are a number of positives around it. Of course, you mentioned the fuel, that doesn't -- first of all, that doesn't all accrue to the customer.

就這在現場意味著什麼而言，改用天然氣引擎的優點在於它還有很多積極的方面。當然，您提到了燃料，那並不是——首先，那並不是全部都歸客戶所有。

Part of our mechanism for recouping the capital investment in these assets is to keep some portion of those fuel savings. The opportunity for the conversation with the customer is around that meaningful change from running a fleet on diesel to running a fleet on natural gas and a path that allows us to earn a return on that additional invested capital -- meaningfully changing the price to the customer around their completions.

我們收回這些資產的資本投資的機制之一是保留部分燃料節省的費用。與客戶對話的機會在於圍繞從使用柴油運營車隊到使用天然氣運營車隊的有意義的轉變，以及讓我們能夠從額外投資資本中獲得回報的途徑——在客戶完工時有意義地改變價格。

And then if you think about the advantages that, that also brings to us that could accrue in terms of the cost of operating natural gas engines have a significantly longer time between overhaul as compared to a diesel engine.

然後，如果您考慮一下它給我們帶來的優勢，那就是在運行成本方面，與柴油引擎相比，天然氣引擎的兩次大修之間的間隔時間明顯更長。

So in the Liberty world, we see overhaul time, it's maybe 20,000 to 25,000 hours on a diesel engine. We haven't got to a major overhaul on a gas engine in our fleet yet today, but we expect that number to be north of 60,000 hours and potentially approaching 80,000 hours. So it's going to be 2X to 3X, time between major overhauls on those engines.

因此在 Liberty 世界中，我們看到大修時間，柴油引擎的大修時間大概為 20,000 到 25,000 小時。我們今天還沒有對我們車隊中的燃氣引擎進行大修，但我們預計大修時間將超過 60,000 小時，甚至可能接近 80,000 小時。因此，這些引擎的大修間隔時間將是原來的 2 倍到 3 倍。

Even the basic maintenance costs when we talk about fundamental month-over-month maintenance, those costs are lower than they are for a diesel engine. And so we will see those advantages as well as this becomes a larger and larger piece of our fleet.

即使我們談論基本的每月維護成本，這些成本也低於柴油引擎的成本。隨著這成為我們機隊中越來越重要的組成部分，我們也將看到這些優勢。

The variable speed engine means that ultimately, we can deploy a complete digiPrime fleet to the field. We talked about it originally with the constant speed engine as digiPrime providing baseload capacity compared with either Tier 4 digi B or digi frac, the electric offering. We now have the ability to put a digiPrime fleet out in the field as digiPrime from start to finish, allows us to manage both the baseload horsepower plus those rate transients and fine-tuning that we need on a given location.

變速引擎意味著我們最終可以將完整的 digiPrime 車隊部署到現場。我們最初討論的是恆速發動機，因為 digiPrime 提供基本負載容量，而電動產品則是 Tier 4 digi B 或 digi frac。現在，我們有能力將 digiPrime 車隊從頭到尾投入現場，這使我們能夠管理基本負載馬力以及在特定位置所需的速率瞬變和微調。

Ati Modak, Goldman Sachs.

Ati Modak、高盛。

I was just wondering for the early deployments you noted for later this year, how should we think about the end market and contract duration? And is there a target mix between the markets that you identified that you'd like to have by year-end next year?

我只是想知道，對於您提到的今年稍後的早期部署，我們應該如何考慮終端市場和合約期限？您是否希望在明年年底前實現所確定的市場之間的目標組合？

So as we work through that deployment starting later this year, we're targeting a, I'll say, for now, a relatively even spread amongst the areas we've identified. So merchant power, commercial and industrial and the data center applications. It may not be exactly 33, 33, 33 but roughly in that area.

因此，當我們從今年稍後開始部署時，我們的目標是，就目前而言，在我們確定的區域中實現相對均勻的分佈。因此，商業電力、商業和工業以及資料中心應用。它可能不完全是 33、33、33，但大致在那個區域。

And as we think about the business going forward, that's important for us to have multiple legs on the stool, ensures a balanced business for us with a good cross-section of contract portfolio. The earliest applications for us probably come on the merchant power and EV charging side of things. I think that will be the first place that we'll have assets deployed and then a little bit longer for the data centers. Michael, do you have met in you want to add there?

當我們考慮未來的業務時，對我們來說，擁有多個支柱非常重要，這能確保我們的業務平衡，並擁有良好的合約組合橫截面。我們最早的應用可能是在商用電源和電動車充電方面。我認為這將是我們部署資產的第一個地方，然後再過一段時間部署資料中心。邁克爾，你有遇過想加進去的人嗎？

Correct. Yes. And I think, obviously, the resource extraction of microgrids also will be of some of the earlier -- but Ron's right. I mean ultimately, sort of our deployments will probably move towards some of the larger -- when you get to the large and big walk side, some of the larger data center applications.

正確的。是的。我認為，顯然微電網的資源提取也將是較早的一些——但羅恩是對的。我的意思是，最終，我們的部署可能會轉向一些更大的——當你進入大型和大型步行區時，一些更大的資料中心應用程式。

But and again, I think through sort of the early part of the -- through the '26 numbers, if you're thinking about the 1/3, 1/3 and 1/3. And for your banner terms, sort of kind of a long-term or third breach and a third merchant. So you've got to balance there, the balance of contract terms, balance of risk profiles and the balance of long-term cash flows.

但是，我再想想，透過早期的部分——通過 26 個數字，如果你考慮的是 1/3、1/3 和 1/3。對於您的橫幅條款，有點長期或第三方違約和第三方商家。因此，你必須平衡合約條款的平衡、風險狀況的平衡和長期現金流的平衡。

Got it. That's helpful. And then you mentioned CapEx needs for the our business. So if you can talk about the return of capital expectations and impacts around that CapEx need for this year? And would it make sense to add any debt to the balance sheet to fund this growth?

知道了。這很有幫助。然後您提到了我們的業務的資本支出需求。那麼，您能談談今年的資本回報預期及其資本支出需求的影響嗎？在資產負債表上增加一些債務來資助這項成長是否合理？

Yes. So when you look at our -- when you sort of back into the numbers, right, we can fund this -- we fund this growth. The sort of -- initial or this an initial amount of CapEx on the business organically. We can also support sort of an organic set of buybacks and our dividend, of course, but this is a very fast-changing market. We have a significant sort of opportunity pipeline.

是的。因此，當您查看我們的數字時，對的，我們可以為此提供資金——我們為這一增長提供資金。這種 — — 初始或這是企業有機資本支出的初始金額。當然，我們也可以支持某種有機的回購和股息，但這是一個變化非常快的市場。我們擁有大量的機會。

And we're always making sure that we continue with a fortress balance sheet and sort of investing early in the cycle for these great opportunities. So it is a fast-changing market, and we will announce things as they come on.

我們始終確保繼續保持穩健的資產負債表，並在周期早期就對這些絕佳機會進行投資。所以這是一個瞬息萬變的市場，我們會及時發布消息。

Scott Gruber, Citigroup.

花旗集團的史考特‧格魯伯。

Thanks for, obviously, an exciting opportunity. But we have seen several others enter the power space. Can you provide some more color on how you're thinking about kind of outcompeting the others in the space. Obviously, as we think about kind of what you guys have built in frac, which is competitive, but you guys have built a load around enhancing your frac equipment and providing analytics, et cetera.

顯然，感謝你們給了我這麼令人興奮的機會。但我們已經看到其他幾家公司進入了電力領域。您能否進一步說明一下您是如何在該領域勝過其他人的？顯然，當我們思考你們在壓裂領域所取得的成就時，這是有競爭力的，但你們在增強壓裂設備和提供分析等方面已經取得了很大進展。

How do you think about competing on the power side. Is the equipment offering going to be any different? Or is it really outcompeting on the service side?

您如何看待力量上的競爭？所提供的設備會有什麼不同嗎？還是其確實在服務上勝出？

Yes. Scott, I think you make a good point by looking at what we've done in the frac business. Like if you buy a frac from Liberty, you're not just buying a frac. People told us you're getting into a commodity business. And of course, nothing could be further from the truth. Yes, you get a -- you ultimately get a frac out on location.

是的。史考特，透過觀察我們在壓裂業務中所做的工作，我認為你提出了一個很好的觀點。例如，如果您從 Liberty 購買分餾分，那麼您購買的就不只是分餾分。人們告訴我們您正在進入商品行業。當然，這完全不符合事實。是的，你最終會在現場得到一個分流。

But you get a frac underpinned by industry-leading technology by world-class supply chain by a strong engineering team by unrivaled service cycles, all executed by a team that has probably been together for years given our industry-leading turnover rate in the organization. And so you bring all of those things together, and that has ultimately led to us being the number 1 frac provider ranked year-over-year in Kimberlite surveys.

但是，您可以獲得由行業領先的技術、世界一流的供應鏈、強大的工程團隊、無與倫比的服務週期支撐的產品，所有這些都是由一個可能已經在一起工作多年的團隊執行的，考慮到我們組織中行業領先的人員流動率。所以，把所有這些因素結合在一起，最終使我們成為金伯利岩調查中排名第一的壓裂供應商。

And so I don't view the power business any differently than that. yes, we're going to sell electrons to a data center or to the grid or to an E&P customer. But that offering is going to be underpinned by strengthen service delivery by a strong supply chain by a leading team of technology folks that ensures when you choose an asset, a power generation asset to put in the field, that we put the best possible asset out there that builds in longevity durability to the business.

因此，我對電力業務的看法並沒有什麼不同。是的，我們將把電子產品賣給資料中心、電網或 E&P 客戶。但是，這項服務將由強大的供應鏈和領先的技術團隊加強服務交付來支撐，以確保當您選擇一項資產（發電資產）投入現場時，我們會將最好的資產投入其中，從而為業務建立長久的耐用性。

You have to be very, very thoughtful about these things. It is not a level playing field in any stretch of the imagination. If you think about playing in the merchant power space, for example, bringing the right asset to the table there is critical in terms of amount of deployment time, capacity factor ultimately for that in maximizing the spark spread, the price between natural gas and the price of an electron.

你必須非常非常認真地考慮這些事情。無論怎樣想像，這都不是一個公平的競爭環境。例如，如果你想在商業電力領域開展業務，那麼將合適的資產帶到談判桌上，在部署時間、容量係數方面至關重要，最終是為了最大化火花價差、天然氣價格和電子價格之間的價格。

I think we've proven ourselves very thoughtful in all of these areas when it comes to frac and our ability to deliver at a level that exceeds anybody else in the space, it will be no different in the power generation space. We are bringing to the table, I think, a platform that is unrivaled by certainly anybody else who has talked about entering the space or is entering the base today. And so I think you'll see that play out in our results over the coming years.

我認為，當談到壓裂時，我們已經證明我們在所有這些領域都非常深思熟慮，而且我們的能力超過了該領域的任何其他人，在發電領域也不會例外。我認為，我們提出的平台是任何其他談論進入該領域或正在進入基地的人都無法比擬的。所以我認為您將會在未來幾年看到我們業績的體現。

Yes. I think -- we'll talk about the solution, right? We have a modular solution within the last year, building the design engineering for it to be able to execute these in blocks, right? We have sort of a modular skid mounted 10- to 12-megawatt blocks that come with a skid-mounted transformation, controls and breakers. So it allows you to basically and assemble these in a factory, move them to a site, put the trenching, put the grounding in and then read that power plant very, very quickly.

是的。我想——我們會討論解決方案，對嗎？去年我們推出了模組化解決方案，並建構了設計工程以便能夠以區塊的形式執行這些功能，對嗎？我們有一個模組化滑橇式安裝的 10 至 12 兆瓦塊，配有滑橇式安裝的變換器、控制器和斷路器。因此，它基本上允許您在工廠中組裝它們，將它們移動到現場，挖溝，接地，然後非常非常快速地讀取該發電廠的數據。

Those blocks can be put together, 10 of those into a 100-megawatt, 120-megawatt unit. We also have 25-megawatt blocks using the larger 4.5 to 5-megawatt reciprocating engines. The same thermal efficiency as our baseline, which is, again, you've got to remember, these recent -- engines are certainly efficient as the combined cycle plants were built before 2010 from significantly more thermally efficient than [ticker] turbines.

這些電池塊可以組合在一起，10 個電池塊可以組成一個 100 兆瓦、120 兆瓦的裝置。我們還有使用更大的4.5至5兆瓦往復式發動機的25兆瓦機組。與我們的基準熱效率相同，也就是說，你必須再次記住，這些最近的——發動機肯定是高效的，因為聯合循環電廠是在 2010 年之前建造的，其熱效率比 [ticker] 渦輪機高得多。

The other part that we're going to do, we will be using packaged turbines in specific applications where the power the footprint needs to be small or in areas for resource extraction. If you think of the oil and gas area, where we're using some field gas, and we have some gas quality that is not necessarily the best for reciprocating engines. So we have sort of the standard blocks that allows us to come to market very, very quickly, reduce EPC costs.

我們要做的另一部分是，我們將在特定的應用中使用封裝好的渦輪機，這些應用所需的功率密度較小，或在資源開採的區域中。如果你考慮石油和天然氣領域，我們會使用一些油田氣體，而這些氣體的品質對於往復式引擎來說不一定是最好的。因此，我們擁有某種標準模組，可以讓我們非常快速地進入市場，從而降低 EPC 成本。

And the key thing, the electrification of everything at the moment is going to be the fact that there is a significant, significant lack of trade people across the country, right? So going modular, building an effect. So it reduces the amount of electricians that you need, the amount of people that you need on site to put these power plants together in a cost-effective way for the final delivered electron.

而關鍵的是，目前一切電氣化的原因是全國各地都嚴重缺乏貿易人員，對嗎？因此，採用模組化，可以產生效果。因此，它可以減少所需的電工數量，以及現場需要以經濟高效的方式將這些發電廠組合在一起以最終交付電子的人員數量。

I appreciate all that, Michael. I do want to dig into the merchant power opportunity. Just curious, is that a situation where would dedicate some equipment to maybe try to capture the elevated spark spread like in Texas during the summer, kind of while you're waiting for a longer-term opportunity? Or is that an opportunity where the equipment gets dedicated to merchant power on a go-forward basis? Just trying to understand that opportunity and how you guys think about it.

我非常感謝你，麥可。我確實想深入挖掘商人權力的機會。只是好奇，在這種情況下，是否會使用一些設備來嘗試捕捉高架火花擴散，就像在德克薩斯州夏天一樣，同時等待更長期的機會？或者這是一個機會，讓設備在未來專門用於商業電力？只是想了解這個機會以及你們對此的看法。

Yes, we'll be coming out and talking about that in more detail probably in the next conference call and give you some area around that. But there is a great long term opportunity. for areas where we've got significant transmission issues for a serious amount of time where you've got great low growth, right? So helping certain numbers of the areas, whether it be -- in modeling that in areas where they need their power. So that's really where it's going to be like.

是的，我們可能會在下次電話會議中更詳細地討論這個問題，並提供一些相關內容。但從長期來看，這其中還存在著巨大的機會。對於那些長期有嚴重傳輸問題的地區，其成長率非常低，對嗎？因此，無論是在需要電力的地區，還是在需要電力的地區，都可以為一定數量的地區提供建模幫助。事實確實如此。

But yes, we also can have the ability to integrate our -- when we think about it as bridge to back up and wheeling power onto the grid to improve returns, right? So you're going to have assets that over the 30-year life or 20-odd year life. It's the profile -- is going to move and the return profile is going to be used for different things, right? You can provide bridge power for a data center.

但是的，我們也可以有能力整合我們的——當我們把它想像成備份橋樑並將電力輸送到電網以提高回報時，對嗎？因此，您將擁有長達 30 年或 20 多年的資產。這是設定檔——將會移動並且返回設定檔將用於不同的事情，對嗎？您可以為資料中心提供橋接電源。

When the group gets there, it could impact -- need for the excess diesel backup power, but you've already got a grid interconnection. You could take advantage of the spark spread at different times to improve your return profile, right? So there's going to be a lot of different contracting sort of terms for different parts of the power business. That's very, very exciting and very, very interesting.

當團隊到達那裡時，可能會產生影響——需要多餘的柴油備用電源，但你已經有電網互聯了。您可以在不同時間利用火花價差來改善您的回報狀況，對嗎？所以，電力業務的不同部分會有很多不同的合約條款。這非常非常令人興奮且非常非常有趣。

Scott, I would just add that from a grid congestion standpoint, grid instability standpoint, that problem is only getting worse today. We know how to fix that, of course, in this country. But the ability to address that challenge is something that takes a meaningful amount of time.

史考特，我只想補充一點，從電網擁塞和電網不穩定的角度來看，這個問題今天只會變得更加嚴重。當然，我們知道在這個國家如何解決這個問題。但應對這項挑戰的能力需要相當長的時間。

First of all, it's going to take some change in policy, the ability to actually get infrastructure constructed. But even beyond that, there is a significant time component to that. And so we view that as an opportunity that's got some real durability to it. And in fact, I think it's probably a growing opportunity as far out as we can see today.

首先，這需要政策上的一些改變，需要真正建造基礎設施的能力。但除此之外，這還包含大量時間因素。因此，我們認為這是一個具有真正持久潛力的機會。事實上，我認為這可能是我們今天所能看到的一個不斷增長的機會。

Marc Bianchi, TD Cowen.

馬克·比安奇（Marc Bianchi），TD Cowen。

Congratulations, Ron. I was curious on the 400 megawatts, how much of that at this point is under some kind of binding commitment with the customer?

恭喜你，羅恩。我對 400 兆瓦感到好奇，其中有多少是與客戶簽訂了某種具有約束力的承諾？

Yes. 400 megawatts is all in the supply chain, that's what order and those binding commitments are in negotiation at the moment for 2/3 of it. The last part of the 2026 is still in what I consider sort of that midpoint of the pipeline.

是的。 400 兆瓦全部在供應鏈中，這就是訂單，其中 2/3 的約束性承諾目前正在談判中。我認為 2026 年的最後一部分仍然處於管道的中點。

Okay. And when should we hear more about that. Would you anticipate over the next few months that we sort of hear about kind of the entirety of the 400? Or it would be a time line to set some expectations for people.

好的。我們什麼時候可以聽到更多有關此事的消息？您是否預計在接下來的幾個月裡我們會聽到有關這 400 的全部消息？或者它可以是一條為人們設定一些期望的時間線。

To be honest, Marc, we'll give you more color every time something comes along in the quarter. But as in the freight business, we don't discuss our customers very detailed, right? We are focused on building a business, right? We have a 12-year track record, investing $5 million worth of equipment and delivering a 23% cash return on cash invested over that period of time. We are building a long-term, I would say, generational business here, right?

說實話，馬克，每當季度出現新情況時，我們都會給你更多細節。但是就像貨運業務一樣，我們不會與客戶討論得非常詳細，對嗎？我們專注於建立業務，對嗎？我們擁有 12 年的業績記錄，投資了價值 500 萬美元的設備，並在該期間內實現了 23% 的現金投資回報率。我想說，我們正在建立一項長期的、代際的業務，對嗎？

And so we will have significant amounts. But to be honest, the size of the business we're building is not going to be -- if our customers wish to announce we are where we are providing power for them, we are happy to accommodate that. But in that business, you don't see us announcing 1, 2 dedicated fleets with large E&P operators, right?

因此我們將擁有大量的資金。但老實說，我們正在建立的業務規模不會是——如果我們的客戶希望宣布我們在哪裡為他們提供電力，我們很樂意滿足他們的要求。但在該業務中，您不會看到我們宣布與大型 E&P 營運商合作組建 1、2 支專用船隊，對嗎？

We deliver strong returns in our business by managing it properly. We don't sort of make -- have a tenancy to talk in detail about those customer relationships. We will give you contracts to -- we'll give you guidance, and we will give you returns profiles.

透過適當的管理，我們的業務獲得了豐厚的回報。我們並不想詳細談論這些客戶關係。我們將為您提供合約—我們將為您提供指導，我們將為您提供回報概況。

Okay. Great. One other -- with the EBITDA outlook for the year, and the CapEx, it would appear that -- I heard you on solid free cash flow for completions, but maybe overall for total company free cash flows in the ballpark of breakeven. I don't know if you -- if that's sort of the right read on that. But in that context, how should we.

好的。偉大的。另外，根據今年的 EBITDA 前景和資本支出情況，我聽說您談到了完工後的穩健自由現金流，但總體而言，公司的總自由現金流可能處於盈虧平衡的水平。我不知道你是否——這是否是正確的解讀。但在那種情況下，我們該怎麼做呢？

It's positive -- breakeven.

這是正數——損益平衡。

It's positive. Okay. So how should we be thinking about the share repurchase in that context if you have. Should we be thinking about excess free cash kind of goes towards the repurchase? Or would you be looking to borrow a little bit to do some more repurchase?

這是積極的。好的。那麼，如果有的話，我們應該如何考慮在這種背景下的股票回購？我們是否應該考慮將多餘的自由現金用於回購？或者您想藉一點錢來做更多的回購？

We look at our share repurchases as opportunistic depending on where the share price is, right? We are investing in the long term in our power business, and that's going to change sort of over the course of the year and we look at that. Generally, we are not borrowing cash to fund the share repurchase, but we drive strong free cash flow in our free cash flow generating business.

我們將股票回購視為一種機會，取決於股價的水平，對嗎？我們正在對電力業務進行長期投資，這種投資將在今年內發生變化，我們正在關注這一點。一般來說，我們不會借入現金來資助股票回購，但我們在自由現金流產生業務中推動強勁的自由現金流。

If we borrowed money, it would be because we had some large opportunities in the power sector on top of 400 megawatts that we were actually providing the financing for, right? That's the way we think about it, right? When you look at our business, we have items -- business that is strongly free cash flowing.

如果我們借錢，那是因為我們在 400 兆瓦以上的電力領域有一些巨大的機會，我們實際上正在為這些機會提供融資，對嗎？我們就是這樣想的，對嗎？當你看看我們的業務時，你會發現我們擁有的專案—具有強大自由現金流的業務。

And if we think our share price is undervalued at that point, we will do opportunistic share prices. We're not really borrowing to fund a ship to fund a share buyback. If we're ever bring money, we are borrowing money to fund growth. So that's the way we think about running the business.

如果我們認為我們的股價在那時被低估了，我們就會趁機調整股價。我們其實並不是為了資助船舶而藉款來回購股票。如果我們要賺錢，那我們就是藉錢來資助成長。這就是我們經營業務的想法。

Saurabh Pant, Bank of America.

美國銀行的 Saurabh Pant。

Good morning, Ron and Mike, maybe I want to follow up a little bit on Marc's question on contracts, right? And again, I don't want to stop at two years because I know you're building the power business for the long term. So when you have discussions with the customers on, Mike, what kind of contract duration are you looking at? How long our customers willing to sign up for power need, if you can give some color on that, that would be helpful.

早安，羅恩和麥克，也許我想稍微跟進一下馬克關於合約的問題，對嗎？我再說一次，我不想止步於兩年，因為我知道你們正在為長期發展電力業務而努力。那麼，麥克，當您與客戶討論時，您考慮的是怎樣的合約期限？我們的客戶願意簽約多長時間的電力需求，如果您能對此提供一些詳細信息，那將會很有幫助。

Yes. I mean those vary depending on the end use application. At the very short end of things, you're talking about a scenario where we might be providing bridge power to a data center, for example. That might be 2 or 3 years before the grid gets there. At which point in time, there then becomes a conversation around, do the assets remain there in a backup application, is there an opportunity to be generating power and selling that back to the grid.

是的。我的意思是這些會根據最終用途應用而有所不同。從最短的方面來說，您正在談論一種我們可能為資料中心提供橋接電源的場景。電網建成可能還需要兩三年的時間。此時，就會出現這樣的討論：這些資產是否仍存在於備用應用程式中，是否有機會發電並將其賣回給電網。

But think about that as the short end of things. And then on the long end, a 20-plus year power purchase agreement is entirely possible. If we are going to be the firm power provider for a data center, there is absolutely a willingness out there to sign a 20-year agreement to do so. And then we'll think about our returns profile, as we said, commensurate with the term of that deal and what that looks like from a utilization standpoint for the asset.

但請想想，這只是事情的不利面。從長遠來看，20多年的購電協議是完全有可能的。如果我們要成為資料中心的穩定電力供應商，我們絕對願意簽署一份為期 20 年的協議。然後，我們會考慮我們的回報狀況，正如我們所說的，與交易期限相稱，以及從資產利用率的角度來看。

Okay. Fantastic. No, that's helpful. And then, Ron, maybe one quick one. I know this has been discussed in the past, but now that you are actually ordering equipment 400-megawatt. Maybe let's revisit the topic of nat gas resets or turbines, especially all these applications. You're talking about merchant power, EV charging, data centers. Can you talk about the relative merits and demerits of one versus the other? And how would you think about that in your portfolio of power offerings?

好的。極好的。不，這很有幫助。然後，羅恩，也許還有一個快速的問題。我知道過去已經討論過這個問題，但現在你實際上正在訂購 400 兆瓦的設備。也許讓我們重新討論一下天然氣重置或渦輪機的話題，特別是所有這些應用。您談論的是商用電力、電動車充電、資料中心。您能談談它們之間的優缺點嗎？在您的電力產品組合中您如何看待這一點？

Yes, I'm glad you asked the question, Saurabh. That's an important point and one we like to make sure as well to we chose natural gas recip engines for our power generation for a number of reasons. Modularity is a key piece of the puzzle, being able to adapt to changing load profiles depending on the situation we're deploying assets into that allows us to be very, very capitally efficient as we think about each opportunity that we're looking at.

是的，我很高興你問了這個問題，Saurabh。這是很重要的一點，也是我們要確保的一點，我們出於多種原因選擇天然氣往復式引擎來發電。模組化是這個難題的關鍵部分，它能夠根據我們部署資產的情況適應不斷變化的負載曲線，讓我們在考慮我們正在考慮的每一個機會時，非常非常有效率的資本。

Natural gas recip engines are incredibly efficient when it comes to the use of fuel. And without getting too far into the weeds, I'm an engineer, I like to nerd out on stuff like this. But if you think about a natural gas recip engine, it turns 44% of the available energy in a unit of fuel into useful work, in this case, electricity.

就燃料的使用而言，天然氣往復式引擎的效率極高。不用太深入地談論，我是工程師，我喜歡研究這類東西。但如果你考慮一下天然氣往復式發動機，它會將單位燃料中 44% 的可用能量轉化為有用功，在本例中就是電能。

If you take a gas turbine and put it in the same application, it turns -- it varies a little bit on the size of the turbine, but I'm going to say roughly 1/3 of the available energy in a unit of fuel into useful work. And so if you think about that comparison, it means that we're going to burn 1/3 less fuel to accomplish the same outcome when compared to a gas turbine.

如果您將燃氣渦輪機用於相同的用途，它會轉動——渦輪機的尺寸會略有不同，但我要說的是，單位燃料中可用能量的大約 1/3 會轉化為有用功。所以如果你考慮一下這種比較，這意味著與燃氣渦輪機相比，我們將燃燒更少 1/3 的燃料來實現相同的結果。

And if you're thinking about building durability, longevity into a business like this, ensuring your ability to be competitive, whether it's for -- in supplying electrons to a data center or providing electricity onto the grid, maximizing that efficiency, maximizing the spread between the cost of your fuel and the power that you're able to sell is critical to being competitive in that reason. And so for us, that's why spark ignition, gas recip engines make the most sense.

如果你正在考慮在這樣的企業中打造耐用性和長壽性，確保你的競爭力，無論是為數據中心提供電子還是向電網提供電力，最大限度地提高效率，最大限度地擴大燃料成本和你能夠銷售的電力之間的差價，對於保持競爭力至關重要。對我們來說，這就是為什麼火花點火、瓦斯往復式引擎最有意義。

Now there are a couple of things where a turbine offers compelling consideration. And Michael alluded to those already in his comments. First of all, they have a little bit more flexibility when it comes to the input fuel source. So a natural gas recip engine likes a very consistent fuel source that's primarily methane. No problem if you're on a distributed gas system. If you're going to be out in the field and you have a rich gas supply, that is going to be better tolerated by a turbine.

現在，渦輪機有幾項功能值得考慮。邁克爾在他的評論中已經提到了這些。首先，在輸入燃料來源方面它們具有更大的靈活性。因此，天然氣往復式引擎需要非常穩定的燃料源，主要為甲烷。如果您使用分散式天然氣系統則沒有問題。如果您要在野外作業並且擁有豐富的天然氣供應，那麼渦輪機將能更好地滿足這項需求。

And so that would be a place where a turbine would probably shine. The other place that there really is a difference is power density. If you're talking about a very, very large application hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of megawatts, you're going to be able to accomplish that in a smaller footprint with a turbine than you could with gas recip engines.

因此，那裡很可能是渦輪機發揮光彩的地方。確實存在差異的另一個地方是功率密度。如果您談論的是一個非常非常大的應用，數百兆瓦，那麼使用渦輪機比使用燃氣往復式發動機能夠在更小的佔地面積內實現這一目標。

So power density, fuel flexibility, probably the two considerations that you would lean towards a turbine. But if you're truly looking at -- if you have a good stable gas supply and you're looking towards longevity, durability, competitiveness in the space, that's where we think gas recip really shines and why we've leaned towards that.

因此，功率密度、燃料靈活性可能是您傾向於選擇渦輪機的兩個考慮因素。但如果你真正考慮——如果你擁有良好穩定的天然氣供應，並且你期待著該領域的長壽、耐用性和競爭力，那麼我們認為天然氣往復式真正發揮作用的地方，也是我們傾向於它的原因。

Perfect. No, that's fantastic color on. We can keep going on this discussion. But let me stop there and turn it back.

完美的。不，顏色太漂亮了。我們可以繼續這個討論。但讓我就此打住並回顧一下。

Dan Kutz, Morgan Stanley.

摩根士丹利的丹‧庫茨 (Dan Kutz)。

Good morning and congrats, Ron, and congrats, Chris as well on the new roles. I guess a couple of housekeeping questions on the Power business. I was wondering if you could share kind of the useful life of the power gen units. I know it's kind of early stages but just wondering if you have a viewer expectation on the useful life and also kind of the associated maintenance costs or maintenance cycle for the (technical difficulty).

早安，恭喜羅恩，也祝賀克里斯獲得新的職位。我想問幾個關於電力業務的基本問題。我想知道您是否可以分享發電機組的使用壽命。我知道現在還處於早期階段，但我想知道您對使用壽命以及相關的維護成本或維護週期有什麼期望（技術難度）。

So if you think about these gas engines, as I said, we haven't got one to even get to a major overhaul yet. But based on the guidance we have from our partners on the manufacturing side, whether that be Cummins, Caterpillar, Rolls Royce, MTU or [Yen Yoker], you're talking about time between major overhaul.

所以如果你想想這些燃氣發動機，正如我所說的，我們甚至還沒有對其中一台進行大修。但根據我們從製造方面的合作夥伴那裡得到的指導，無論是康明斯、卡特彼勒、勞斯萊斯、MTU或[Yen Yoker]，你談論的都是大修之間的時間。

So when we actually take that engine out of service and carry it write down to the bones and rebuild it, of 80,000 hours. That's probably approaching 10 years at 24/7, 365 operation, maybe 9 years in change if I'm doing the math right in my head. But it's a long, long time, and that's just for a major overhaul. We will overhaul a diesel engine, at least once and it's like with us maybe 2x or 3x. And so if we think about that for these power generation assets, you're talking about a lifespan that's measured in decades and decades.

因此，當我們真正將該引擎停止使用並將其拆解並重建時，其使用壽命已達到 80,000 小時。如果我沒算錯的話，如果每天 24 小時、每年 365 天不間斷運行的話，那可能要接近 10 年的時間，變化的話，也許需要 9 年的時間。但這需要很長很長時間，而且這只是一次大修。我們將對柴油引擎進行至少一次大修，我們大概大修兩次或三次。因此，如果我們考慮這些發電資產，那麼其壽命是以幾十年來衡量的。

Awesome. That's really helpful. And then I guess, just pulling on a comment in the prepared remarks and from the press release about your view that the footage drilled for the total US. year-over-year will be roughly flat.

驚人的。這真的很有幫助。然後我想，只是在準備好的發言和新聞稿中提出一條評論，說明你認為這段鑽探影片是針對全美國的。與去年同期相比基本持平。

Is the read on that, that your view is that Liberty's horsepower demand will be roughly flattish year-over-year, which I guess you could have -- some offsetting increased efficiencies, also increased intensity, i.e. higher increased horsepower per fleet. And yes, just wondering if you could unpack that comment and the implications for your view on Liberty horsepower demand in 2025.

您是否認為，Liberty 的馬力需求將與去年同期相比大致持平，我想這可能在一定程度上抵消了效率的提高和強度的增加，即每個船隊的馬力增加了。是的，只是想知道您是否可以解釋一下該評論以及您對 2025 年 Liberty 馬力需求的看法的影響。

Yes. Dan, I think you're thinking about that exactly right. Of course, if we talk about flat lateral footage, that offers the same opportunity for work that has to be done in the field. As you saw last year, we continue to find ways to get a little more efficient year on year on year. And so on one hand, what you'll probably see is headline fleet count come down a little bit to accomplish the same amount of work. But the counter to that to exactly the point you made is the intensity of that work.

是的。丹，我認為你的想法完全正確。當然，如果我們談論平面橫向鏡頭，這為現場完成的工作提供了同樣的機會。正如您去年所看到的，我們繼續尋找方法，使效率逐年提高。一方面，您可能會看到整體船隊數量略有下降，但完成的工作量卻相同。但與你的觀點完全相反的是這項工作的強度。

A good part of that efficiency is being driven by a move to simulfrac and trimolfrac operations. And that requires only what we call a so-fleet on location, but ultimately, a fleet that has a lot more horsepower attached to it. And so you have those two puts and takes that really trade off against one another. And so I think as we think about it from the Liberty standpoint, the horsepower that we're going to have out working is actually going to be relatively flat, which leads to this point around the idea that market could tighten sooner than you might perceive just from looking at headline fleet count.

這種效率的提高很大一部分得益於向模擬壓裂和三聯壓裂作業的轉變。這只需要我們所說的現場車隊，但最終，車隊需要擁有更大馬力。所以，你就有了這兩個真正互相權衡的利弊。因此，我認為，當我們從 Liberty 的角度考慮時，我們在工作中所使用的馬力實際上會相對平穩，這就導致了這樣一種觀點，即市場收緊的速度可能比你從總體船隊數量來看要快。

That's the number that gets published all the time, and you see it come down a little bit. But I don't think that provides a clear picture as to how quickly the market really could tighten given the draw on incremental horsepower inside of each additional fleet. That could be something we see play out later this year, particularly if there's a bit of a rebound in gas activity.

這是一直都會公佈的數字，而且你會看到它有所下降。但我不認為這能清楚地表明，考慮到每增加一支車隊，其馬力增量將以多快的速度被消耗殆盡。這可能是我們在今年稍後看到的情況，特別是如果天然氣活動出現一定程度的反彈。

Waqar Syed, ATB Capital Markets.

Waqar Syed，ATB 資本市場。

So Ron, I'm going to follow-up on this. The fracing business side. I think you still have that business. So just -- just on the TIL side, like we hear a lot that some of the E&Ps have driven completed wells that have not been connected to lines yet. Do you have a sense of how large that inventory is and as company start to maybe grow production? Like how long will it that? Whether it take to exhaust that before they go into going after the DUCs?

所以羅恩，我會跟進此事。水力壓裂業務方面。我認為你仍然有那項生意。所以只是 — — 僅在 TIL 方面，就像我們經常聽到的那樣，一些 E&P 已經完成了尚未連接到管線的井。您是否知道庫存量有多大以及公司是否可能開始增加產量？那要持續多久？在他們追擊 DUC 之前是否需要耗盡這些資源？

Waqar, I don't know that I have an exact answer to your question. Certainly, those TILs exist out there. And with strengthened gas prices and a strengthened forward strip, I think you're going to start to see some of that come online. I'd say probably, I don't think we have a great outlook on exactly how long that will take them to play out. There's probably some variables that come into that.

瓦卡爾，我不知道我是否有你的問題的確切答案。當然，這些 TIL 是存在著的。隨著天然氣價格的上漲和遠期收益的增加，我認為你將開始看到其中一些收益的實現。我想說很可能，我不認為我們能很好地預測他們要花多長時間才能完成這一目標。其中可能存在一些變數。

We probably need to wait until this older season when we get a good sense of exactly how many heating days we ended up with this winter, what that does to storage levels, and that will probably play into that decision for them. But I think there's a reasonable possibility we could see a response in rig count by the second half of this year. And then headed through the tail end of the year and into 2026. So that's probably as best of guess as I could give you today.

我們可能需要等到這個季節末期，才能確切地了解今年冬天我們供暖了多少天，這對存儲水平有何影響，這些可能都會影響他們的決定。但我認為，到今年下半年，我們很有可能會看到鑽井數量的變化。然後一直到年底，進入 2026 年。這可能是我今天能給你的最好的猜測。

Okay. Great. And then just going back to the power business, if I may. Do you see that opportunity for you mostly, in what regions? Like do you see that in Rockies as well. There are some data centers and other things we built in North Dakota. There is some excess gas there. Obviously, Permian area is a big opportunity. So where do you see regionally that opportunity play out?

好的。偉大的。如果可以的話，我就回到電力業務。您認為這樣的機會主要在哪些地區？你在洛磯山脈也看過這種情況嗎？我們在北達科他州建造了一些資料中心和其他東西。那裡有一些多餘的氣體。顯然，二疊紀地區是一個巨大的機會。那麼從區域來看您認為這種機會體現在哪裡呢？

Yes. Obviously, there's a range of opportunities across the country. And I expect that as we grow the foundation of this business, we will step into a number of those. As I highlighted, maybe as one of the advantages we bring to the table, our footprint across North America gives us the ability to support installations in a wide range of places. The DJ Basin would be an example for that. And so we'll look at all of those as they come in.

是的。顯然，全國各地都存在著各種各樣的機會。我希望，隨著我們業務基礎的不斷擴大，我們能夠涉足其中的許多領域。正如我所強調的，也許這是我們帶來的優勢之一，我們遍布北美的業務使我們能夠在廣泛的地區支援安裝。DJ Basin 就是一個例子。因此，我們會對所有這些情況進行審查。

Early days, I think you're going to see primary deployments in Texas. That's where a lot of that demand is coming from initially but Michael mentioned the East Coast. I think we definitely see some opportunity out there. And then we'll start to layer on additional locations after that. But as with everything we do, we're going to approach the business thoughtfully at a good cadence and make sure that we can provide the level of service Liberty has come to be known for. And that means not jumping on to a pile of widespread opportunities and losing the focus that we like to maintain.

在早期，我認為你會看到在德克薩斯州的主要部署。最初，許多需求都來自那裡，但麥可提到了東海岸。我認為我們確實看到了一些機會。然後我們將開始分層添加其他位置。但就像我們所做的一切一樣，我們將以良好的節奏認真地對待業務，並確保我們能夠提供 Liberty 所聞名的服務水準。這意味著我們不要急於抓住大量廣泛存在的機會而失去我們希望保持的專注力。

Great. Well, thank you very much. Really appreciate the answers, and good luck.

偉大的。好吧，非常感謝。非常感謝您的回答，祝您好運。

Tom Curran, Seaport Research.

湯姆柯倫 (Tom Curran)，海港研究公司。

Ron, let me echo everyone else. Kudos taking the helm here in your first call, CEO.

羅恩，讓我附和大家一下。首席執行官，感謝您在第一次通話中掌舵。

Thanks very much.

非常感謝。

Yes, you bet -- positioned at this point for LPI supply chain. Specifically, as it relates to the gas recips, the passage turbines and any other key assets you'll need to provide as part of your partnership with DC Grid?

是的，你猜對了——目前已為 LPI 供應鏈做好了準備。具體來說，它與天然氣往復機、通道渦輪機以及您與 DC Grid 合作時需要提供的任何其他關鍵資產有關嗎？

Yes. I would say incredibly well positioned. One of the things we pride ourselves on as an organization is not only being the provider of choice to our customers, but being the purchaser of choice to our suppliers. So we have worked very, very hard over the entire history of Liberty to be a great partner to our suppliers. We own a meaningful amount of our success as an organization to their support.

是的。我想說的是，我們的定位非常好。作為一個組織，我們引以為傲的事情之一就是我們不僅是客戶的首選供應商，而且也是供應商的首選購買者。因此，在 Liberty 的整個歷史中，我們一直非常非常努力地成為我們供應商的優秀合作夥伴。我們作為一個組織所取得的成功很大程度歸功於他們的支持。

And so that partnership, whether it's with Caterpillar, with Rolls Royce, MTU with Cummins. Those are long-time partnerships that we have built and grown over the history of Liberty and we will carry on now into the power generation business. And so that offers us a real opportunity as maybe one of their largest partners in the oilfield services side, carry that over to power generation.

這就是我們的合作關係，無論是與卡特彼勒、勞斯萊斯，還是與 MTU 和康明斯。這些都是我們在 Liberty 歷史上建立和發展的長期合作夥伴關係，現在我們將繼續涉足發電業務。因此，這為我們提供了一個真正的機會，作為他們在油田服務領域最大的合作夥伴之一，我們可以將這項業務拓展到發電領域。

And so for us to line up this 400 megawatts of capacity that we're going to deploy over the coming year is something that is very, very manageable for us. And as Michael said, is already in the queue. And I would say that I'm very comfortable we could expand on that if we chose to going forward. we have those strong partnerships, and I think we're going to get a lot of support from the supply chain standpoint in terms of being able to deliver an incredibly timely fashion relative to others.

因此，對我們來說，在未來一年內部署這 400 兆瓦的發電容量是非常容易實現的。正如邁克爾所說，已經在排隊了。我想說，如果我們選擇繼續前進，我很樂意繼續擴大這個範圍。我們擁有強大的合作關係，我認為我們將從供應鏈的角度獲得大量支持，以便能夠比其他公司更及時地交付產品。

Earlier in the call, Ron, you did allude to the fact that historically, Liberty hasn't hesitated to vertically integrate an offering in order to solve for a pain point or to see an opportunity to innovate and improve on it somehow. Are there any aspects of LPIs existing or expected asset fleet that might bring in house and have LAET manufacturer?

羅恩，在早些時候的通話中，你確實提到了這樣一個事實：從歷史上看，Liberty 毫不猶豫地垂直整合產品以解決痛點或尋找以某種方式進行創新和改進的機會。LPI 現有或預期的資產車隊是否有可能引入內部並擁有 LAET 製造商？

Well, I think at this point in time, probably literally to say, for sure, we'll lean on our packaging engineering design and packaging capabilities. So I expect that we will own the engineering controls design all of that stuff from bottom up for not only the generation capacity but also balance of plant that will be inside the Liberty world. We will lean on the LAP team in El Reno to help with timely packaging to ensure that we can meet short time frames that we're being asked about.

嗯，我認為在這個時候，可能可以肯定地說，我們將依靠我們的包裝工程設計和包裝能力。因此，我希望我們將擁有自下至上的工程控制設計，不僅針對發電能力，也針對自由世界內部工廠的平衡。我們將依靠埃爾雷諾的 LAP 團隊來幫助及時包裝，以確保我們能夠滿足所要求的短時間範圍。

So we're going to leverage some of those things, vertical integration capabilities that we already have in-house. And as we begin to identify other opportunities that make sense that are well aligned with our strengths and capabilities, as you said, we wouldn't hesitate to step into those. But I wouldn't name any today outside of where we're really focused.

因此，我們將利用我們內部現有的一些垂直整合能力。正如您所說，當我們開始發現其他與我們的優勢和能力相符的有意義的機會時，我們會毫不猶豫地抓住這些機會。但除了我們真正關注的領域之外，今天我不會透露任何其他資訊。

And then just shifting to the labor side for LTI. How the labor intensity differ from the services side? And are there any unique considerations when it comes to recruitment and training for the type of crude you're going to need for LTI?

然後將 LTI 轉向勞動力方面。勞動強度與服務業有何不同？在招募和培訓 LTI 所需的原油類型時，是否有一些特別的考慮因素？

Obviously, that side of the business is going to be significantly less labor intensive than frac our oilfield services operation, we deploy a meaningful number of people out into the field to support each and every one of our frac fleets out there. this business on the power side is going to be a lot less people heavy for not only the design packaging and construction, but even the support over the long term.

顯然，這方面的業務將比我們的油田服務業務的勞動密集程度低得多，我們將派遣大量人員到現場來支持我們在那裡的每個壓裂船隊。電力方面的業務將會減少許多人力，不僅在設計、包裝和施工方面，而且在長期支援方面也是如此。

From -- standpoint, that's not something I ever worry about at Liberty. We have such a strong name in the industry today. Our ability to attract people to the Liberty family is has always been something we've prided ourselves on. We have a far more resumes in the people to choose from than we've had opportunities to offer employment.

從 — — 角度來看，這不是我在 Liberty 擔心的事。如今，我們在業界已擁有如此響亮的名聲。我們吸引人們加入自由大家庭的能力一直是我們引以為傲的事。我們可供選擇的履歷數量遠遠多於我們提供的就業機會數量。

And I don't view that as any different in this case. We've started to add that expertise to our family of Liberty already given our power generation in the frac business. So we have medium voltage electricians and whatnot on staff. So we're starting to build that expertise in frac, and we'll have to leverage as we begin to expand into the power generation space.

我認為這次的情況也沒什麼不同。鑑於我們在壓裂業務中的發電能力，我們已經開始將這些專業知識添加到我們的 Liberty 家族中。所以我們有中壓電工和其他人員。因此，我們開始在水力壓裂領域建立專業知識，並且在我們開始擴展到發電領域時，我們必須利用這一優勢。

Eddie Kim, Barclays.

巴克萊銀行的艾迪金 (Eddie Kim)。

Sorry if I missed this, but is there anything at all that's different about the nature of the equipment on this incremental 400 megawatts versus the 30 megawatts you already have deployed on your digi fleets either from a power density standpoint or anything like that? Or is it pretty much the same equipment?

抱歉，如果我錯過了這一點，但從功率密度的角度或類似的角度來看，這增量的 400 兆瓦的設備性質與您已經在數位車隊上部署的 30 兆瓦的設備性質有什麼不同嗎？或者說它們是幾乎相同的設備？

And separately, just your guidance on the power-related CapEx in '25 of $200 million implies about $1.3 million of CapEx per megawatt for this year. Is that also a fair assumption to use for the '26 deliveries as well? Or should we maybe expect to see some level of inflation next year?

另外，您預計 25 年電力相關資本支出為 2 億美元，這意味著今年每兆瓦的資本支出約為 130 萬美元。對於 26 次交付來說，這也是一個合理的假設嗎？或者我們應該預期明年會出現一定程度的通貨膨脹？

Yes. So let me take the first question, and then we'll touch on that second one as well. So in terms of differences, not a huge amount there. There'll be a couple of things I would point out. For our frac business, of course, we build everything as mobile power generation. It's all on wheels because we drive it out to a location. We set it up. It's there for 30 days. We dare it down and we moved to another location.

是的。那麼讓我來回答第一個問題，然後我們再來討論第二個問題。因此，就差異而言，差異並不大。我想指出幾點。當然，對於我們的壓裂業務，我們將一切都建置為行動發電。所有東西都裝在輪子上，因為我們要把它開到指定地點。我們已將其設定。它在那裡待了 30 天。我們勇敢地放棄了它並轉移到了另一個地方。

As we think about the power generation world, we're likely to be in a spot, in some cases, for decades at a time. And so we're likely to build far less mobile power generation there. It's likely to be skid-mounted, gain more in a stationary application.

當我們思考發電領域時，在某些情況下，我們可能會連續幾十年處於同樣的境地。因此我們很可能不會在那裡建造太多的移動發電設施。它很可能採用滑橇安裝，在固定應用上獲得更多。

We will also bring to the table larger generation assets in the power gen business than we do in the frac business. So again, thinking about mobility versus something that could be stationary for a while, we're comfortable bringing a heavier, larger asset to the table for those power generation situation. So you're going to see in our portfolio there, for example, the 4 -- 4.3, 4.5 megawatt gas recip engine from Jenbacher as a case. So that's not something that we would probably put in our frac business just given the size and scale of that engine.

我們還將在發電業務中提供比壓裂業務中更大的發電資產。因此，再次考慮移動性與可以暫時靜止的物體，我們願意將更重、更大的資產帶到發電場合。例如，您將在我們的產品組合中看到 Jenbacher 的 4 – 4.3、4.5 兆瓦燃氣往復式引擎。考慮到該引擎的尺寸和規模，我們可能不會將其放入我們的壓裂業務中。

To your second question around the CapEx, there's a couple of variables that will play into that. One of them is just around timing around pace of taking delivery assets versus deployment, deposits and things like that. So that is part of variable. But then the other thing you want to think about is if we think about the broader picture deploying not only the power generation but also a balance of plant, the transformers, the bus, the conduit and cable and things like that.

對於您關於資本支出的第二個問題，有幾個變數會影響它。其中之一就是有關接收交付資產的速度與部署、存款等的時間安排。所以這是變數的一部分。但是您要考慮的另一件事是，如果我們考慮更廣泛的情況，不僅要部署發電，還要部署平衡的電廠、變壓器、母線、導管和電纜等等。

We think about it in round numbers, a megawatt of power costing about $1 million. But once you layer that balance of plant on top, you're probably talking about something closer to $1.4 million -- $1.3 million, $1.4 million as a round number to include everything. That's going to vary a little bit application by application, depending on how much work we're going to have to do, whether there's a gas pipeline -- to be or not whether the substation exists or not. So you'll see a little fluctuation in that number, but that is the other reason you see probably a little higher CapEx per megawatt deployed than just the flat cost of generation.

我們以整數來考慮，一兆瓦的電力成本約為 100 萬美元。但一旦你把工廠的餘額加在一起，你可能會談論到接近 140 萬美元——130 萬美元，140 萬美元是一個包括所有費用的整數。這將根據具體應用而略有不同，取決於我們要做多少工作、是否有天然氣管道、是否有變電站。因此，您會看到該數字有點波動，但這也是您看到每兆瓦部署的資本支出可能比固定發電成本略高的另一個原因。

Understood. Got it. And just a quick follow-up. Have the deliveries of the 100 -- the expected deliveries of 100 megawatts by the end of this year. Have those orders already been placed? And if so, I mean, should we expect to see the majority of that $200 million CapEx hit to take place in the first half of this year? Just trying to think about lead times for this equipment? Is it 1 year, 1.5 years? Just any color there would be great.

明白了。知道了。接下來是快速的跟進。預計今年底交付 100 兆瓦。這些訂單已經下了嗎？如果是這樣，我的意思是，我們是否應該預期這 2 億美元資本支出的大部分將在今年上半年發生？只是想考慮一下該設備的交付週期？是1年還是1.5年？任何顏色都可以。

Yes. So all those orders have been placed. All of that is underway in our supply chain already. So we're firm on taking delivery of that. if you think about lead time for the assets, it's not a year to 18 months for assets like this. The time frame is shorter than that for us to be able to take delivery of power generation, even packaged. And so I think that's part of our advantage as we think about these opportunities. It's just ability to respond very, very quickly relative to other solutions in the marketplace today.

是的。所有這些訂單都已下達。所有這些已經在我們的供應鏈中進行。因此我們堅決履行這項承諾。如果你考慮資產的交付週期，那麼像這樣的資產的交付週期就不是一年到十八個月了。我們接收發電產品（甚至是包裝好的電力）的時間比這還要短。因此我認為，當我們考慮這些機會時，這是我們的優勢之一。與當今市場上的其他解決方案相比，它具有非常快速的響應能力。

But I'd like to clarify, all 400 that we've announced are all scheduled in the supply chain coming out of the manufacturers, right? Yes, I think Ron is alluding to the fact that, yes, could we add to that with the right opportunities and speed make that 400 increased. Yes, we could. But before all the 100 is scheduled in manufacturing and a time -- definite when it's coming out, and we'll be back when ready to go.

但我想澄清一下，我們宣布的所有 400 輛汽車都是在製造商的供應鏈中安排的，對嗎？是的，我認為羅恩暗示了這樣一個事實，是的，我們能否利用正確的機會和速度將這個數字增加到 400。是的，我們可以。但在全部 100 台設備投入生產之前，我們會先確定具體的生產時間，並在準備好後回來。

Keith MacKey, RBC Capital Markets.

加拿大皇家銀行資本市場 (RBC Capital Markets) 的 Keith MacKey。

Just, Ron, since you're building a kind of business in new industries for -- as you point out, a long-term set of opportunities. Can you just maybe give us a little bit of color on how you see the power business unfolding over the next, say, 5 years?

只是，羅恩，因為你正在新興行業中建立一種業務——正如你所指出的，這是一系列長期機會。您能否向我們簡單介紹一下未來 5 年內電力產業的發展前景？

When we think about the level of investment you've outlined for 2025 and 2026, it kind of looks like you could maybe build a business that does between $150 million to $200 million of EBITDA in 5 years. So would you be happy with that? Is that sort of what you're targeting here? Or is it too early to say what things will look like in that far away?

當我們考慮您為 2025 年和 2026 年概述的投資水準時，看起來您可能可以建立一家在 5 年內實現 EBITDA 1.5 億至 2 億美元的企業。那麼你會對此感到高興嗎？這就是你所追求的嗎？或者說現在談論遙遠未來的事情會是什麼樣子還為時過早嗎？

I would tell you, Keith, that I'm incredibly bullish on the opportunities in this business, and I think we're going to grow a business larger than you have suggested there. I really think we have an opportunity over the next 5 to 8 years to grow a business that maybe rivaled our oilfield services business in scale. And certainly, I don't have any reason to say we wouldn't pursue that.

基思，我要告訴你，我非常看好這個行業的機遇，我認為我們的業務將會發展得比你所建議的更大。我確實認為，在未來 5 到 8 年內，我們有機會發展一項規模可能與我們的油田服務業務相媲美的業務。當然，我沒有任何理由說我們不會追求這一點。

Okay. And just maybe turning quickly to the frac business. You talked about average fleet sizes having to get bigger. How has your fleet size changed over '24 and maybe '25 if you have a sense of that?

好的。或許很快就會轉向壓裂業務。您談到了平均船隊規模必須擴大。如果您有這種感覺的話，24 年和 25 年您的船隊規模有何變化？

Yes. I mean just at a high level, we have more simul frac work in our world today than we did in 2024. We have some customers who are moving towards that. Some frac varies a little bit from customer to customer, but you could see fleet sizes increase anywhere from 30% to 100% depending on their thoughts around simulfrac or trimolfrac.

是的。我的意思是，從高層次來看，今天我們世界的模擬壓裂工作比 2024 年還要多。我們有一些客戶正在朝著這個方向努力。一些壓裂方法在不同客戶之間略有不同，但您可以看到，車隊規模增加 30% 到 100%，具體取決於他們對模擬壓裂或三聚氰胺壓裂的想法。

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Ron for any closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議交還給羅恩，請他作最後發言。

Our mission is a simple one, to better human lives. That starts here at Liberty with the lives of everyone here in the Liberty family. With the success of our business, it grows beyond that, to the communities we work in and ultimately, the world. We took a step further in this mission last year with the launch of the Bettering Human Lives Foundation, enabling a more direct path to address the urgent challenge of energy poverty in Africa.

我們的使命很簡單：改善人類生活。這一切都從 Liberty 開始，從 Liberty 大家庭中每個人的生活開始。隨著我們業務的成功，我們的業務範圍已經擴大到我們工作的社區，最終涵蓋全世界。去年，我們在這個使命上又邁進了一步，成立了“改善人類生活基金會”，為解決非洲能源貧困的緊迫挑戰提供了更直接的途徑。

I could not be prouder of our team and all that we accomplished in pursuit of this mission, a journey that Chris started us on almost 14 years ago and has never wavered from since. And I'm excited to carry on our pursuit of that mission as we start the next chapter in the Liberty story.

我為我們的團隊以及我們為完成這項使命所取得的成就感到無比自豪，克里斯在近 14 年前帶領我們踏上了這段旅程，自那時起他從未動搖過。當我們開啟自由故事的下一章時，我很高興能夠繼續追求這項使命。

I'll end with a thank you to the entire Liberty family. While it's not always recognized, the world depends on you and the work that you do each and every day. Thanks for that. Thank you for joining us on the call today.

最後，我要向整個 Liberty 家族表示感謝。儘管人們並不總是意識到這一點，但世界依賴你和你每天所做的工作。謝謝。感謝您今天的參加電話會議。

This conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

此次會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開連線。