Matador Resources Co (MTDR) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the fourth quarter and full year 2024 Matador Resources Company earnings conference call. My name is Lisa and I'll be serving as the operator for today.

女士們、先生們，早安。歡迎參加 Matador Resources Company 2024 年第四季和全年財報電話會議。我叫麗莎，今天我將擔任接線生。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指令）

As a reminder, this conference is being recorded for the replay purposes, and the replay will be available on the company's website for one year as discussed in the company's earnings press release issued yesterday. I will now turn the call over to Mr. Mac Schmidt, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations for Matador. Mr. Schmitz, you may proceed.

提醒一下，本次會議正在錄製以供重播，重播將在公司網站上保留一年，正如公司昨天發布的收益新聞稿中所述。現在我將電話轉給 Matador 投資者關係資深副總裁 Mac Schmidt 先生。施密茨先生，您可以繼續。

Thank you, Lisa. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for Matador's fourth quarter and full year 2024 earnings conference call. Some of the presenters today will reference certain non-GAAP financial measures regularly used by Matador Resources in measuring the company's financial performance.

謝謝你，麗莎。大家早安，感謝您參加 Matador 2024 年第四季和全年財報電話會議。今天的一些演講者將參考 Matador Resources 在衡量公司財務表現時經常使用的某些非 GAAP 財務指標。

Reconciliations of such non-GAAP financial measures with comparable financial measures calculated in accordance with the GAAP are contained at the end of the company's earnings press release as a reminder, certain statements included in this morning's presentation may be forward-looking and reflect the company's current expectations or forecasts of future events based on the information that is now available.

這些非公認會計準則財務指標與按照公認會計準則計算的可比較財務指標的對帳表包含在公司的收益新聞稿的末尾，作為提醒，今天上午的演示文稿中包含的某些聲明可能是前瞻性的，並反映了公司基於現有信息對未來事件的當前預期或預測。

Actual results in future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially is contained in the company's earnings release and its most recent annual report on Form 10K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10Q.

未來事件的實際結果可能與此類聲明所預期的結果有重大差異。有關可能導致實際結果出現重大差異的因素的更多信息，請參閱公司的收益報告和最新的 10K 表年度報告以及任何後續 10Q 表季度報告。

In addition to our earnings press release that we issued yesterday, I would like to remind everyone that you can find a slide presentation in connection with the fourth quarter and full year 2024 earnings release under our investor relations tab on our corporate website and with that, I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Joe Foran, Our Founder, Chairman and CEO.

除了我們昨天發布的收益新聞稿之外，我還想提醒大家，您可以在我們公司網站的投資者關係標籤下找到與 2024 年第四季度和全年收益報告相關的幻燈片演示，現在我想將電話轉給我們的創始人、董事長兼首席執行官喬·福蘭先生。

Thank you, Mac and thank you all for listening in today. I would like to begin by thanking everybody for the thought and effort they put into their notes, but I'd also like to start out by reemphasizing what we consider most important when we take over a property like the Ameredev.

謝謝你，麥克，也謝謝大家今天的收聽。首先，我要感謝大家在筆記中投入的思考和努力，但我還想先再次強調一下，當我們接管像 Ameredev 這樣的房產時，我們認為最重要的是什麼。

It's a $2 billion deal. Obviously, it's going to have a big impact. So how do we treat that? And we really treat it like we do all of our other properties for the past 40 years, as I've done this job as CEO we put an emphasis on year to year growth. We think that's the most important number. You can look at other statistics and there are, I would say they're all important. But for us, the most important is year over year growth.

這是一筆價值20億美元的交易。顯然，這將產生巨大的影響。那我們該如何治療呢？我們確實像對待過去 40 年來的所有其他財產一樣對待它，當我擔任執行長時，我們強調逐年的成長。我們認為這是最重要的數字。您可以看看其他統計數據，我想說它們都很重要。但對我們來說，最重要的是逐年的成長。

At the same time, when we buy a property, the first thing we try to do is look for the efficiency gains, that we can do also a development plan, that we can do and from there. We worked to incorporate it and assess what you can do. The Ameredev properties were special because it's such great quality rock that gives us a lot of choice. Most times when people sell things, it's not their best rock, but the Ameredev case, it was really good rock.

同時，當我們購買房產時，我們首先要做的事情就是尋求效率提升，我們也可以製定一個發展計劃，然後從那裡開始。我們努力將其納入並評估您可以做什麼。Ameredev 礦產非常特別，因為這裡的岩石品質非常好，給了我們多種選擇。大多數時候，人們出售的東西並不是他們最好的搖滾樂，但在 Ameredev 的案例中，它確實是好的搖滾樂。

They've done a good job operating it, and we wanted to find those, what else could we do? and we could have easily, we put a rig out there. Our first rig went out there nine days after acquiring the property. So we could have put more rigs out there and easily increased, the production in a sequential basis, but we thought it was more important.

他們運作得很好，我們想找到這些，我們還能做什麼？我們可以輕鬆地在那裡安置一台鑽孔機。我們的第一台鑽孔機在獲得該財產後九天就出發了。因此，我們可以在那裡投入更多的鑽孔機，輕鬆地連續提高產量，但我們認為這更重要。

To set it up for long term by the year to year over year growth standard and in that regard, for 40 years in buying properties for Matador, in those 40 years we've grown a little over 20% a year for 40 years, and that's kind of the standard we have and we feel the Matador properties will meet that standard, particularly as we organize a drilling plan, how exactly we want to develop it, between the development wells and the step out well. So, we got a little time on that, should be done.

為了長期發展，我們需要按照逐年增長的標準來製定，在這方面，我們在為 Matador 購買資產的 40 年裡，每年的增長率都略高於 20%，這就是我們的標準，我們認為 Matador 的資產將達到這一標準，特別是在我們組織鑽井計劃時，我們會確定如何在開發井和步進井之間進行開發。所以，我們花了一點時間，應該可以完成。

Now, we will have, we have one of the ways of the efficiency is our batch drilling that we've done there, and that has saved us, an estimated $30millionto $50 million by drilling them in the batch mode and then bringing them on. But it does have an effect on the sequential growth is that Which is essentially a timing problem. It's not a reserve problem. It's a timing deal and in the first quarter, of last year, I mean fourth quarter of last year.

現在，我們提高效率的方法之一就是我們在那裡進行的批量鑽探，透過以批量模式進行鑽探然後將其投入使用，這為我們節省了大約 3000 萬至 5000 萬美元。但它確實對連續成長產生了影響，這本質上是一個時間問題。這不是儲備的問題。這是一筆時間交易，是在去年第一季度，我指的是去年第四季。

In the first half we only put two wells online because we had a big group coming up behind it and so in the next 45 days or so, we'll probably bring on as 30 wells or more and you can see what I mean, it's a timing problem. If we had close and taken over Ameredev two weeks earlier, we wouldn't have this discussion.

在上半年我們只投產了兩口井，因為後面有一大批人前來開採，所以在接下來的 45 天左右，我們可能會投產 30 口或更多的井，你可以明白我的意思，這是一個時間問題。如果我們早兩週接近並接管阿梅列傑夫，我們就不會進行這樣的討論。

Of whether we have a sequential problem or a myth as some of you all described it and so we ask that, if you're uncertain about our timing on things, please give us a call, but the year over year matters because I can report that we expect to have growth of approximately 30% for the first quarter of this year compared to the first quarter last year.

無論我們是否存在連續性問題或一些人所描述的神話，因此我們要求，如果您不確定我們的時間安排，請給我們打電話，但同比很重要，因為我可以報告，我們預計今年第一季與去年第一季度相比增長約 30％。

Second quarter is going to be about the same 29% or 30%. third quarter, again, 20% or more and by the time we face the drilling program in the fourth quarter, we think that'll be comparable numbers as well. So, we're very excited about this. We're not seeing any dis disappointments, but I want you to know that I don't want to tell you.

第二季也大約是29%或30%。第三季度，我們將再次實現 20% 或更多的成長，到第四季度我們面臨鑽探計畫的時候，我們認為這個數字也將相當。因此，我們對此感到非常興奮。我們沒有看到任何令人失望的事情，但我想讓你知道我不想告訴你。

How to do, your analysis, it's certainly understandable why some people want to do sequential. But in this case, I think you have to look at the [EUR] year numbers and when you look at the total reserve picture, for us.

怎麼做，你的分析，當然可以理解為什麼有些人想要做順序。但在這種情況下，我認為你必須查看[歐元]年度數字，並查看我們的總儲備情況。

Year over year from the fourth quarter of 2024 to the, from the fourth quarter of 2023 to the fourth quarter of 2024, you see that we've grown our production from like $4.6 million BOEs to over $6 billion BOEs and that's what I think matters has our shareholders increased their assets? Yeah, and that's why we felt so comfortable raising our dividend.

與 2024 年第四季相比，從 2023 年第四季到 2024 年第四季，您會發現我們的產量從 460 萬美元桶油當量成長到 60 多億美元桶油當量，我認為重要的是我們的股東是否增加了資產？是的，這就是我們如此放心提高股利的原因。

Could we have done more? Yeah, I think that we could have easily done some more, but it's probably more prudent given the, volatility of commodity prices to wait until the fall when we've typically given a raise, but wanted to express to you our confidence, and second is to note the insider buying that has occurred. You had over 30 transactions by the senior management, that's SVPs and higher VPs and so you have that, but even more important statistic to us and comforting to me, personally, is that over 95%.

我們還可以做得更多嗎？是的，我認為我們可以輕鬆地做更多，但考慮到大宗商品價格的波動，等到秋季我們通常會加息，這可能是更為謹慎的做法，但我們想向你們表達我們的信心，其次是注意已經發生的內幕購買。高階管理層（包括高級副總裁和更高級的副總裁）進行了超過 30 筆交易，但對我們來說更重要的統計數據並且對我個人來說令我感到欣慰的是，這一比例超過 95%。

Of the staff are participating in the employee stock purchase plan. So, everybody here, they've been here at any time at all, has become a shareholder and an owner and if you've ever attended our annual meetings, you'd meet many people, a good percentage of them are shareholders. They've been shareholders for 40 years or more, going back to when we had.

的員工都參與了員工股票購買計畫。所以，這裡的每個人，只要他們在任何時候來過，就已經成為股東和所有者，如果你曾經參加過我們的年會，你會遇到很多人，其中很大一部分是股東。從我們有股東以來，他們已經做了 40 多年了。

The partnerships and the like. So, there's great confidence and we thought it was most prudent not to rush in. We're trying to drill wells and boost protection, but it was ever bit important and more so to look at containing the cost and making sure, what we wanted to do next. So saving $30million to $50 million should not be disregarded, but taking into account of whether you want to, emphasize year over year growth or a quarter to quarter growth and look at the timing when you're bringing on wealth.

合作夥伴關係等等。因此，我們信心十足，認為最明智的做法是不要倉促行事。我們正在嘗試鑽井並加強保護，但更重要的是考慮控製成本並確定我們下一步要做什麼。因此，節省 3000 萬到 5000 萬美元不容忽視，但請考慮您是否願意，強調同比增長或季度增長，並看看您帶來財富的時機。

So if two weeks is the difference, I would go with the year over year growth that I mentioned, is going to be 20% to 30%. So with that, I'd like to open it up to questions, Mac, but give you an idea of how we evaluate it and why we've emphasized year over year growth, but we still think it's important to look at sequential, and that's why we provide you those numbers itself. But our personal view is that year over year number is the most important.

因此，如果差異是兩週，我會按照我提到的同比增長率計算，即 20% 到 30%。因此，我想開始回答問題，Mac，但讓你了解我們如何評估它，以及為什麼我們強調同比增長，但我們仍然認為看連續性很重要，這就是我們為你提供這些數字的原因。但我們個人認為，年比數字才是最重要的。

Lisa we're ready for to jump into the Q&A, ready for the first.

麗莎，我們已經準備好進入問答環節，準備好進行第一個問答。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指令）

Neal Dingmann, Truist Securities.

Truist Securities 的 Neal Dingmann。

Thanks. Good morning, Joe and team and Joe, I just want to say before I ask that question, I thought you all did a really nice job this time on the slides of really showing the capital efficiencies and other upside that you have such as the midstream.

謝謝。早安，喬和團隊。

So I guess that part takes me to my first question and my first question I'd like to focus on the midstream specifically, you all obviously have one of the larger now permanent infrastructure systems. I think you're talking about. Out nearly $300 million in IA alone, and I'm just wondering based on this, should we assume that now that system is largely developed given the, a bit lower CapEx of 120% to 180% this year and then secondly, are there opportunities to, I don't know, maybe bring in a partner or do something to further demonstrate and maybe monetize the value of that system.

所以我想這部分將引出我的第一個問題，我的第一個問題我想特別關注中游，你們顯然擁有現在較大的永久性基礎設施系統之一。我認為你正在談論。僅在 IA 方面就花費了近 3 億美元，我只是想知道基於此，我們是否應該假設現在該系統已基本開發完畢，因為今年的資本支出略低，為 120％ 至 180％；其次，是否有機會，我不知道，也許引入合作夥伴或做些什麼來進一步展示並將該系統的價值貨幣化。

Neal, that's really a good question. That's something we talked about nearly every day, some of those questions and I would simply say is that, as long as we are active out there in that basin, we're going to be looking to extend it because the reason we got into it in the first place is going back to when we were going public was that there was real flow assurance problems and we didn't want to go public and immediately run in to the flow assurance problems.

尼爾，這確實是個好問題。這是我們幾乎每天都在談論的事情，我只想說，只要我們在那個盆地里活躍，我們就會尋求擴大它，因為我們最初進入這個領域的原因可以追溯到我們上市的時候，當時存在著真正的流量保證問題，我們不想上市後立即遇到流量保證問題。

So that's where we started. Greg Krug has been our leader in the company and has done a marvellous job. Our first year of operations, we had EBITA $30 million. This year we have $300 million. So he's made not only the reservoir engineers comfortable by having that flow assurance and the cash flow and our CFO's happy that they know that we're going to have the cash flow, but he's also created a very profitable business and giving us some good options going for.

這就是我們的起點。格雷格·克魯格 (Greg Krug) 一直是我們公司的領導，他做得非常出色。我們營運第一年的 EBITA 為 3000 萬美元。今年我們有3億美元。因此，他不僅透過提供流量保證和現金流讓油藏工程師感到安心，而且讓我們的財務長很高興，因為他們知道我們將獲得現金流，而且他還創造了一個非常有利可圖的業務，並為我們提供了一些很好的選擇。

So it's hard to say because it's, we still feel early years and we're expanding our areas of interest, just like with the Ameredev over to that southeast corner of, southeastern New Mexico and, but we're looking at other opportunities. It's just a great area. I've worked it now 40 years to keep expanding, but to do it in a conservative way.

所以很難說，因為我們仍感覺處於早期階段，我們正在擴大我們的興趣領域，就像 Ameredev 到新墨西哥州東南部的東南角一樣，但我們正在尋找其他機會。這真是一個很棒的地方。我已經工作了 40 年，不斷擴張，但方式比較保守。

Yes, Neal, this is great. I was going to kind of comment a little bit as far as, we are going to do, we are going to be looking at whatever enhances our flow assurance out there for both Matador and our third party customers.

是的，尼爾，這太棒了。我本來想就我們將要做的事情發表一點評論，我們將研究任何可以增強我們對 Matador 和第三方客戶的流量保證的措施。

I think, those are the projects that we are going to be looking at, and Joe alluded to the Ameredev piece. We actually, along with that acquisition, we have 180 miles of pipeline that came with that. That's not actually part of San Mateo. So, we are always looking for those opportunities to actually make the footprint of basically where our acreage positions are at. Those are the expansion type of, projects we're looking for.

我認為，這些是我們將要研究的項目，喬也提到了阿梅雷德夫的作品。實際上，隨著那次收購，我們還擁有了隨之而來的 180 英里的管道。那實際上不是聖馬特奧的一部分。因此，我們一直在尋找那些機會來真正了解我們的種植面積。這些是我們正在尋找的擴充類型的項目。

Thank you one moment for the next question.

謝謝您，請回答下一個問題。

Thank you, Neil.

謝謝你，尼爾。

Zach Parham, JPMorgan.

摩根大通的 Zach Parham。

Yes, thanks for taking my question. Just wanted to ask on your DNC cost guide, you took it down to 880 per foot. That's down 3% year over year and your 2024 DNC cost came in quite a bit below the initial guide. Could you just give us a little colour on where your leading edge DNC costs are today and maybe talk about your ability to continue to drive those DNC costs lower going forward.

是的，感謝您回答我的問題。只是想問一下你的 DNC 成本指南，你把它降到了每英尺 880 元。這比去年同期下降了 3%，並且 2024 年 DNC 成本遠低於最初的指導水準。您能否稍微介紹一下目前你們領先的 DNC 成本是多少，並談談您今後繼續降低 DNC 成本的能力。

Yeah, hey, Zach, this is Chris Calvert. I think first off, thank you for the question. I think we would refer, excuse me, refer to slide D and the slide deck to kind of highlight the data that you're speaking to. I think it's safe to say when your full year '25 D&C per foot is below your full year 2024 D&C per foot, we're kind of at a leading edge.

是的，嘿，扎克，這是克里斯卡爾弗特。首先，感謝您的提問。我認為我們應該參考，對不起，參考幻燈片 D 和幻燈片組來突出顯示您正在談論的數據。我認為可以肯定地說，當您 25 年全年每英尺 D&C 低於 2024 年全年每英尺 D&C 時，我們就處於領先地位。

I think from an efficiency standpoint, we've made great strides in optimizing Simul frac, increasing the use of Trimul frac, reducing days on well. Partnerships with vendors, strong partnerships with vendors to make sure that we're in win-win contracts from both the drilling and the completion side. So I think depending on what you consider leading edge, I would say full year '25, 3% below full year '24.

我認為從效率的角度來看，我們在優化 Simul 壓裂、增加 Trimul 壓裂的使用以及減少井下作業天數方面取得了巨大進步。與供應商建立強有力的合作夥伴關係，以確保我們在鑽井和完井方面都能達成雙贏的合約。因此，我認為，取決於你對前沿的看法，我會說 25 年全年將比 24 年全年低 3%。

I think that is a leading edge, and I think that is done via the competence and the great job that the operations team here has done and so I think looking into 2025, if you noticed in the release, we increase our Trimul frac Qs from 16 wells to 40 and so I think when you look at the cost of savings associated with that.

我認為這是一個領先優勢，我認為這是透過這裡的營運團隊的能力和出色的工作實現的，因此我認為展望 2025 年，如果您注意到發布的內容，我們將 Trimul frac Qs 從 16 口井增加到 40 口，所以我認為當您考慮與此相關的節省成本時。

That all contributes to that leading edge D&C cost per foot going down and so I think it is something we're excited about. We should be proud of that. I think we are a leading-edge innovator in operational efficiencies. I think that flows through to one of the highest margin operators in the Delaware Basin. I think that's something that we're also extremely proud of on slide K and so I think we do appreciate you noticing that, and it's something that we work hard to continue to push forward on.

所有這些都促使每英尺前沿 D&C 成本下降，所以我認為這是讓我們感到興奮的事情。我們應該為此感到自豪。我認為我們是營運效率領域的領先創新者。我認為這會影響特拉華盆地利潤率最高的營運商之一。我認為這也是我們在幻燈片 K 上感到非常自豪的事情，所以我想我們真的很感謝你們注意到這一點，而且這也是我們努力繼續前進的事情。

Thank you. One moment for the next question.

謝謝。請稍候，回答下一個問題。

Scott Hanold, RBC Capital.

加拿大皇家銀行資本管理公司的 Scott Hanold。

Thanks, hey, Joe, you gave a, sort of good, overview of why you see some of the [ebbs] and flows in production and the focus on sort of year to year. Could you address the capital side too, and I think you know there. When you look at fourth quarter, it came in a little bit higher, and I think first quarter set up a little bit higher and so when you look at capital, like how do you think that's going to [ebb] and flow and what are some of the puts and takes, within the range of the roughly 14 to 17 that you all have for 2025?

謝謝你，嘿，喬，你給出了一個很好的概述，解釋了為什麼你會看到生產中的一些起伏和流動，以及對逐年變化的關注。您能否也談談資本方面的問題，我想您對此有所了解。當您看第四季度時，它會稍微高一點，而且我認為第一季度也會稍微高一點，因此當您看資本時，您認為它會如何[起伏]，以及在你們對 2025 年的預測中，在 14 到 17 的範圍內，會有哪些利弊？

Well, good question, and breaking that down, I would say this is when we take over a property as we did here. The first thing we look at where can we deploy some capital that would in the short term that would improve the operating expenses, for example, over the long term.

嗯，這個問題問得好，具體來說，我想說的是，這就是我們接管一處房產的時候，就像我們在這裡做的那樣。我們首先要考慮的是，我們可以在哪裡部署一些資本，以便在短期內改善營運費用，例如，從長期來看。

So the savings that we are having in reducing the operating expenses are going to pay off that capital in pretty short order and that's as I said, I don't want to take away from, the way people may use sequential comparisons. We just think that it's the year over year is a more important number and illustrating, it's hard to give you on the capital expenditures and say, well, this is really going to cut expenses ahead of time, we don't do that until this call, but we use a lot of that CapEx early CapEx to improve the operating expenses and Glen, you might give a little more detail on that so that saves us more.

因此，我們在降低營運費用方面節省的資金將在很短的時間內償還這些資本，正如我所說的，我不想剝奪人們使用連續比較的方式。我們只是認為，同比是一個更重要的數字，並且很難向您提供資本支出，並且說，好吧，這確實會提前削減開支，我們直到這次電話會議才這樣做，但是我們使用了很多早期的資本支出來改善運營費用，格倫，您可能會更詳細地說明這一點，這樣可以為我們節省更多。

Over time to do it up front, rather than to be in the property for 90 days and then undertake it.

隨著時間的推移，要提前做好這件事，而不是先在房產中待 90 天，然後再進行。

That's right, Scott, this is Glenn Stetson. I would just say, yeah, echo what Joe said is we got on the Ameredev properties and immediately got to work and accelerated the completions of those 11 wells, the Fire Thorn and Pimento wells, and along with that we did some facility upgrades to accommodate that new production and also to bring the facilities up to matador standards, and in doing so we were able to reduce our OpEx, as Joe pointed out to the tune of $2 million a month and so those savings are significant, and realize them even quicker than we had anticipated and one anecdote that plays into both the CapEx side and the operating side is that on those 11 wells we recycled over or about $1.2 million barrels of produced water for the fracturing operations on those 11 wells. So, I think, synergies across the board, that resulted in the a really nice quarter.

沒錯，史考特，這是格倫‧斯特森。我想說，是的，我重複喬說的話，我們進入了 Ameredev 油田，立即開始工作，加速了這 11 口井、Fire Thorn 井和 Pimento 井的完井，同時我們對一些設施進行了升級，以適應新的生產，並使設施達到鬥牛士標準，這樣一來，我們就能夠降低每月有一件對資本支出和營運都有影響的事是，在這 11 口井中，我們回收了超過或大約 120 萬美元桶的生產水，用於這 11 口井的壓裂作業。因此，我認為，全面的協同效應將帶來一個非常好的季度。

Well, and also, I want to shout out to Reese and his group for the very professional way. They operate those properties when they had them up for sale and then afterwards as we closed the deal as they were very professional, very cooperative, and, I would say they didn't, they maintain the high level of equipment and operations, and they didn't have a short-term approach. So, shout out to [Reese] and we look forward to having the chance to work with him again.

好吧，另外，我想對 Reese 和他的團隊表示感謝，感謝他們的專業精神。當他們將這些房產掛牌出售時，以及我們完成交易後，他們一直負責運營這些房產，他們非常專業，非常合作，而且，我想說的是，他們一直保持高水平的設備和運營，他們沒有採取短期策略。所以，向 [Reese] 致敬，我們期待有機會再次與他合作。

Thank you one moment for the next question.

謝謝您，請回答下一個問題。

Tim Rhee, KeyBank

KeyBank 的 Tim Rhee

Hey, good morning, folks and thanks for taking my question. I wanted to ask what drove the decision to kind of put a bigger spotlight on the Cotton Valley, assets are you, seeing kind of inbound inquiries on that? Because it doesn't seem to really be a need to sort of sell that now, with leverage at one time and coming down pretty steadily. So, should we think about that as you hanging a shingle like a for sale sign on that Cotton Valley asset, just any color would be helpful.

嘿，大家早安，感謝你們回答我的問題。我想問一下，是什麼促使您決定將更多的注意力放在 Cotton Valley 上，您是否看到了關於此事的來訪詢問？因為現在似乎沒有必要出售它，因為槓桿率已經達到某個水平並且正在穩步下降。因此，我們是否應該考慮一下，當您在 Cotton Valley 資產上懸掛待售標誌之類的木瓦時，任何顏色都會有幫助。

Yeah, well, thank you. The Cotton Valley assets, we've had them a long time. When we did the deal with Chesapeake years ago, we only sold them the Haynesville formation down there and we reserved all the uphold rights which these properties are. We had been drilling Cotton Valley wells to that point and so we're very experienced in that, but, when we went out to New Mexico, it was HBP by that deeper production, so there was no urgency, and shortly after that sale, gas prices declined and it was better to be in oil primarily than the gas and so it's all HPP, so there wasn't that hurry and you were developing.

好的，謝謝。我們擁有 Cotton Valley 的資產很久了。幾年前，當我們與切薩皮克公司做交易時，我們只向他們出售了那裡的海恩斯維爾地層，並保留了這些財產的所有維護權。到那時為止，我們一直在鑽探 Cotton Valley 油井，因此我們在這方面非常有經驗，但是，當我們前往新墨西哥州時，由於產量較深，所以沒有緊迫感，而且在那次銷售後不久，天然氣價格就下跌了，主要從事石油比從事天然氣要好，所以都是 HPP，所以沒有那麼著急，你正在開發。

At that time, people were drilling the vertical wells, but now there has been horizontal drilling in that Cotton Valley that has yielded wells that are in the order of $5 billion cubic feet of gas, which if you have stable prices, you can make money, but that's the second key is the ups and downs of gas prices has discouraged that while you've had A much better commodity prices with the oil out there in New Mexico.

那時，人們都在鑽垂直井，但現在，在 Cotton Valley 已經有了水平鑽井，產出的天然氣價值約為 50 億立方英尺，如果價格穩定，你就可以賺錢，但是第二個關鍵是，天然氣價格的起伏不定阻礙了這一進程，而新墨西哥州的石油商品價格卻要好得多。

So it's one of economics, but now that you have yes seems to be rallying. You have these data centers; you have the liquids that can be taken out. It's starting to be more attractive, but we're not in any way trying to sell them. That's not the reason. It just shows you we have another card to play at the appropriate time. And, we have also a very high net revenue interest. Because when we did the deal with Chesapeake, we reserved all the overrides that had been earned or acquired. So it's a prime, we see it as a prime property, but let me turn it over to Ned or Tom, how you all feel about it who plan our drilling program.

所以這是一個經濟學問題，但現在你已經知道答案了，這似乎正在好轉。你有這些資料中心；您有可以取出的液體。它開始變得更有吸引力，但我們不會以任何方式試圖出售它們。原因不是這個。這只是告訴你我們在適當的時候還有另一張牌可以打出。而且我們的淨收益也非常高。因為當我們與切薩皮克達成交易時，我們保留了所有已獲得或已獲得的優先權。所以它是優質的，我們將其視為優質的財產，但讓我把它交給 Ned 或 Tom，你們這些規劃我們鑽探計劃的人對此有何感想。

Sure, Tim, this is Tom Elson, our EVP for reservoir engineering. We feel very confident in the Cotton Valley and as Joe mentioned, we had drilled a well, over, about 15 years ago and I actually, I'd actually give Joe 66 BCS gas you are on that on that 1 mile well.

當然，提姆，這是我們的油藏工程執行副總裁湯姆·埃爾森。我們對 Cotton Valley 非常有信心，正如 Joe 所提到的，我們大約 15 年前就鑽了一口井，實際上，我願意給 Joe 66 BCS 天然氣，你就在那口 1 英里深的井裡。

I know today, our operations equation teams would go in there and be capable of drilling a 2 mile well or 2.5 or even further perhaps, and I know they would only increase the pro and concentrations and the frac fluids and the stage intensities and Improve the targeting and you know all the different things we've learned over the last, 15 years, I think would go into significantly higher gas URs than that. I think, we're very proud of it.

我今天知道，我們的作業方程式團隊會進入那裡，能夠鑽探 2 英里或 2.5 英里甚至更遠的井，而且我知道他們只會增加濃度、壓裂液和階段強度並改善目標，你知道我們在過去 15 年裡學到的所有不同的東西，我認為會進入比這更高的天然氣 UR。我想，我們對此感到非常自豪。

There's a lot of vertical production in that area, but there's other horizontal wells also, and I agree with Joe. It's another card to play if we wanted to at some point, several 100 ft of hay over there in the Cotton Valley and all the gas infrastructure from the Hainesville is already in place and so I think it's something that we like to have in our toolbox.

該地區有大量垂直生產，但也有其他水平井，我同意喬的觀點。如果我們願意的話，在某個時候這是另一張牌，在棉花谷那邊幾百英尺的干草和海恩斯維爾的所有天然氣基礎設施都已經到位，所以我認為這是我們喜歡在我們的工具箱裡擁有的東西。

Kevin MacCurdy, Pickering Energy Partners.

麥克柯迪（Kevin MacCurdy），皮克林能源合夥公司（Pickering Energy Partners）。

Hey, good morning, Joe. I wanted to ask your thoughts on uses of cash here. You forecast around a billion dollars free cash flow in 2025, and you have a lot of unlocked value in the midstream as your as your deck shows.

嘿，早上好，喬。我想問您對現金用途的看法。您預測 2025 年的自由現金流將達到 10 億美元左右，而且正如您的簡報所示，中游還有大量的未鎖定價值。

Your leverage is pretty low are there other considerations for use of cash here above the above the dividend?

你們的槓桿率很低，除了股息之外，還有其他使用現金的考量嗎？

That's a great question, Kevin, and that, There's a lot of ways to answer that. There's a lot of opportunities and when we get around the table like we are now and I talk about I kind of feel this and I think we do that.

這是一個很好的問題，凱文，而且有很多方法可以回答這個問題。有很多機會，當我們像現在這樣坐在一起討論時，我感受到了這一點，我想我們會做到這一點。

It's really exciting, because There are a lot of opportunities here and we want, we talk about profit growth and measured pace, so we don't want to try expand too fast or too slow. It's a Goldilocks type of arrangement and we look at the ideas that we have. We have 10 to 15 years of inventory.

這真的令人興奮，因為這裡有很多機會，我們談論的是利潤成長和有節制的步伐，所以我們不想擴張得太快或太慢。這是一種金髮女孩類型的安排，我們會考慮我們所擁有的想法。我們有10至15年的庫存。

We have a balance sheet. That even after doing a $2 billion deal, it's the strongest financial position we have been in. We have over a $3 billion line of credit with our banks, of which we have only committed to $2.5 billion and so there's plenty of dry powder there. We don't want to try, and that's why we say instead of trying to grow 1% a year, that's why we say proper growth at a measured pace. So, it depends on all the considerations and but.

我們有資產負債表。即使在完成了 20 億美元的交易之後，我們的財務狀況仍然是最強勁的。我們在銀行擁有超過 30 億美元的信用額度，其中我們只承諾了 25 億美元，因此還有充足的現金。我們不想嘗試，這就是為什麼我們說不要試圖每年增長 1%，而是要以有節制的速度實現適當增長。所以，這取決於所有的考慮因素，但是。

We have all these opportunities in New Mexico, they're growing with the drill bit and we're keeping pace with nine rigs running on the drill bit that earning a 50% rate of return. We have these opportunities on the midstream, which is a fee-based business instead of a commodity-based business. It gives a little more stability.

我們在新墨西哥州擁有所有這些機會，它們隨著鑽頭而增長，我們正與鑽頭同步運行的九個鑽機，獲得 50％ 的回報率。我們在中游有這些機會，這是基於費用的業務，而不是基於商品的業務。它提供了更多的穩定性。

To our future earnings outlook, we have Louisiana, and that we just don't want to get greedy and don't want to go too fast, but don't want to go too slow and so we would be in. The efficiency gains that we're getting are leading to higher returns, just drilling one vertical, these horseshoe wells are an example of the efficiency that we're doing. Lateralle has grown to where we're over we're now doing over 10,000 ft per well on. Completions, the EURs are better, this rock that we acquired from both advanced and Ameredev is leading to 10% better recoveries. So, I mean it's a multitude of opportunities and trying to manage it to.

對於我們未來的獲利前景，我們有路易斯安那州，我們只是不想貪婪，不想走得太快，但又不想走得太慢，所以我們會加入。我們獲得的效率提升帶來了更高的回報，僅鑽一個垂直井，這些馬蹄形井就是我們提高效率的一個例子。Lateralle 已經發展到我們可以完成每口井超過 10,000 英尺的規模。完井後，EUR 效果更佳，我們從 advanced 和 Ameredev 獲得的這種岩石的採收率提高了 10%。所以，我的意思是，這裡面有很多機會，我們要盡力管理它。

So it's kind of like, a football coach. He's got a really good running back and he's got a really good passing quarterback. So, does he call more plays for the running back or the passer or, a double reverse to the wide receiver? I don't know, but, we all discuss it and again, the fact that we are all shareholders and particularly among management that we're steadily buying should give you an idea that we're resolving that internally in a way that's best for the company and best for the shareholders that we're all stakeholders and really excited by the op opportunities, but we also know that you can suddenly have things like.

所以這有點像足球教練。他有一個非常出色的跑衛和一個非常出色的傳球四分衛。那麼，他是否更多地為跑衛或傳球手製定戰術，或者對外接手進行雙重反擊？我不知道，但是，我們都討論過這個問題，而且，我們都是股東，特別是我們正在穩步購買的管理層，這一事實應該讓你知道，我們正在以對公司和股東最有利的方式在內部解決這個問題，我們都是利益相關者，對運營機會感到非常興奮，但我們也知道你可能會突然遇到這樣的事情。

COVID or, Depression, gas prices have been 0 at Wahall where we've had to pay money to take our gas. So, you want to be careful on that. There's a lot of matters to take into consideration, but we think we have the staff has matured together. We've all grown up together.

由於 COVID 或大蕭條，Wahall 的汽油價格一直是 0，我們不得不花錢購買汽油。所以，你對此要小心。有很多事情需要考慮，但我們認為我們的員工已經一起成熟了。我們一起長大。

Our discussions are lively of what we want to do with this extra money, but we all agree, and it's a corny expression. I admit proper growth at a Measured pace, but it seems to fit us, that if we can keep up for 40 years. I've been in business. I started out with $270,000 and now we have $11 billion in assets, and that's just growing 20% a year for 40 years and we're more of a tortoise than a hare maybe, but we went public back in 2012 at $12 a share.

我們熱烈討論如何使用這些額外的錢，但我們都同意，這是一個老套的說法。我承認，在適度的步伐下，我們會實現適當的成長，但如果我們能堅持 40 年，那麼這似乎更適合我們。我一直在做生意。我最初只有 27 萬美元，現在我們的資產已達 110 億美元，40 年來每年的增長速度為 20%，也許我們更像烏龜而不是兔子，但我們在 2012 年以每股 12 美元的價格上市。

And today we're approaching $60. So it's growth over a very turbulent time and we're looking forward to win, it's a little less turbulent, but we're also ready because we've made, we want to be ready with lots of dry powder because we've made, more progress in difficult times when others are sidelined by the opportunities that come up.

今天我們已經接近60美元了。因此，這是我們在非常動蕩的時期內實現的增長，我們期待著取得勝利，雖然動盪程度沒有那麼嚴重，但我們也做好了準備，因為我們已經取得了進步，我們希望準備好大量的干火藥，因為當其他人被出現的機會所阻擋時，我們已經在困難時期取得了更多進展。

So this is a room full of people that or, our owners, and it's measured, on what is going to improve, the stock price and really grateful to those shareholders who have been in here since1983 when we got when we got started.

所以這房間裡擠滿了人，或者說我們的所有者，他們衡量的是股價將會如何改善，我們真的很感謝那些從 1983 年我們成立之初就在這裡的股東。

So and they keep coming up with good ideas and I look across there, Ned and his group of geologists, I mean, they come in with some good looking ideas and Tom's. Team of, he leads the teams in these various areas. They're always thinking of things and the land group, John and them, this brick by brick approach has generated a lot of opportunities and helped get us into areas that we didn't have and, so I have to tell you, we got a lot of work to do, but it's also work that we think will be rewarding, to the other shareholders and to us, and I like our chances, I guess, is what I want to say, and everybody's looking for capital efficiency.

所以他們不斷提出好主意，我看到，內德和他的地質學家團隊，我的意思是，他們提出了一些很好的想法，還有湯姆的。團隊，他領導這些不同領域的團隊。他們總是在思考各種事情，土地集團、約翰和他們，這種一點一滴的方法創造了很多機會，幫助我們進入了我們沒有涉足的領域，所以我必須告訴你，我們有很多工作要做，但我們認為這項工作也會為其他股東和我們帶來回報，我想說的是，我喜歡我們的機會，每個人都在尋求資本效率。

I don't want to be silly, but Mac generally brings donuts for our prep session prior to this call, and I can tell he's trying to be more capital efficient because there's not as many as there was. In the early days, so we are going to try get him, but the dividend, and let me just take a moment on the dividend, is that, we like this steadily increasing dividend over time, and you can see we started out with $0.10 and now we're at $1.25.

我不想犯傻，但麥克通常會在我們這次電話會議之前的準備階段帶甜甜圈，而且我可以看出他正試圖提高資本效率，因為現在甜甜圈的數量已經不像以前那麼多了。在早期，我們會嘗試得到他，但股息，讓我花一點時間談論股息，我們喜歡隨著時間的推移穩步增加股息，你可以看到我們開始時是 0.10 美元，現在是 1.25 美元。

We would have a stronger dividend growth if things were a little less turbulent and we do not see ourselves buying back stock. We think that favors the short-termers and not the people who've been in a while. But we like it.

如果情況不那麼動盪且我們不會回購股票，我們的股息成長將更強勁。我們認為，這對短期投資者有利，對長期投資者不利。但我們喜歡它。

We want to be known as a company that year after year increases its dividend and now. It has moved from $0.10 to $1.25 and we have many, probably more individual shareholders than most companies do, and the individuals like it and they come to our annual meeting and express that view, and we invite all of you to attend our annual meeting and hear what they have to say, and we'd like y'all coming to visit, and once you know everybody on the call, if y'all come see us, we'll have lunch or breakfast, and you'll get to meet.

我們希望成為一家年復一年增加股利的公司。它已經從 0.10 美元漲到了 1.25 美元，而且我們有很多個人股東，可能比大多數公司都多，這些個人股東喜歡它，所以他們來參加我們的年度會議並表達他們的觀點，我們邀請你們所有人參加我們的年度會議，聽聽他們要說些什麼，我們希望你們都來參觀，一旦你認識了電話會議中的每個人，如果你們都來參觀。

The staff will take all the questions that you've got. So, with that, Brian Herman, or Brian Willie, as two of our leaders, if y'all. The only thing else we should say, please jump in now.

工作人員將回答您的所有問題。所以，如果你們願意的話，Brian Herman 或 Brian Willie 就是我們的兩位領導者。我們唯一要說的是，請現在加入。

Joe, this is Brian. I think all very well said. I'll just, we're excited about 2025 and to be approaching a billion dollars in cash flow is is a great accomplishment. Joe mentioned at the beginning about growth and folks on growth, and that's true from a production standpoint and that's true from a free cash flow perspective and so we're excited to be able to do that and be in a position where we can return value to our shareholders.

喬，這是布萊恩。我認為一切都說得很好。我只是對 2025 年感到興奮，並且接近 10 億美元的現金流是一項偉大的成就。喬一開始就提到了成長和人們對成長的關注，從生產的角度來看這是正確的，從自由現金流的角度來看也是如此，因此我們很高興能夠做到這一點，並能夠為股東帶來價值。

Brian Urman, I think you said it well, I think, we're really. Excited about the results for 2024 and even more. Excited about the opportunities that are in front of us for 2025. So, I guess. Generally, really excited about what we have in front of us.

Brian Urman，我認為你說得很好，我認為，我們真的。對 2024 年及以後的結果感到更加興奮。我們對 2025 年面臨的機會感到興奮。所以，我猜。總的來說，我們對眼前的事物感到非常興奮。

Right. and Rob, is our Chief Accounting Officer and kind of a guy who wears many other hats around here, has done a real good job of finding research projects and managing the tax position to make contributions that don't show up in these kind of calls, but Rob has kept us on pace in the audit. I'm proud of the audit. Tell him how once again, we had no questions.

正確的。羅布 (Rob) 是我們的首席會計官，他在這裡身兼數職，在尋找研究項目和管理稅務方面做得非常出色，他做出了不會在這些電話中顯示的貢獻，但羅布讓我們的審計進度保持了同步。我為這次審計感到自豪。再次告訴他，我們沒有提出任何問題。

That's right, yeah, no, I think, for the last 10 years we've been audited by KPMG, really proud of the, my team and what we've been able to do to really provide a very high quality financial close and definitely feel audited by the KPMG team and are really, excited about looking forward to 2025 and as Brian said, all the opportunities there and continue to look for ways to chip away at the cash tax position any way we can.

是的，是的，不，我認為，在過去的 10 年裡，我們一直接受畢馬威的審計，我真的為我的團隊感到自豪，我們能夠提供非常高質量的財務結算，並且絕對感覺受到了畢馬威團隊的審計，並且真的很高興期待 2025 年，正如布萊恩所說的那樣，那裡的所有機會，並繼續尋找任何可以削弱現金的稅收狀況。

But follow the rules, always, right, but anyway, that's those are my closing remarks, but again, if you have questions have been answered, give a call to Mac. We'll get something set up and have a visit, but the land guys deserve a lot of credit. Those guys, all the land men and women are out there trying to make deals all the time and really proud of the way they build relationships and trying to make trades that please both sides. Back to you, Lisa.

但總是要遵守規則，對吧，但是無論如何，這就是我的結束語，但是再說一次，如果您有問題已經得到解答，請給 Mac 打電話。我們會做好一些準備並進行參觀，但土地人員值得很多讚揚。那些人，所有的土地男女都在那裡試圖一直做交易，並且對他們建立關係和試圖進行讓雙方都滿意的交易的方式感到非常自豪。回到你身邊，麗莎。

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your participation today. This concludes today's program you may all disconnect.

謝謝女士們、先生們，謝謝你們今天的參與。今天的節目到此結束，大家可以關機了。