國民油井華高 (NOV) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the NOV First Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded. I would now like to introduce your host for today's conference, Ms. Amie D'Ambrosio, Director of Investor Relations. Ma'am, please go ahead.

女士們、先生們，美好的一天，歡迎參加 2024 年 11 月第一季財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）謹此提醒，本次電話會議正在錄音。現在我想介紹一下今天會議的主持人，投資者關係總監 Amie D'Ambrosio 女士。女士，請繼續。

Welcome, everyone, to NOV's First Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. With me today are Clay Williams, our Chairman, President and CEO; and Jose Bayardo, our Senior Vice President and CFO.

歡迎大家參加 NOV 2024 年第一季財報電話會議。今天與我在一起的有我們的董事長、總裁兼執行長克萊威廉斯 (Clay Williams)；以及我們的高級副總裁兼財務長 Jose Bayardo。

Before we begin, I would like to remind you that some of today's comments are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. They involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially. No one should assume these forward-looking statements remain valid later in the quarter or later in the year. For a more detailed discussion of the major risk factors affecting our business, please refer to our latest forms 10-K and 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Our comments also include non-GAAP measures.

在開始之前，我想提醒您，今天的一些評論屬於聯邦證券法含義內的前瞻性陳述。它們涉及風險和不確定性，實際結果可能存在重大差異。任何人都不應認為這些前瞻性陳述在本季稍後或今年稍後仍然有效。有關影響我們業務的主要風險因素的更詳細討論，請參閱我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的最新表格 10-K 和 10-Q。我們的評論也包括非公認會計原則措施。

Reconciliations to the nearest corresponding GAAP measures are in our earnings release available on our website. On a U.S. GAAP basis, for the first quarter of 2024, NOV reported revenues of $2.16 billion and a net income of $119 million or $0.30 per fully diluted share. Our use of the term EBITDA throughout this morning's call corresponds with the term adjusted EBITDA as defined in our earnings release. Later in the call, we will host a question-and-answer session. Please limit yourself to one question and one follow-up to permit more participation.

我們網站上的收益發布中提供了與最接近的相應 GAAP 衡量標準的對帳。根據美國公認會計原則，2024 年第一季度，NOV 報告收入為 21.6 億美元，淨利潤為 1.19 億美元，即完全稀釋每股收益 0.30 美元。我們在今天早上的電話會議中使用的術語 EBITDA 與我們的收益發布中定義的調整後 EBITDA 術語相對應。稍後，我們將在電話會議中主持問答環節。請限制自己提出一個問題和一項後續行動，以便更多人參與。

Now let me turn the call over to Clay.

現在讓我把電話轉給克萊。

Thank you, Amie. For the first quarter of 2024, NOV generated revenue of $2.16 billion, an increase of 10% compared to the first quarter of 2023. The company generated fully diluted earnings of $0.30 per share for the first quarter, down $0.02 compared to the prior year first quarter. Pretax profit increased 14% year-over-year, but a higher effective tax rate and lower income from our (inaudible) joint venture in the first quarter led to lower earnings per share year-over-year. Adjusted EBITDA was $241 million or 11.2% of revenue, a $46 million increase from the first quarter of 2023, representing 24% leverage year-over-year.

謝謝你，艾米。 For the first quarter of 2024, NOV generated revenue of $2.16 billion, an increase of 10% compared to the first quarter of 2023. The company generated fully diluted earnings of $0.30 per share for the first quarter, down $0.02 compared to the prior year first四分之一.稅前利潤年增 14%，但第一季有效稅率較高，而我們（聽不清楚）合資企業的收入較低，導致每股盈餘較去年同期下降。調整後 EBITDA 為 2.41 億美元，佔營收的 11.2%，較 2023 年第一季增加 4,600 萬美元，槓桿比率為 24%。

NOV's first quarter EBITDA and EBITDA margin were its highest in 9 years and overall, it was a solid start to 2024. We began the year with several new business leaders across our organization and began operating under 2 new segments: Energy Products and Services and Energy Equipment. Revenue from Energy Products and Services grew 8% compared to the pro forma first quarter of 2023 despite lower global rig count year-over-year.

NOV 第一季EBITDA 和EBITDA 利潤率創9 年來最高水平，總體而言，這是2024 年的良好開端。營運：能源產品和服務以及能源設備。儘管全球鑽機數量比去年同期減少，但與預計 2023 年第一季相比，能源產品和服務收入增加了 8%。

The segment continued to realize good adoption of its portfolio of technologies and a rising demand for the tools and consumables that manufacturers, particularly in the international and offshore markets. Year-over-year top line growth was broad-based as all but one of its businesses posted increased sales with completion tools, drill pipe and rig instrumentation in particular, posting strong double-digit gains.

該部門繼續實現其技術組合的良好採用以及製造商對工具和消耗品的需求不斷增長，特別是在國際和離岸市場。營收年增率廣泛，除一項業務外，所有業務的銷售額均實現成長，尤其是完井工具、鑽桿和鑽機儀器，實現強勁的兩位數成長。

Our new Energy Equipment segment revenues grew even more, up 12% year-over-year on a pro forma basis. Rising offshore activity fueled demand for equipment tied to deepwater developments, FPSOs and drilling rig reactivations and recertifications, which enabled the segment to overcome lower sales of pressure pumping equipment to North America year-over-year. As part of our new structure, we are reporting a March 31, 2024 backlog for Energy Equipment segment of $3.96 billion, which is comprised of NOV's contracted longer-cycle manufacturing and project work. Backlog declined 5% through the quarter as bookings of $390 million represented a book-to-bill of 77%.

我們的新能源設備部門營收成長更快，預計將年增 12%。海上活動的增加刺激了對深水開發、浮動生產儲卸油裝置以及鑽機重新啟動和重新認證相關設備的需求，這使得該部門克服了北美壓力泵設備銷量同比下降的問題。作為我們新結構的一部分，我們報告的能源設備部門截至 2024 年 3 月 31 日的積壓訂單金額為 39.6 億美元，其中包括 NOV 的合約較長週期製造和專案工作。本季積壓訂單下降了 5%，預訂量為 3.9 億美元，訂單出貨率為 77%。

We, nevertheless, see strong demand and have started the second quarter off with some big wins. While we won a $250 million-plus order for energy equipment for offshore work in Latin America during the first quarter, it required technical clarification delayed signing of the contract until April. Capital equipment orders are typically lumpy, but we feel confident in the outlook and strength of the market. Solid and stable commodity prices and exploration successes in new basins provide a foundation for growing offshore activity, a foundation, which is expected to drive offshore FIDs over $100 billion per year for the next few years and a 50% plus uplift in FPSOs ordered in the next 5 years compared to the previous 5 in spite of Saudi Arabia trimming or postponing its maximum sustainable capacity ambitions in the offshore.

儘管如此，我們看到了強勁的需求，並在第二季開始時取得了一些重大勝利。雖然我們在第一季贏得了一份價值超過 2.5 億美元的拉丁美洲海上作業能源設備訂單，但由於需要技術澄清，合約的簽署推遲到了 4 月。資本設備訂單通常不穩定，但我們對市場的前景和實力充滿信心。堅實穩定的大宗商品價格以及新盆地的勘探成功為海上活動的增長奠定了基礎，預計未來幾年海上 FID 每年將超過 1000 億美元，FPSO 訂單量將增加 50% 以上。其海上最大永續產能目標，但與前5 年相比，未來5 年仍將實現此目標。

We are also optimistic about onshore international developments, particularly in Middle East, where dozens of rigs are being tendered and a couple of national oil companies are pursuing unconventional developments in earnest. Our optimism and confidence continued to grow. That's why last night, we announced a significant expansion of our return of capital program, including our plan to increase our base dividend by 50% and a $1 billion share repurchase authorization. Jose will go into more details of the program in a few minutes.

我們對陸上國際開發也持樂觀態度，特別是在中東，那裡有數十個鑽井平台正在招標，幾家國家石油公司正在認真尋求非常規開發。我們的樂觀情緒和信心持續增強。這就是為什麼昨晚，我們宣布大幅擴大我們的資本回報計劃，包括我們計劃將基本股息增加 50% 和授權 10 億美元的股票回購。何塞將在幾分鐘內詳細介紹該計劃。

Our investments over the past several years in new digital edge compute optimization fueled by artificial intelligence, mechanization and automation, software control systems and remote monitoring, equipment electrification, emissions reductions, drill cuttings processing, artificial lift and downhole drilling technologies are leading to new promising customer conversations and a growing number of users of these new products. Together with the recovery of oilfield activity in key offshore and international markets, new NOV products and businesses underpin our buoyant outlook for the next decade and our plan to substantially ramp our return of capital to our shareholders.

過去幾年，我們在人工智慧、機械化和自動化、軟體控制系統和遠端監控、設備電氣化、減排、鑽井處理、人工舉升和井下鑽井技術推動下的新型數位邊緣運算優化方面的投資正在帶來新的前景客戶對話以及這些新產品的用戶數量不斷增加。隨著主要海上和國際市場油田活動的復甦，新的 NOV 產品和業務支撐了我們未來十年的樂觀前景以及我們大幅提高股東資本回報的計劃。

After a challenging few years, we expect to continue to improve our profitability to drive EBITDA margins into the 14% to 15% range as we exit 2024 and to generate more cash as working capital moves past first quarter seasonality and normalizes through the remainder of the year. Continued cost reductions are an important part of our plan, too.

經過充滿挑戰的幾年後，我們預計將繼續提高盈利能力，在2024 年結束時將EBITDA 利潤率推至14% 至15% 的範圍，並隨著營運資本超過第一季度的季節性並在剩餘時間內正常化而產生更多現金年。持續降低成本也是我們計劃的重要組成部分。

And our new segment structure is facilitating additional efficiency improvements as we consolidate more manufacturing locations, centralized certain supply chain functions, engage engineering talent more collaboratively and benefit from greater marketing coordination across business units and segments. We expect the $75 million cost reduction initiative we announced last July to continue to roll out through the remainder of the year, having achieved about 30% so far and expecting it to accelerate during the second quarter.

隨著我們整合更多的製造地點、集中某些供應鏈功能、更協作地吸引工程人才，並從跨業務部門和部門之間更好的營銷協調中受益，我們的新部門結構正在促進額外的效率提高。我們預計去年 7 月宣布的 7,500 萬美元成本削減計畫將在今年剩餘時間內繼續實施，迄今已實現約 30%，並預計在第二季將加速。

Strategically, through the last decade, NOV has reinvented itself with new products and technologies that I mentioned earlier, recognizing that organic innovation occasionally supplemented by targeted acquisition here or there, was the most capital-efficient way to reposition our franchise to meet the evolving needs of the oilfield. The 2 acquisitions we closed during the first quarter are good examples of this approach. Notably, these acquisitions were made at multiples well below the multiple of our second quarter sale of our poles and products business and below multiples where NOV trades, in effect, reallocating capital across our portfolio to improve profitability and returns.

從策略上講，在過去的十年中，NOV 透過我之前提到的新產品和技術進行了自我改造，認識到有機創新偶爾輔以有針對性的收購，是重新定位我們的特許經營權以滿足不斷變化的需求的最資本效率最高的方式油田的。我們在第一季完成的兩項收購就是這種方法的一個很好例子。值得注意的是，這些收購的倍數遠低於我們第二季電線桿和產品業務銷售額的倍數，也低於NOV 交易的倍數，實際上，在我們的投資組合中重新分配資本，以提高盈利能力和回報。

During the first quarter, we acquired (inaudible), which brings us the technology underlying our iNOVaTHERM cuttings processing unit. This technology works in concert with dryers and centrifuge technologies we developed internally to process drill cuttings for safe environmental disposal. We've deployed edge compute and condition-based monitoring to optimize this on-site process, which dramatically lowers greenhouse gas emissions for offshore operators who are expressing high demand.

在第一季度，我們收購了（聽不清楚），這為我們帶來了 iNOVaTHERM 鑽屑加工單元的基礎技術。該技術與我們內部開發的乾燥機和離心機技術配合使用，用於處理鑽屑以實現安全的環境處置。我們部署了邊緣運算和基於狀態的監控來優化這個現場流程，從而大大降低了需求量大的海上營運商的溫室氣體排放量。

We expect our fleet of units on rent to grow from 4 in the first quarter to 7 by the end of the second quarter. Our acquisition of the extract electric submersible pump business brings an opportunity to deploy our organically developed Max Edge computing platform to artificial lift and production optimization. As operators extend their well profiles from 2-mile laterals to 3-mile laterals, initial gross volumes produced through each individual wellhead will increase significantly, too, a market trend that we expect to provide additional tailwinds to ESP demand.

我們預計我們的出租單位數量將從第一季的 4 個增加到第二季末的 7 個。我們對採油電潛泵業務的收購帶來了將我們有機開發的 Max Edge 運算平台部署到人工舉升和生產優化的機會。隨著營運商將其井剖面從 2 英里橫向延伸至 3 英里橫向，通過每個井口的初始總產量也將顯著增加，我們預計這一市場趨勢將為 ESP 需求提供額外的推動力。

It also complements our existing artificial lift, choke, separation, pumping and processing products, and we believe we can leverage NOV's scale and footprint to grow this business. We're delighted that these 2 strong businesses are now part of the NOV family and should benefit from complementary technologies developed organically within NOV. The Max Edge platform also provides the foundation for other new products as well, like Max Completions, which has been adopted by dozens of companies and thousands of individual users. In fact, revenues from the Max family of products increased 35% sequentially and 2.5 fold from the first quarter of last year.

它還補充了我們現有的人工舉升、節流、分離、泵送和加工產品，我們相信我們可以利用 NOV 的規模和足跡來發展這項業務。我們很高興這兩家強大的企業現在成為 NOV 家族的一部分，並且應該受益於 NOV 內部有機開發的互補技術。 Max Edge 平台也為其他新產品提供了基礎，例如 Max Completions，它已被數十家公司和數千名個人用戶採用。事實上，Max 系列產品的營收比上一季成長了 35%，比去年第一季成長了 2.5 倍。

Other new technology developments range from new products like our PosiTrack Torsional Vibration Mitigation tool to our ATOM RTX rig robotic system and our downhole broadband solutions to our investments in start-ups, like Keystone Tower Systems, where we aim to revolutionize onshore wind tower construction. Innovation takes time and, frankly, start-up costs, which vary across these initiatives. Nevertheless, our success in innovation are what will continue to differentiate our business and drive improved profitability over the next several years.

其他新技術開發包括 PosiTrack 扭轉減振工具等新產品、ATOM RTX 鑽機機器人系統和井下寬頻解決方案，以及對 Keystone Tower Systems 等新創企業的投資，我們的目標是徹底改變陸上風塔建設。創新需要時間，坦白說，還需要啟動成本，而這些成本因措施而異。儘管如此，我們在創新方面的成功將繼續使我們的業務脫穎而出，並在未來幾年推動盈利能力的提高。

We expect improving margins in our backlog to contribute to higher profitability as well, particularly in 2025 and beyond as lower-margin frame agreements signed during the pandemic lows expire. For instance, one of our energy equipment business units foresees a roughly 800 basis point improvement in margins from 2024 to 2025 due to its steady high grading of contracts with improved inflation risk protection. We have been systematically working towards higher-margin, lower-risk contracts, walking away from opportunities where we see insufficient margins or too much risk.

我們預計，積壓訂單利潤率的提高也將有助於提高獲利能力，特別是在 2025 年及以後，因為在疫情低點期間簽署的較低利潤率框架協議將到期。例如，我們的一個能源設備業務部門預計，由於其穩定的高評級合約以及改善的通膨風險保護，從 2024 年到 2025 年，利潤率將提高約 800 個基點。我們一直在有系統地努力爭取更高利潤、更低風險的合同，放棄那些我們認為利潤不足或風險太大的機會。

The key to success for NOV is to demonstrate value, as it always has been. Our new technologies do that. And our customers' programs and developments are evolving to benefit even more from this value. That's what's changing. International and offshore operators are going back to work, and they want operational efficiencies obtainable with new NOV technologies. They want to reduce their environmental impact. They want to drive better safety. We can help. Consolidation in North America is being led by operators who value technology and are focused on continuous improvement. Again, we can help.

NOV 成功的關鍵是展示價值，一如既往。我們的新技術可以做到這一點。我們客戶的計劃和開發正在不斷發展，以便從這一價值中獲得更多好處。這就是正在發生的變化。國際和海上營運商正在重返工作崗位，他們希望透過新的 NOV 技術提高營運效率。他們希望減少對環境的影響。他們希望提高安全性。我們可以提供協助。北美的整合是由重視技術並專注於持續改善的營運商領導的。同樣，我們可以提供協助。

Competitive pricing dynamics and inflation continue to be a headwind for margin improvement. But as our technologies roll out day by day, customer by customer, our value proposition becomes clearer, and that's a great place to reset pricing discussions. Before I hand it over to Jose, I want to say thank you to all our employees listening today. NOV continues to transform this industry in so many ways, and that is directly due to your ingenuity and your hard work. We appreciate you. Jose?

有競爭力的定價動態和通貨膨脹仍然是利潤率改善的阻力。但隨著我們的技術日復一日、逐個客戶推出，我們的價值主張變得更加清晰，這是重新設定定價討論的好地方。在將其交給何塞之前，我想對今天聆聽的所有員工表示感謝。 NOV 繼續以多種方式改變這個行業，這直接歸功於你們的聰明才智和辛勤工作。我們很感激你。何塞？

Thank you, Clay. NOV's EBITDA increased 24% year-over-year to $241 million, with margins improving 131 basis points to 11.2% of sales. Cash flow used by operations was $78 million during the first quarter, driven primarily by seasonal build in working capital and annual payments made in the first quarter. Working capital increased $395 million sequentially due primarily to the decrease in accrued liabilities associated with the annual payments made during the first quarter and the 2 acquisitions we completed, which accounted for $106 million of the $127 million increase in inventory.

謝謝你，克萊。 NOV 的 EBITDA 年成長 24%，達到 2.41 億美元，利潤率提高 131 個基點，佔銷售額的 11.2%。第一季營運使用的現金流量為 7,800 萬美元，主要受到第一季營運資金季節性成長和年度付款的推動。營運資金環比增加了 3.95 億美元，主要是由於與第一季年度付款相關的應計負債減少以及我們完成的兩次收購，這佔庫存增加 1.27 億美元中的 1.06 億美元。

While operations consumed cash, the use was well below what we consumed in the first quarters of the last 2 years, which reflects the turn in our business that gives us confidence in our ability to generate a substantial amount of cash flow over the next several years. We believe NOV is well positioned to deliver strong performance as the cycle matures from a nascent recovery and evolves into an environment where later cycle equipment and technology businesses will outperform.

雖然營運消耗了現金，但使用量遠低於過去兩年第一季的消耗量，這反映了我們業務的轉變，使我們對未來幾年產生大量現金流的能力充滿信心。我們相信，隨著週期從初期復甦中走向成熟，並演變成後期週期設備和技術業務將表現出色的環境，NOV 處於有利位置，能夠提供強勁的業績。

As Clay noted, an improved market environment, differentiated technologies that we've developed over the last several years and our focus on operational efficiencies will continue to push margins and cash flow throughout 2024 and beyond. Our base forecast contemplates a sustainable multiyear period with modestly improving industry activity led by the international and offshore markets.

正如 Clay 指出的那樣，改善的市場環境、我們過去幾年開發的差異化技術以及我們對營運效率的關注將在 2024 年及以後繼續推動利潤和現金流。我們的基本預測考慮了一個可持續的多年期，在國際和離岸市場的帶動下，行業活動略有改善。

We expect soft activity in the U.S. through 2024, but anticipate a recovery in 2025 aided by increasing gas exports. However, we expect improvements in oil-directed activity in the U.S. to be modest with international and offshore activity, providing most of the incremental supplies required to fuel the growth of the world's economies. As a result, we expect a little less volatility in NOC and IOC drilling activity over the next several years versus what we have seen from North American independents over the past decade.

我們預計 2024 年美國經濟活動將疲軟，但預計在天然氣出口增加的幫助下，2025 年將出現復甦。然而，我們預計美國石油主導的活動將隨著國際和離岸活動的適度改善而提供，從而提供推動世界經濟成長所需的大部分增量供應。因此，我們預計未來幾年 NOC 和 IOC 鑽探活動的波動性將比過去十年北美獨立鑽探活動的波動性小。

Against this backdrop, we anticipate generating high levels of free cash flow on an annual basis for each of the next several years. I want to stress the word annual when I talk about free cash flow because of the seasonality we experienced during each year and the fact that we view our capital allocation activities on an annual multiyear basis. Our priorities for capital allocation remain consistent: one, defend the balance sheet; two, maintain our asset base; three, invest in organic growth opportunities that drive superior risk-adjusted returns; four, pursue M&A that accelerate strategic growth initiatives at attractive returns; and five, return capital to our shareholders.

在此背景下，我們預計未來幾年每年都會產生高水準的自由現金流。當我談論自由現金流時，我想強調年度這個詞，因為我們每年都會經歷季節性，並且我們以每年多年為基礎來看待我們的資本配置活動。我們的資本配置重點始終如一：一是捍衛資產負債表；二、維護我們的資產基礎；第三，投資有機成長機會，以帶來卓越的風險調整報酬；第四，進行併購，以可觀的回報加速策略成長計畫；五是向股東返還資本。

Our balance sheet is currently in solid shape, with gross debt to EBITDA below our target level of 2:1. We intend to continue to use a portion of our free cash flow to return our net debt-to-EBITDA ratio below 1x. We have appropriately invested in our assets and expect a base level of investment to maintain and modernize our existing asset base over time of between $200 million and $250 million per year. Incremental to this base level of spend are attractive organic investment opportunities primarily related to the commercialization of many of the technologies we deployed over the last several years, which could range from $50 million to $150 million per year. All of this is consistent with our expected $330 million capital expenditure plan for 2024.

我們的資產負債表目前狀況良好，總負債與 EBITDA 比率低於我們 2:1 的目標水準。我們打算繼續使用部分自由現金流，將淨債務與 EBITDA 比率降至 1 倍以下。我們對我們的資產進行了適當的投資，並預計在一段時間內每年的基本投資水準將達到 2 億至 2.5 億美元，以維持和現代化我們現有的資產基礎。在此基本支出水準的基礎上增加的是有吸引力的有機投資機會，主要與我們過去幾年部署的許多技術的商業化有關，每年可能在 5000 萬美元到 1.5 億美元之間。所有這些都與我們預計的 2024 年 3.3 億美元資本支出計畫一致。

We will continue to look for compellingly valued strategic acquisitions that can accelerate our growth initiatives. We anticipate we will complete occasional small bolt-on transactions similar to what we've done over the last several years. While the likelihood of larger acquisitions remains low, we intend to maintain the flexibility to pursue such a transaction. With a healthy balance sheet, well-maintained asset base, the expectation of smaller rifle shot acquisitions and a high level of confidence in our outlook, where NOV's capital-light business model will generate substantial amounts of free cash flow, we're ready to increase the return of capital to our shareholders.

我們將繼續尋找極具價值的策略性收購，以加速我們的成長計畫。我們預計我們將偶爾完成類似於過去幾年所做的小型補充交易。儘管進行大規模收購的可能性仍然很低，但我們打算保持進行此類交易的靈活性。憑藉健康的資產負債表、維護良好的資產基礎、對規模較小的步槍收購的預期以及對我們前景的高度信心，NOV 的輕資本業務模式將產生大量自由現金流，我們已準備好增加股東的資本回報。

Last night, we announced a plan to return at least 50% of our excess free cash flow, defined as cash flow from operations, less capital expenditures and other investments to our shareholders going forward. To balance the interest of all NOV stakeholders, our framework utilizes a steady base dividend, opportunistic stock buybacks and a supplemental dividend to true up returns to our shareholders on an annual basis. Specifically, we intend to return this capital through a combination of the following: one, we expect to increase our quarterly dividend from $0.05 to $0.075 per share, a 50% increase beginning in the second quarter of 2024, resulting in an annual dividend payment of roughly $118 million going forward.

昨晚，我們宣布了一項計劃，將至少 50% 的超額自由現金流（定義為營運現金流減去資本支出和其他投資）返還給股東。為了平衡所有 NOV 利害關係人的利益，我們的框架利用穩定的基本股息、機會性股票回購和補充股息來每年為股東提供回報。具體來說，我們打算透過以下組合返還這筆資本：第一，我們預計將季度股息從每股 0.05 美元增加到 0.075 美元，從 2024 年第二季度開始增加 50%，從而實現年度股息支付未來約1.18億美元。

We believe base dividends provide an immediate direct benefit to all shareholders. Two, we plan to opportunistically repurchase shares under our new $1 billion, 36-month share repurchase authorization. With our share price trading below what we consider a fair value, we believe using some of our excess free cash flow to repurchase our shares will drive long-term value. Three, at the end of each year, we plan to utilize the supplemental dividend that would be payable in May, starting in 2025, to coincide with our Annual Shareholders Meeting to true up our total annual return of capital to at least 50% of our excess free cash flow generated during the preceding calendar year.

我們相信基本股利可以為所有股東帶來直接的直接利益。第二，我們計劃根據新的 10 億美元、36 個月的股票回購授權，趁機回購股票。由於我們的股價交易低於我們認為的公允價值，我們相信利用部分多餘的自由現金流回購我們的股票將推動長期價值。第三，我們計劃在每年年底利用將於 2025 年開始的 5 月份支付的補充股息，以配合我們的年度股東大會，將我們的年度總資本回報率至少提高到我們的 50%。產生的超額自由現金流。

We believe this approach serves and balances the interest of all of our shareholders. We will not compromise the health of our balance sheet or our ability to invest in the business. Having experienced several routine industry cycles and one recent and very severe pandemic-induced cycle, we understand our business can change in a hurry. However, our capital return framework reflects our confidence in NOV's outlook and our commitment to delivering superior returns to our shareholders. Finally, acknowledging that none of us can control or accurately predict the future, I want to try to frame what we think is possible over the next 4 years associated with our base industry outlook.

我們相信這種方法服務並平衡我們所有股東的利益。我們不會損害資產負債表的健康或投資業務的能力。在經歷了幾個常規行業週期和最近一次非常嚴重的大流行引發的周期後，我們知道我們的業務可能會迅速改變。然而，我們的資本回報框架反映了我們對 NOV 前景的信心以及我們為股東提供卓越回報的承諾。最後，我承認我們沒有人能夠控製或準確預測未來，我想嘗試根據我們的基礎工業前景來建立我們認為未來 4 年可能發生的情況。

Assuming continued operational and financial execution, what we believe is a reasonable EBITDA growth profile and sticking to the minimum level of returns at 50% excess free cash flow, we estimate the aggregate capital to return to shareholders through 2027 could be in the range of $1.5 billion. Under this scenario, approximately 30% or $470 million of shareholder return would be provided through our base dividend and the remaining $1.03 billion would be split between share buybacks and supplemental dividends.

假設持續營運和財務執行，我們認為 EBITDA 成長狀況合理，並堅持超額自由現金流 50% 的最低迴報水平，我們估計到 2027 年返還給股東的總資本可能在 1.5 美元左右十億。在這種情況下，大約 30% 或 4.7 億美元的股東回報將透過我們的基本股息提供，其餘 10.3 億美元將用於股票回購和補充股息。

I'll now move on to segment results. Our new Energy Products and Services segment generated revenue of $1.017 billion in the first quarter, an 8% increase compared to the first quarter of 2023. EBITDA increased $20 million to $174 million or 17.1% of sales, representing flow-through of 26% compared to the first quarter of 2023. Revenues for the segment are comprised of service and rentals, sales of consumable products and sales from generally shorter-lived or consumable capital assets such as drill pipe, composite products, conductor pipe and solids control equipment that tend to see demand rise and fall more or less with activity.

我現在將繼續對結果進行細分。我們的新能源產品和服務部門第一季的營收為10.17 億美元，比2023 年第一季成長8%。同期的26%。 ，這些資產往往會看到需求隨著活動的變化而或多或少地上升和下降。

Sales mix for the segment during the first quarter was as follows: Service and rental, 49%; product sales, 20%; and capital equipment sales, 31%. As noted, the largest share of our Energy Products & Services segment's revenues come from service and rentals, including rentals of our technologically advanced downhole tools and drill bits, coatings and inspection services, solids control services and drilling data acquisition, analytics and optimization services.

第一季該部門的銷售組合如下：服務和租賃，49%；產品銷售額20%；和資本設備銷售，31%。如上所述，我們能源產品和服務部門收入的最大份額來自服務和租賃，包括技術先進的井下工具和鑽頭的租賃、塗層和檢查服務、固控服務以及鑽井資料收集、分析和優化服務。

With the exception of coating and inspection services, which tend to somewhat move with demand for drill pipe and other tubular goods, the remainder of our service and rental revenues tend to move in line with industry activity plus or minus, usually plus, changes in market share. First quarter revenue for the segment service and repair revenues increased in the low to mid-single digits sequentially and year-over-year with growing demand from offshore and international markets, particularly the Middle East, more than offsetting lower activity in North America.

除了塗層和檢查服務往往會隨著鑽桿和其他管材的需求而變化外，我們的其餘服務和租賃收入往往會隨著行業活動的增減（通常加上市場的變化）而變化分享。由於離岸和國際市場（尤其是中東）的需求不斷增長，該部門服務和維修收入第一季的收入連續和同比增長在低至中個位數，這足以抵消北美活動的下降。

Product sales of the segment's second category revenues and are derived from sales of drill bits, completion tools, composite sleeves and liners, artificial lift products, shaker screens and downhole tools, among others. Note that several of these products, such as drill bit and downhole tools are also rental items, which I will cover in a moment. Product sales tend to be less volatile, less seasonal and track activity a little more closely than revenue from capital equipment, although sales of products can also lag activity increases as our customers frequently stock inventories of these products.

該部門第二類收入的產品銷售來自鑽頭、完井工具、複合套管和襯管、人工舉升產品、振動篩和井下工具等的銷售。請注意，其中一些產品（例如鑽頭和井下工具）也是租賃物品，我將在稍後介紹。產品銷售往往波動性較小，季節性較小，並且比固定設備收入更緊密地追蹤活動，儘管產品銷售也可能滯後於活動成長，因為我們的客戶經常庫存這些產品。

While individual sales are typically small and frequent, each operation can have occasional individually large shipments that may be requested by certain large NOCs who sometimes take bulk shipments one or 2 times per year. The segment has steadily increased product sales every quarter over the last year with the first quarter of 2024 up 8% sequentially and 19% year-over-year, and we expect product sales to increase in the mid- to upper single digits again in the second quarter.

雖然個別銷售通常規模較小且頻繁，但每個業務可能偶爾會有個別大型發貨，某些大型國家石油公司可能會要求這些發貨，這些國家有時每年會進行一到兩次批量發貨。與去年相比，該細分市場每季的產品銷售額都在穩步增長，2024 年第一季環比增長8%，同比增長19%，我們預計2024 年產品銷售額將再次實現中位數或上位數成長。

Looking at specific product lines, drill bits are capitalizing on increasing activity in the Middle East and offshore markets. Our completion tools business is also realizing solid levels of demand in the Middle East, more than offsetting softness in North America. Sales of our Tuboscope Thru-Kote sleeves, Zap-Lok connections and Tector thread protectors have remained solid, and we expect to see a significant increase in the second quarter from shipments to customers in the Middle East, Western Africa and Latin America.

從具體的產品線來看，鑽頭正在利用中東和海上市場日益增長的活動。我們的完井工具業務也實現了中東的穩定需求水平，足以抵消北美的疲軟需求。我們的 Tubscope Thru-Kote 套管、Zap-Lok 連接件和 Tector 螺紋保護器的銷售保持穩定，我們預計第二季度向中東、西非和拉丁美洲客戶的發貨量將大幅增長。

Sales of our downhole tools decreased 20% sequentially after large shipments to Asia and Europe in the fourth quarter did not repeat. Finally, sales of the segment's capital equipment offerings, which include drill pipe, conductor pipe, fiberglass products, managed pressure drilling equipment, shale shakers and other equipment tend to be seasonal and volatile, often lagging activity a bit. In the first quarter of 2024, revenues from capital equipment in our Energy Products and Services segment increased 8% year-over-year, but declined 23% sequentially due to the seasonal effect of customers making a big push to receive their equipment at year-end.

由於第四季向亞洲和歐洲的大量出貨沒有重複，我們的井下工具銷售額較上季下降了 20%。最後，該部門的固定設備產品（包括鑽桿、導管、玻璃纖維產品、控壓鑽井設備、振動篩和其他設備）的銷售往往具有季節性和波動性，通常會稍微落後於活動。 2024 年第一季度，我們的能源產品和服務部門的固定設備收入年增 8%，但由於客戶在去年大力推動接收設備的季節性影響，環比下降 23%。

Our drill pipe business unit experienced a greater-than-average seasonal decline, given outsized fourth quarter shipments to international markets, partially offset by increased U.S. land deliveries. New orders, however, had a more favorable international and offshore waiting and included (inaudible) destined for offshore Brazil. Capital equipment sales for our solid controls offerings were down in the mid-20% range sequentially due to the ordinary increase in year-end shipments. Revenues increased in the upper teens percent range year-over-year on growing adoption of our Alpha Shaker and sales of other innovative drilling solutions, such as our TUNDRA MAX mud chilling systems.

由於第四季向國際市場的出貨量過大，我們的鑽桿業務部門經歷了高於平均水平的季節性下降，但部分被美國陸地交付量的增加所抵消。然而，新訂單的國際和離岸等待情況更為有利，包括（聽不清楚）發送到巴西離岸的訂單。由於年末出貨量的正常成長，我們的固體控制產品的資本設備銷售額連續下降了 20% 左右。由於越來越多地採用我們的 Alpha Shaker 以及其他創新鑽井解決方案（例如我們的 TUNDRA MAX 泥漿冷卻系統）的銷售，收入同比增長了百分之十幾。

Our 2 most seasonally volatile capital equipment offerings were our conductor pipe and our managed pressure drilling equipment. After a strong fourth quarter for the 2 product lines, both realized substantial sequential revenue drops and yet both also have very strong outlooks resulting from the increase in offshore activity. Conductor pipe casing orders achieved a book-to-bill of over 200% with solid demand coming from projects in the North Sea, West Africa, Gulf of Mexico and South America, which will allow for a much improved second quarter.

我們的兩種季節性波動最大的資本設備產品是我們的導管和我們的控壓鑽井設備。兩條產品線在第四季度表現強勁後，均實現了收入連續大幅下降，但由於離岸活動的增加，兩者的前景都非常強勁。導管套管訂單完成率超過 200%，北海、西非、墨西哥灣和南美洲專案的需求強勁，這將使第二季的業績大幅改善。

We're expecting revenues from both conductor pipe and MPD to more than double from the first quarter to the second quarter of 2024. Our composite product offerings tend to be our least volatile capital equipment line in the segment due in part to the diverse set of end markets served, which include midstream oil and gas, fuel handling, chemical, industrial and marine. Demand for composite products is still seasonal and sales declined in the low single-digit range sequentially, but are up mid-single digits year-over-year.

我們預計從2024 年第一季到第二季度，導管和MPD 的營收將成長一倍以上。組合服務的終端市場包括中游石油和天然氣、燃料處理、化學、工業和船舶。複合材料產品的需求仍然是季節性的，銷售額連續下降在低個位數範圍內，但比去年同期成長了中個位數。

Outlook for all end markets remain solid with particularly robust demand for oil and gas products in the Middle East and a recent pickup for orders for flexible pipe and composite tanks in the Permian. For the second quarter, we expect revenues for our Energy Products and Services segment to improve between 1% and 5% from the second quarter of 2023 with EBITDA in the range of $180 million to $190 million. Our Energy Equipment segment, which is comprised of our longer-cycle capital equipment-oriented businesses, generated revenues of $1.178 billion in the first quarter, a 12% increase compared to the first quarter of 2023. EBITDA was $119 million or 10.1% of sales, up 27% compared to the first quarter of 2023.

所有終端市場的前景依然穩固，中東地區對石油和天然氣產品的需求尤其強勁，而且最近二疊紀地區軟管和複合儲罐的訂單有所增加。對於第二季度，我們預計能源產品和服務部門的營收將比 2023 年第二季度成長 1% 至 5%，EBITDA 在 1.8 億美元至 1.9 億美元之間。我們的能源設備部門由週期較長的資本設備導向業務組成，第一季營收為 11.78 億美元，比 2023 年第一季成長 12%。較2023 年第一季成長27%。

Clay covered our bookings for the quarter, but I want to emphasize that capital equipment business is inherently more volatile than other businesses. In this case, despite orders that slipped from the first to second quarter, we foresee a generally bright outlook and now expect an outsized order book in the second quarter. As a pure capital equipment business, our operations have 2 revenue streams: capital equipment sales and aftermarket sales and services.

克萊涵蓋了我們本季的預訂，但我想強調的是，資本設備業務本質上比其他業務更具波動性。在這種情況下，儘管訂單從第一季下滑到第二季度，但我們預計前景整體光明，現在預計第二季的訂單量將大幅增加。作為純粹的資本設備業務，我們的業務有兩個收入來源：資本設備銷售以及售後市場銷售和服務。

During the first quarter, equipment sales which includes both revenue added backlog as well as quicker turning equipment sales that do not meet our criteria to qualify as backlog, accounted for 52% of the segment's revenues. Aftermarket sales and service accounted for the remaining 48%. Similar to what we experienced in our Energy Products and Services segment, sales and orders for capital equipment tend to be more volatile and are much more affected by seasonality than aftermarket sales. The segment's capital equipment sales were up 7% year-over-year, but had a seasonal decline from the fourth quarter of 16% due to the typical year-end push by customers to take deliveries.

第一季度，設備銷售（包括增加收入的積壓訂單以及不符合我們積壓訂單標準的快速週轉設備銷售）佔該部門收入的 52%。售後市場銷售和服務佔剩餘的48%。與我們在能源產品和服務領域的經驗類似，資本設備的銷售和訂單往往波動較大，並且比售後市場銷售更容易受到季節性影響。該部門的固定設備銷售額年增 7%，但由於客戶通常在年底推動提貨，較第四季出現 16% 的季節性下降。

Aftermarket revenues tend to have a little less seasonality and are much less volatile. Aftermarket revenue improved 18% since the first quarter of 2023 and was off approximately 1% from the fourth quarter. The vast majority of our aftermarket revenue comes from our drilling equipment and intervention and stimulation businesses. Our drilling equipment business generates 3/4 of its revenues from aftermarket sales and services. And in the first quarter, its aftermarket revenues improved 27% year-over-year as the business continued to improve throughput and capitalize on a very healthy level of reactivation and recertification projects and spare part orders. High levels of activity around the world are increasing the number of NOV equipped rigs turning to the right, requiring more demand for NOV's parts and services.

售後市場收入的季節性往往較小，波動性也較小。自 2023 年第一季以來，售後市場收入成長了 18%，較第四季下降了約 1%。我們的售後市場收入絕大多數來自我們的鑽井設備以及介入和增產業務。我們的鑽井設備業務 3/4 的收入來自售後銷售和服務。第一季度，隨著業務持續提高吞吐量並利用非常健康的重新啟動和重新認證項目以及備件訂單水平，其售後市場收入同比增長 27%。世界各地的高強度活動正在增加配備 NOV 的向右轉向的鑽機數量，從而對 NOV 的零件和服務提出更多需求。

Additionally, as we dig deeper into the stack for reactivations and the average age of the operating fleet increases, reactivations, recertifications and upgrades become more complex. During the first quarter of 2024, we saw the total value of projects in execution, having a value of greater than $2 million, continue its steady rise, now up 175% from the first quarter of 2023 and reaching an average size of $20 million per project, up from a $9 million average in the first quarter of 2023.

此外，隨著我們深入研究重新激活堆疊以及營運機隊的平均年齡增加，重新啟動、重新認證和升級變得更加複雜。 2024 年第一季度，我們看到價值超過 200 萬美元的正在執行項目的總價值繼續穩步增長，目前較 2023 年第一季增長 175%，平均規模達到每個項目 2000 萬美元。高於2023 年第一季的90​​0 萬美元。

With robust offshore operator drilling plans and current day rates allowing drilling contractors to generate significant cash but not high enough to justify new builds, contractors have incentive to keep their aging assets in good working condition. Being the OEM with the largest installed base, our Rig Technologies aftermarket business will continue to play a larger role for our customers who rely on NOV to provide reliable service and quality for these critical assets. Our Intervention and Stimulation Equipment business units relatively stable aftermarket revenues reached 63% of the unit's mix in the first quarter of 2024. Despite a soft North American market, we expect our aftermarket operations to remain busy providing consumables and replacement components as well as upgrades and refurbishments of equipment both domestically and overseas.

憑藉強大的海上運營商鑽井計劃和當前的日費率，鑽井承包商能夠產生大量現金，但不足以證明新建項目的合理性，承包商有動力保持其老化資產處於良好的工作狀態。作為擁有最大安裝基礎的 OEM，我們的鑽孔機技術售後業務將繼續為依賴 NOV 為這些關鍵資產提供可靠服務和品質的客戶發揮更大的作用。我們的介入和刺激設備業務部門相對穩定，售後市場收入在2024 年第一季達到該部門組合的63%。升級和維護服務。

Moving to the capital equipment side of the business. Our drilling equipment capital sales improved in the mid-20% range year-over-year. Book-to-bill was well north of 100%, led by a 20,000 psi BOP upgrade for a drillship and deepwater Gulf of Mexico. This will be the industry's fourth 20,000 psi BOP with NOV building all 4 systems and demonstrating our leadership and cutting-edge pressure control technology that allows our customers to reach previously inaccessible reservoirs.

轉向業務的資本設備方面。我們的鑽井設備資本銷售額年增 20% 左右。訂單出貨率遠高於 100%，其中墨西哥灣深水鑽井船 20,000 psi BOP 升級為主導。這將是業界第四個 20,000 psi BOP，由 NOV 建造所有 4 個系統，並展示我們的領先地位和尖端壓力控制技術，使我們的客戶能夠到達以前無法進入的油藏。

Utilization for offshore rigs remains high and increased towards the end of the first quarter. The news from the Saudi scaling back their offshore fleet will put some pressure on jackup utilization near term, but we believe those rigs will eventually be absorbed by other projects around the world and will drive more activity into onshore unconventional gas fields. This will increase demand for our land rig equipment and aftermarket support, which we are very well positioned to provide in Saudi as well as for intervention and stimulation equipment business, which has already seen an increase in orders for completion and intervention equipment as a result of rapidly improving activity in (inaudible) field.

海上鑽井平台的利用率仍然很高，並且在第一季末有所增加。沙烏地阿拉伯縮減海上船隊規模的消息將給近期自升式鑽井平台的利用帶來一些壓力，但我們相信這些鑽井平台最終將被世界各地的其他項目吸收，並將推動更多活動進入陸上非常規氣田。這將增加對我們的陸地鑽機設備和售後支援的需求，我們在沙烏地阿拉伯提供這些支援以及乾預和增產設備業務的需求已經增加，由於完成和乾預設備的訂單已經增加（聽不清楚）領域的活動迅速改善。

Sticking with our Intervention & Stimulation Equipment business, capital equipment deliveries were down in the 20% range from the first quarter of 2023, due primarily to strong deliveries of eFrac and conventional pressure pumping equipment in early 2023 that did not repeat. Capital equipment orders declined due to lower demand for new pressure pumping kit, but the unit still posted a book-to-bill greater than 1 as a result of solid demand for equipment destined for international markets, including the order for Saudi that I just mentioned.

繼續我們的干預和刺激設備業務，固定設備交付量較 2023 年第一季下降了 20%，這主要是由於 2023 年初 eFrac 和傳統壓力泵設備的交付量強勁，但沒有重複。由於對新壓力泵套件的需求下降，資本設備訂單有所下降，但由於對運往國際市場的設備（包括我剛才提到的沙烏地阿拉伯訂單）的強勁需求，該部門的訂單出貨比仍大於 1 。

While we anticipate bookings for new pressure pumping equipment will remain soft in the second quarter, there continues to be a high level of interest for alternative energy equipment, specifically eFrac and CNG units and the business's backlog remains healthy with meaningful shipments of DGB and eFrac units slated for the second quarter. In international markets, the business is seeing solid demand from Africa and Europe in addition to strong demand from the Middle East.

雖然我們預計第二季新壓力幫浦設備的預訂將保持疲軟，但人們對替代能源設備（特別是eFrac 和CNG 裝置）仍然抱有很高的興趣，而且由於DGB 和eFrac 裝置的出貨量很大，該業務的積壓訂單仍保持健康。在國際市場上，除了中東的強勁需求外，該業務還看到非洲和歐洲的強勁需求。

Our offshore wind and construction business achieved year-over-year revenue growth in the mid-20% range from strong execution on the unit's backlog of offshore wind projects. Bookings include an inter-array cable-lay vessel for a Japanese construction company, which will be used to connect wind turbines within an offshore development. Outlook for the unit's core market is positive with improving sentiment in the offshore wind space and the potential for a couple of new wind installation orders later this year.

由於該部門積壓的離岸風電項目的有力執行，我們的離岸風電和建築業務實現了 20% 左右的收入同比增長。訂單包括為一家日本建築公司建造的一艘陣列間電纜敷設船，該船將用於連接海上開發項目中的風力渦輪機。隨著離岸風電領域情緒的改善以及今年稍後可能出現的一些新風電安裝訂單的潛力，該部門的核心市場前景樂觀。

Wellstream Processing operations achieved solid year-over-year revenue growth from strong execution on the operations backlog of processing equipment projects, which continues to grow with increasing opportunities to support new FPSOs. The operation also continues to realize more opportunities to leverage its gas and fluids processing expertise into large-scale energy transition projects and received an order for a hydrogen dehydration and deoxygenation package in Australia after having completed an engineering study for the customer over the last year.

Wellstream Process 業務的營收年增率實現了穩健成長，這得益於對加工設備專案積壓營運的大力執行，隨著支援新 FPSO 的機會不斷增加，該專案也在持續成長。該公司也繼續發現更多機會，將其氣體和流體加工專業知識運用到大型能源轉型專案中，並在去年為客戶完成了工程研究後，收到了澳洲氫氣脫水和脫氧成套設備的訂單。

Our production in midstream business saw an upper single-digit decline in revenue compared to the first quarter of 2023. Challenging conditions in North American gas markets impacted demand for chokes and other equipment, but was partially offset by strong international activity, particularly in the Middle East. Bookings remained robust, driven by choke orders in the Middle East, where demand, over the last 5 months, exceeded orders for the preceding 11 months with units quickly improving backlog and ramping deliveries. We expect solid growth from this operation in the second quarter.

與2023 年第一季相比，我們中游業務的生產收入出現了較高個位數的下降。所抵消，特別是在中東地區東方。受中東訂單的推動，預訂依然強勁，過去 5 個月的需求超過了前 11 個月的訂單，積壓訂單迅速增加，交貨量也不斷增加。我們預計第二季該業務將穩健成長。

Notwithstanding the low level of bookings in the first quarter, our subsea flexible pipe business unit posted solid results and its mid- to longer-term outlook is very strong. The unit posted mid-teens year-over-year revenue growth. And despite the large orders slipping out of the quarter, the business secured a contract to deliver its first actively heated flexible pipe system for a deepwater gas field development in the Black Sea. The pipeline of future tenders for subsea flexible pipe is robust with considerably improved pricing.

儘管第一季的預訂量較低，我們的海底軟管業務部門仍取得了穩健的業績，中長期前景非常強勁。該部門的收入年增了十幾歲。儘管本季大量訂單減少，但該公司仍獲得了一份合同，為黑海深水氣田開發提供首個主動加熱柔性管道系統。未來海底軟管的招標管道十分強勁，定價也顯著提高。

We expect lower margin contracts to continue to be replaced by higher-margin projects, which will drive a significant improvement in margins during 2025. For the second quarter, we expect revenues for our Energy Equipment segment to improve between 1% and 5% from the second quarter of 2023 with EBITDA in the range of $135 million to $145 million. With that, we'll now open the call to questions.

我們預計利潤率較低的合約將繼續被利潤率較高的項目所取代，這將推動2025 年利潤率的顯著改善。 % 至5%。現在，我們將開始提問。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question is going to come from the line of Jim Rollyson with Raymond James.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題將來自 Jim Rollyson 和 Raymond James 的線路。

Nice quarter, first of all. Jose, you talked about free cash flow again and kind of the outlook over the next handful of years. You obviously got the negative quarter out of the way for the year seasonally, but is -- in the past, you have talked about this kind of EBITDA to free cash flow conversion rate in the plus 50% range. And as you think about just -- I want to state that for '24, but as you think about how that transcends over this '24 to '27 time frame that you kind of laid out, is that still the right range of conversion rate to use?

首先，不錯的季度。何塞，您再次談到了自由現金流以及未來幾年的前景。顯然，你已經擺脫了今年季節性的負季度，但在過去，你已經談到了這種 EBITDA 與自由現金流的轉換率在+ 50% 的範圍內。當你思考時——我想對 24 年說這一點，但是當你思考如何超越你所製定的 24 到 27 年時間範圍時，這仍然是正確的轉換率範圍嗎使用？

First of all, yes, as it relates to 2024, we continue to expect that we'll convert at least 50% of our EBITDA to free cash flow during the year. And if anything, we are confident about our ability to achieve, not exceed that. And then really I think the bulk of your question was related to the out years. Obviously, we're not ready to provide explicit guidance. We did provide kind of a little bit of information related to that from the standpoint of our return of capital program and plan. Bottom line is, as we look forward in time with sort of the base case scenario that I laid out where we expect slightly less volatile environment than we've been in over the past decade and steady, gradual improving activity levels, there's no reason why we shouldn't be able to maintain that level of free cash flow as a percentage of our EBITDA.

首先，是的，就 2024 年而言，我們仍然預計這一年將至少 50% 的 EBITDA 轉換為自由現金流。如果有什麼不同的話，那就是我們對自己實現這目標的能力充滿信心，但不會超過這個目標。然後我真的認為你的大部分問題都與過去幾年有關。顯然，我們還沒有準備好提供明確的指導。從我們的資本回報計劃和計劃的角度來看，我們確實提供了一些與此相關的資訊。底線是，當我們及時展望我所列出的基本情況時，我們預計環境的波動性將比過去十年略小，並且活動水平將穩定、逐步改善，因此沒有理由我們不應該能夠維持自由現金流佔EBITDA 的百分比水準。

Got you. That's just helpful for modeling and how to think about this. And that takes me -- just glad to see the framework for the capital return program I think, a quarter earlier than you guys had promised, so even better. But as we look at you mentioned from the share repurchase program of $1 billion that, that's going to be opportunistically driven, maybe how you think about or how the Board thinks about where to allocate capital to that part of the equation versus your kind of supplemental catch-up at year-end? What drives the decision to move capital between those 2 means of returning capital to shareholders?

明白你了。這對建模以及如何思考這個問題很有幫助。這需要我——我很高興看到資本回報計劃的框架，我認為，比你們承諾的早了四分之一，所以更好。但正如我們所看到的，您在10 億美元的股票回購計劃中提到，這將是機會主義驅動的，也許您的想法或董事會如何考慮將資本分配給等式的這一部分，而不是您的補充性資金年底追趕？是什麼促使我們決定在這兩種向股東返還資本的方式之間轉移資本？

Yes. As you pointed out, the program is intended to be opportunistic. And as also I mentioned in the prepared commentary, we're really viewing our return on capital plan, and frankly, just the way that we look at cash flow across the board on an annual and then a multiyear basis. And so what we wanted to do was provide a very clear framework and assure our investors that every year, we will return at least 50% of our excess free cash flow. And so we intend to be opportunistic. We intend to, as we mentioned, increase the base dividend and then opportunistically buy back shares throughout the course of the year.

是的。正如您所指出的，該計劃的目的是投機取巧。正如我在準備好的評論中提到的那樣，我們確實正在審視我們的資本回報計劃，坦白說，這就像我們在年度和多年基礎上全面審視現金流量的方式一樣。因此，我們想要做的是提供一個非常清晰的框架，並向我們的投資者保證，我們每年都會返還至少 50% 的超額自由現金流。所以我們打算投機取巧。正如我們所提到的，我們打算增加基本股息，然後在全年中機會主義地回購股票。

And then depending on as to whether or not we're able to return the entire 50% plus of excess free cash flow during the course of the year or not, we would have the supplemental dividend early the following year to true up that return of capital to our shareholders. Some of the other variable that goes into the definition of excess free cash flow is sort of what we're seeing from an acquisition standpoint, and there could be times such as right now, there are a couple of small acquisitions that we've sort of factored into what we expect to be our excess free cash flow during the course of the year. Acquisitions are never done until they're done. And so if they don't materialize, if they don't transact, they don't close, we'll have extra capital at the end of the year that we would certainly need to return via that supplemental dividend. So hopefully, that helps frame how we're thinking about things.

然後，根據我們是否能夠在這一年中返還全部 50% 以上的超額自由現金流，我們將在次年初獲得補充股息，以實現該回報為我們的股東提供資本。定義超額自由現金流的其他一些變數是我們從收購的角度看到的，有時可能會像現在這樣，我們已經對一些小型收購進行了排序我們預計這一年中的自由現金流量將被計入其中。收購在完成之前永遠不會完成。因此，如果他們沒有實現，如果他們不進行交易，他們不關閉，我們將在年底擁有額外的資本，我們肯定需要透過補充股息來回報。希望這有助於建構我們思考事物的方式。

And our next question is going to come from the line of Stephen Gengaro with Stifel.

我們的下一個問題將來自 Stephen Gengaro 和 Stifel。

I think the first question for me is when you think about the announcement of the return of capital framework, what's changed over the last couple of months that gives you the confidence to put it in place? I mean Jose, you talked a little bit about sort of the visibility on free cash, but it did come earlier than we expected. I'm just kind of curious what sort of drove the decision to announce this today as opposed to after maybe seeing more progress on free cash generation?

我認為對我來說第一個問題是，當您考慮宣布資本回報框架時，過去幾個月發生了什麼變化讓您有信心將其落實到位？我的意思是何塞，你談到了自由現金的可見性，但它確實比我們預期的要早。我只是有點好奇是什麼推動了今天宣布這一決定，而不是在看到免費現金生成方面取得更多進展之後？

Before Jose answers, can I just say, Stephen, frankly, putting 2023 in a rearview mirror was a big plus for us. We've been very frustrated here with our supply chain disruptions and lack of free cash flow and got Q1 behind us and that -- I think that really -- looking forward, we think our shareholders need to know how we're thinking about returning the capital. And we said 90 days earlier than we had indicated before, it would be better off for all parties.

在 Jose 回答之前，我可以說，Stephen，坦白說，將 2023 年納入後視鏡對我們來說是一個很大的優勢。我們對供應鏈中斷和缺乏自由現金流感到非常沮喪，第一季已經過去了，我認為確實如此，展望未來，我們認為我們的股東需要知道我們如何考慮回歸首都。我們說過比之前表示的提前 90 天，對各方來說都更好。

Yes. I think Clay summed it up pretty well. I think the only other thing that I would really add to that is that, obviously, we had -- we got through the typical ordinary course burn of cash from an operating cash flow and free cash flow standpoint in Q1, which is a big milestone that we wanted to get through. Also during the quarter, we had the $243 million that we spent on acquisitions. And then one of the items that allowed us to really gain additional level of confidence in addition to just what we're seeing from an operating environment going forward is the fact that we were able to close the divestiture early in Q2 to replenish our cash balance and really allow us to go ahead and start moving forward with the return of capital program. So feeling great about things from an operational standpoint. Great about the balance sheet and where we sit and feeling good about where the stock price is, that it will be a good accretive value proposition for our shareholders to buy back shares at this point in time.

是的。我認為克萊總結得很好。我認為我真正要補充的唯一另一件事是，顯然，我們從第一季的營運現金流和自由現金流的角度來看，我們經歷了典型的普通現金消耗過程，這是一個重要的里程碑我們想要通過的。同樣在本季度，我們花了 2.43 億美元進行收購。除了我們從未來的營運環境中看到的情況之外，讓我們真正獲得額外信心的因素之一是我們能夠在第二季度初結束剝離以補充我們的現金餘額並真正讓我們能夠繼續前進並開始推進資本回報計畫。從營運的角度來看，一切都感覺很棒。對資產負債表和我們所處的位置以及對股價的感覺良好，這對我們的股東來說，此時回購股票將是一個很好的增值價值主張。

Great. That's helpful. And then just one follow-up on the free cash side. We've talked historically about kind of working capital as a percentage of revenue and kind of where that has been historically versus in '23. How should we think about that unfolding over the next year or 2?

偉大的。這很有幫助。然後是自由現金方面的一個後續行動。我們歷史上曾討論過營運資本佔收入的百分比，以及歷史上與 23 年相比的情況。我們該如何看待未來一兩年的發展？

Good question, Stephen. So I think last quarter, I mentioned that at the end of this year, we expected that working capital as a percentage of our revenue run rate to see some modest improvement, basically 100 to 200 basis points. Now that's changed a little bit here with the completion of the recent acquisitions, which had a -- the acquisition had a very high load of working capital. As I pointed out in my prepared remarks, the bulk of the increase in inventory that we saw from Q4 to Q1 was a result of the acquisition.

好問題，史蒂芬。所以我認為上個季度，我提到，今年年底，我們預計營運資本佔收入運行率的百分比會出現一些適度的改善，基本上是 100 到 200 個基點。現在，隨著最近收購的完成，情況發生了一些變化，收購的營運資金負荷非常高。正如我在準備好的發言中指出的那樣，我們從第四季到第一季看到的庫存增加大部分是收購的結果。

And we actually view that as a positive. We think that they, like every other manufacturer had, had challenges from supply chain standpoint and built up some inventory to work through those challenges. And I think we'll be the beneficiary of that as we sort of normalize inventory levels over the coming months and quarters, not quite prepared to sort of give you (inaudible) answer as to what the new metric will be at the end of 2024. We've only had this under our belt for a couple of months now. But needless to say, we're more optimistic about converting working capital to cash during 2024 than we were a quarter ago as a result of this item.

我們實際上認為這是積極的。我們認為，像其他所有製造商一樣，他們從供應鏈的角度面臨挑戰，並建立了一些庫存來應對這些挑戰。我認為，隨著我們在未來幾個月和幾個季度使庫存水平正常化，我們將成為受益者，但還沒有準備好向您提供（聽不清）2024 年底新指標的答案我們掌握這件事才幾個月。但不用說，由於這一項目，我們對 2024 年將營運資金轉換為現金比一個季度前更加樂觀。

Our next question is going to come from the line of James West with Evercore.

我們的下一個問題將來自 James West 和 Evercore 的團隊。

So I love to hear both your perspectives actually on this. Given that we've got an enormous number of offshore rigs that are going to (inaudible) and will be turning to the right as we go through this year and next year for pretty long-term contracts and duration is extending, we're going to need, obviously, spare parts, but we're going to need a lot of offshore just equipment to be built, whether it's platforms (inaudible), all the kind of stuff that you guys do. And so how are you thinking about the visibility? And secondarily, what kind of innovations because you guys are constantly innovating these products as equipment. Are you introducing to the market to make them more efficient; to decarbonize the operations, et cetera, as we see this long duration cycle play out here offshore.

所以我很想聽聽你們對此的實際看法。鑑於我們擁有大量海上鑽井平台，這些鑽井平台將（聽不清楚）並將在今年和明年簽訂相當長期的合約時向右轉向，並且期限正在延長，我們將顯然，需要備件，但我們需要建造大量海上設備，無論是平台（聽不清楚），還是你們所做的所有東西。那麼您如何看待可見性？其次，什麼樣的創新，因為你們不斷地創新這些產品作為設備。您引進市場是為了提高他們的效率嗎？讓營運脫碳等等，因為我們看到這個長期週期在海上上演。

Great question, James, and we appreciate you pointing out the fact that NOV has been a major innovator in the offshore market. And you -- more than anybody know the outlook for the offshore is very, very bright. There are lots of discoveries and developments and things going on in multiple basins around the world, including some new exploration basins that have emerged in the past few years with discoveries in Namibia and Guyana (inaudible) and places like that, that are fueling all that demand and that's giving rise to a pretty bright outlook for FIDs around those projects and much higher level of offshore activity, which has pretty much lacking through the last decade. And so just to count how we participate in that, yes, we do support the bulk of the world's offshore drilling fleet because we built most of those rigs, and there is a rising demand for aftermarket support of those. We're reactivating a number now, we went through some statistics on that.

詹姆斯，這是一個很好的問題，我們感謝您指出 NOV 一直是離岸市場的主要創新者。而你——比任何人都更清楚離岸風電的前景是非常非常光明的。世界各地的多個盆地有很多發現、開發和事情正在發生，包括過去幾年出現的一些新的勘探盆地，在納米比亞和圭亞那（聽不清楚）等地方有發現，這些都推動了這一切需求，這為這些項目的最終投資決定帶來了相當光明的前景，並帶來了更高水準的離岸活動，而這在過去十年中幾乎是缺乏的。因此，只要算一下我們如何參與其中，是的，我們確實支持世界上大部分海上鑽井船隊，因為我們建造了大部分鑽井平台，而且對這些鑽井平台的售後支援的需求不斷增長。我們現在正在重新啟動一個號碼，我們對此進行了一些統計。

I also pointed out the strong results in aftermarket in our rig business there, and we're well known for that. Those rigs need drill pipe. They need spare parts. They need solids control services. They need bits, they need downhole tools, hole openers, all of which we provide. And then on the production side, I think we're probably less well known for what we do there, but through the past 10 to 15 years, we've added a lot to what we sell into FPSOs. And so the outlook for floating production storage and offloading vessels, FPSOs, is similarly bright in the deepwater basins. And I think a disproportionate level of offshore activity is going to be focused on which will drive demand for FPSOs and there's some industry forecasts out there that have them in the range of 50 to 60 vessels needed over the next 5 years, a significant increase over the preceding 5 years.

我還指出了我們在那裡的鑽機業務在售後市場的強勁業績，我們因此而聞名。這些鑽機需要鑽桿。他們需要備件。他們需要固控服務。他們需要鑽頭、井下工具、開孔器，所有這些都是我們提供的。然後在生產方面，我認為我們在那裡所做的事情可能不太為人所知，但在過去 10 到 15 年裡，我們在 FPSO 中銷售的產品增加了很多。因此，浮式生產儲卸油船（FPSO）在深水盆地的前景同樣光明。我認為，海上活動將集中在不成比例的水平上，這將推動對 FPSO 的需求，並且有一些行業預測，未來 5 年需要 50 至 60 艘船舶，比之前 5 年。

And there, we provide everything from hole designs and cranes to fire water piping systems and ballast piping systems, gas processing and dehydration to choke, the separators (inaudible) spread mooring systems to flexible pipe that's used to connect those vessels to the wellheads on the sea floor. And if you add all that up, it can range anywhere from $100 million per vessel for it all the way up to as much as $700 million per vessel (inaudible). And so that's another area where we can participate. With respect to innovation and kind of the next generation of drilling, everything from wired drill pipe, high-speed data connections to the bottom of the hole to artificial intelligence that's making meaningful impacts on drilling optimization through our (inaudible) offering to rig automation, which now a couple of large IOCs are using our new (inaudible) robotics on offshore rigs in Brazil.

在那裡，我們提供從孔設計和起重機到消防水管道系統和壓載管道系統、氣體處理和脫水到節流、分離器（聽不清楚）擴展繫泊系統到用於將這些容器連接到井口的柔性管道的一切。如果你把所有這些加起來，它的範圍可以從每艘船 1 億美元一直到每艘船 7 億美元（聽不清楚）。這是我們可以參與的另一個領域。關於下一代鑽井的創新和類型，從有線鑽桿、到孔底的高速數據連接到人工智慧，這些都透過我們的（聽不清楚）鑽機自動化產品對鑽井優化產生了有意義的影響，現在，一些大型國際石油公司正在巴西的海上鑽井平台上使用我們的新型（聽不清楚）機器人技術。

We have an offshore drilling contractor that's now ordered their second set. They're so pleased with it and a lot of interest really across numerous operators in bringing more automation to that, that process as well, along with digital support. And then on the production side, we also continue to innovate and offer a lot in a way of edge compute and condition-based monitoring to optimize production. And we're very excited about our new extract ESP products as well. It's a new place for us to deploy our edge compute capabilities to drive better efficiencies and automation through the production process.

我們有一家海上鑽井承包商，現在已經訂購了第二套。他們對此非常滿意，並且眾多運營商對為該流程帶來更多自動化以及數位支援非常感興趣。然後在生產方面，我們也不斷創新並提供大量邊緣運算和基於狀態的監控來優化生產。我們對新的 ESP 萃取物產品也感到非常興奮。這是我們部署邊緣運算功能的新場所，以提高生產流程的效率和自動化。

And then maybe just a quick follow-up for me. With the rigs that are working today and about to go to work, clearly, over the last decade, it was a tough time, and they dramatically reduced the number of amount of spare parts and stuff on the rigs. Are the rigs back up to kind of the normalized level of spare parts on the rigs that they usually require? I think for a deepwater rig, it's $50 million, $60 million or so worth of equipment? Or are they still a little understaffed?

然後也許對我來說只是一個快速的跟進。對於今天正在工作和即將投入工作的鑽孔機來說，顯然，在過去的十年裡，這是一段艱難的時期，他們大大減少了鑽機上的備件和物品的數量。鑽孔機是否恢復到了通常需要的鑽機備件水平？我想對於一個深水鑽井平台來說，它的設備價值是5000萬美元、6000萬美元左右吧？或者他們仍然人手不足？

Good question. The reason that we're reactivating, we've got close to 30 now that we're working on now part of the reactivation plan. We will replenish those spare parts that they depleted and our customers are really, really good at cannibalizing and going to their unutilized rigs and (inaudible) rigs to source spare parts, both land and offshore. And so most of these rigs have been picked over already. So part of the reactivation plan for the rigs that we're working on now includes replenishing spare parts and so they can go back to work.

好問題。我們重新啟動的原因是，現在我們正在製定重新啟動計劃的一部分，現在已經接近 30 個。我們將補充他們耗盡的備件，我們的客戶非常非常擅長拆解並使用他們未使用的鑽機和（聽不清楚）鑽機來採購陸上和海上備件。因此，大多數鑽孔機已經被挑選出來。因此，我們現在正在進行的鑽機重新啟動計劃的一部分包括補充備件，以便它們能夠重新投入工作。

And I guess probably to fill in the rest of the picture, too. It's interesting though that a lot of rigs that were delivered 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 on the back end of the last kind of capital super cycle. Those rigs are facing their 10-year purpose survey. And so they have to come into a shipyard and be inspected and that's a pretty major point in their lives and an opportunity for NOV, too. Again, rebuild equipment, replace equipment, add additional capabilities, maybe oil and gas operator customers who want to add while those rigs are in the shipyards. And so we're kind of coming up to that for a lot of rigs in the fleet right now.

我想也可能會填補圖片的其餘部分。有趣的是，許多鑽孔機是在最後一種資本超級週期的後端於 2014 年、2015 年、2016 年、2017 年交付的。這些鑽井平台正面臨十年目的調查。因此，他們必須進入造船廠並接受檢查，這是他們生活中的一個非常重要的時刻，也是 NOV 的一個機會。再一次，重建設備、更換設備、添加額外的功能，也許石油和天然氣營運商客戶希望在這些鑽孔機位於造船廠時添加功能。因此，我們現在正在為艦隊中的許多鑽機解決這個問題。

Our next question is going to come from the line of Tom Curran with Seaport Research Partners.

我們的下一個問題將來自 Seaport Research Partners 的 Tom Curran。

Clay, within that masterful expansive refresher you just gave us on all of the exposure in areas that NOV participates in from growing all the way through down the production infrastructure, capital equipment services. If we were to see a significant step-up in offshore orders coming out of 2024 into 2025, where would you most likely expect it to come from?

Clay，在您剛剛給我們的精彩回顧中，我們了解了 NOV 參與的所有領域，從成長一直到生產基礎設施、資本設備服務。如果我們看到 2024 年到 2025 年離岸訂單大幅增加，您最有可能預期它來自哪裡？

Would it be, do you think, on the offshore drilling front in the form of upgrades or cold-stacked reactivations? Would you expect it to be the ramp in FPSO projects, maybe subsea infrastructure like (inaudible) and other subsea hardware. Could you just give us an idea of sort of what the sequence of acceleration could look like to the extent we get some? Like I get the difference with this recovery, it's slower, steadier. But if we get an acceleration within offshore, where would you expect it?

您認為，它會以升級或冷堆重新啟動的形式出現在海上鑽井領域嗎？您是否希望它成為 FPSO 項目的坡道，也許是海底基礎設施（如（聽不清楚））和其他海底硬體。您能否告訴我們，在我們得到的範圍內，加速序列可能會是什麼樣子？就像我對這次恢復的不同之處一樣，它更慢、更穩定。但如果我們在近海加速，你會期望在哪裡加速？

First, the rig reactivation offshore is underway. As I mentioned, we're reactivating a lot of rigs right now. Although you never say never in this industry. At some point in the future, we will see a new round of rig building. That's not in our near-term forecast. I think it is more likely to surprise to the upside is all the other more production-related offshore kit that NOV can provide to the FPSOs, including the flexible pipe and all the things that I just went through. And we have a very large and meaningful opportunity there.

首先，海上鑽井平台的重新啟動正在進行中。正如我所提到的，我們現在正在重新啟動許多鑽孔機。儘管在這個行業你永遠不會說永遠。在未來的某個時候，我們將看到新一輪的鑽井平台建設。這不在我們的近期預測中。我認為更令人驚訝的是 NOV 可以向 FPSO 提供的所有其他與生產相關的海上套件，包括軟管和我剛剛經歷過的所有東西。我們在那裡有一個非常大且有意義的機會。

And that's a little bit later. These companies pull the trigger on their FIDs, projects that are kind of typically moved to EPCs for more detailed (inaudible) are a little later in that sort of cycle. I think that's kind of what's next for NOV. But I also want to say shifting over to renewables, we have a fantastic opportunity that we haven't talked much about in the past, but it's around floating wind, in particular, in the North Sea, where we're working closely with kind of a partner over there or a party that's pursuing development. And that's a multibillion dollar kind of opportunity for NOV and it has implications for floating wind in deepwater areas in Asia as well. So not in the traditional oil and gas space, but in renewables, so we could see some help from that area as well.

那是稍後的事了。這些公司啟動了最終投資決定，通常會轉移到 EPC 以獲得更詳細的資訊（聽不清楚）的專案在此類週期中稍晚。我認為這就是 11 月的下一步。但我還想說，轉向再生能源，我們有一個絕佳的機會，我們過去沒有太多談論過，但它是圍繞著浮動風能的，特別是在北海，我們正在與善良的人密切合作。的合作夥伴或追求發展的一方。這對 NOV 來說是一個價值數十億美元的機會，它也對亞洲深水地區的浮動風能產生影響。所以不是在傳統的石油和天然氣領域，而是在再生能源領域，所以我們也可以從這個領域看到一些幫助。

And then that's on top of the wind turbine installation in shallow waters, the fixed wind installation vessels that Jose mentioned. We wouldn't be surprised to see a couple of orders (inaudible) in 2024, plus sort of growing demand for cable-lay vessels that also support those offshore shallow water installations as well. So there's a lot happening offshore, and that's really good for NOV given our high mix and high level of participation and expertise in that area.

然後是淺水區風力渦輪機安裝，也就是何塞提到的固定風力安裝船。如果 2024 年出現一些訂單（聽不清楚），加上對也支持海上淺水設施的電纜敷設船的需求不斷增長，我們不會感到驚訝。因此，海外發生了很多事情，考慮到我們在該領域的高組合、高水平的參與和專業知識，這對 NOV 來說確實是一件好事。

Got it. Got it. And thanks for highlighting what's happening on the renewable side as well. Just as a follow-up here then, you had mentioned that Jose has some stats with regards to where you're at currently with reactivation, recertification and upgrade projects. I believe your backlog around this time last year stood at 83 projects. Could you just give us an update on where you're at?

知道了。知道了。感謝您強調再生能源方面正在發生的事情。正如隨後的後續行動一樣，您提到 Jose 有一些關於您目前在重新啟動、重新認證和升級專案方面的統計數據。我相信去年這個時候你們的積壓項目數是 83 個。能為我們介紹一下您的最新情況嗎？

Yes. I think I mentioned just a moment ago, 30 offshore rig reactivation projects. Those are all that are north of the $2 million number. We have a lot smaller rigs that we also do work and also in this project.

是的。我想我剛才提到了 30 個海上鑽井平台重新啟動計畫。這些都是 200 萬美元以上的數字。我們有很多小型鑽孔機，我們也在這個專案中工作。

And our next question is going to come from the line of Scott Gruber with Citigroup.

我們的下一個問題將來自花旗集團的 Scott Gruber。

Clay, I'm curious how the Saudi CapEx shift impacts NOV? I imagine (inaudible) jackups go down, there's eventually a hit to Grant Prideco and potentially some other product lines. But then you have a greater quantum of onshore rigs going to work over the next few years, which all require new pipe and bids, et cetera, at start-up. So if you put the new builds to the side, which have long been contracted, how should we think about the Saudi CapEx shift towards onshore impacting NOV?

Clay，我很好奇沙烏地阿拉伯資本支出的轉變對 NOV 有何影響？我想像（聽不清楚）自升式鑽井平台下降，最後會對 Grant Prideco 和其他一些產品線造成衝擊。但接下來的幾年裡，將會有更多的陸上鑽井平台投入使用，這些鑽井平台在啟動時都需要新的管道和投標等。因此，如果你把長期簽約的新建築放在一邊，我們該如何看待沙烏地阿拉伯資本支出轉向陸上對 NOV 的影響？

Yes, it's a good question, Scott. We would prefer that we keep both sets of rigs joining, but that doesn't fit their plans. We understand the energy ministries directing Aramco to back off adding 1 million barrels per day, given that the natural gas liquids coming from the gas developments are going to add liquids to the Kingdom and as well, they'll displace black oil that they are burning for electricity generation over there. And so it makes sense, I guess. That's led -- as you know, to the suspension of -- I think they've announced 20 jackups, contract suspended, maybe a couple more to come.

是的，這是一個很好的問題，斯科特。我們希望讓兩組鑽孔機保持連接，但這不符合他們的計劃。據我們了解，能源部指示沙烏地阿美公司放棄每天增加 100 萬桶的產量，因為來自天然氣開發的天然氣液體將為沙烏地王國增加液體，它們將取代他們正在燃燒的黑油在那裡發電。我想這是有道理的。如你所知，這導致了——我認為他們已經宣布了 20 個自升式鑽井平台的暫停，合約暫停，也許還會有更多。

The good news is 6 of those that have been suspended so far have either secured work elsewhere or very close to securing elsewhere, a couple in the Arabian Gulf, couple in India, I think one in Africa, one in the Asia Pacific area. And so they're finding homes elsewhere. And so we're hoping we'll continue to support those rigs as they move to other markets. On the positive side of that ledger though, we continue to be very excited about the Kingdom's goal to lift their gas production 2.5 Bcf per day, mostly coming from their unconventional Jafurah gas field development, which they did FID, I think, back in 2020. The rig count there has continued to grow.

好消息是，到目前為止，其中6 名被停職的人要么已經在其他地方找到了工作，要么非常接近在其他地方找到了工作，其中一對在阿拉伯灣，一對在印度，我認為一個在非洲，一個在亞太地區。所以他們在別處尋找家園。因此，我們希望在這些鑽機轉移到其他市場時我們能夠繼續支援它們。不過，從積極的一面來看，我們仍然對沙特每天提高天然氣產量 2.5 Bcf 的目標感到非常興奮，其中大部分來自非常規的 Jafurah 氣田開發，我認為他們早在 2020 年就進行了 FID那裡的鑽機數量持續增加。

They are securing new rigs for both that as well as, I think, additional gas production out of (inaudible) just a couple of weeks ago, celebrated 23 new rigs bringing into the Kingdom. And that's in addition to the rigs that we're building in the Kingdom (inaudible) that are going to work. What's interesting to us about that -- there's a couple of things are. First of all, the reasons they're bringing in are all AC powered. They're all available to be more closely controlled with electronics and software.

他們正在為此獲得新的鑽井平台，而且我認為，就在幾週前，（聽不清楚），還慶祝了 23 個新鑽井平台引入王國。這還不包括我們在王國建造的即將投入使用的鑽孔機（聽不清楚）。我們對此感興趣的是——有幾件事。首先，他們引入的原因都是交流供電。它們都可以透過電子設備和軟體進行更嚴格的控制。

It's really a step-up in technology. And I think that speaks to Aramco's desire as well as other NOCs around the Kingdom -- around the Gulf, we're seeing the same desire to bring in better technology rigs and to help sort of bridge the performance gap between the rig fleet that they have versus the rig fleets that what they can do. And so that's, I think, a good development for us. And then the other way, NOV can and is participating in that is through the supply of all of the production equipment and kit that I mentioned earlier. We manufacture chokes in the Kingdom. We're the largest provider production chokes worldwide, the largest provider of composite piping systems worldwide, and we're seeing big orders and a lot of demand in the Kingdom to support gas production in both of those areas in addition to separators to gas dehydration technologies. Again, we're the largest provider of that. And so there's a lot of ancillary kits to get pulled through those gas developments that would benefit NOV as well.

這確實是技術的進步。我認為這符合沙烏地阿美公司以及沙烏地王國其他國家石油公司的願望——在海灣地區，我們看到了同樣的願望，希望引進更好的技術鑽井平台，並幫助縮小他們的鑽井船隊之間的性能差距。我認為這對我們來說是一個很好的發展。另一方面，NOV 可以並且正在參與其中，即透過提供我之前提到的所有生產設備和套件。我們在王國製造扼流圈。我們是全球最大的生產節流閥供應商，也是全球最大的複合管道系統供應商，我們在沙烏地阿拉伯看到了大訂單和大量需求，除了氣體脫水分離器之外，還支援這兩個領域的天然氣生產技術。再說一次，我們是最大的供應商。因此，有許多輔助工具包可以用於這些天然氣開發，這也將使 NOV 受益。

And then as the jackups go back to work, is that feeding upgrades to equipment? Are there dollars flowing to NOV as those rigs mobilize elsewhere?

然後，當自升式鑽井平台恢復工作時，這是否會導致設備升級？當這些鑽井平台調動到其他地方時，是否有資金流向 NOV？

It may. It depends on what their operator in these new markets wants. I would say most upgrades to drilling equipment today are really prompted by the operator customer requiring. There's not a lot of speculative investment by offshore drilling contractors, given what most of them just went through around adding equipment. But the operators are stepping up and helping them out by paying higher moat fees or paying for new equipment through the day rate. And they're also offering longer terms, I think for both jackups and floaters, you're seeing fixtures extend out to be longer contracts, so that both parties have a shot at getting payback on these new capital investments and new capabilities in there. That's kind of the dynamic at work there. So it depends on what the operators in these new markets want.

它可能。這取決於這些新市場的營運商想要什麼。我想說，當今大多數鑽井設備的升級實際上都是由營運商客戶的需求所推動的。考慮到大多數海上鑽井承包商只是增加了設備，因此他們的投機性投資並不多。但營運商正在加緊努力，透過支付更高的護城河費用或按日費率支付新設備的費用來幫助他們擺脫困境。他們還提供更長的期限，我認為對於自升式鑽井平台和浮式鑽井平台來說，你會看到固定期限延長為更長的合同，這樣雙方都有機會從這些新的資本投資和新的能力中獲得回報。這就是那裡的動態。所以這取決於這些新市場的營運商想要什麼。

And our last question is going to come from the line of Kurt Hallead with Benchmark.

我們的最後一個問題將來自 Benchmark 的 Kurt Hallad。

I always appreciate the color and the insight, very informative. So I got one big-picture question and then one financial question. So let me hit the financial question up first, right? You guys referenced you still have more coming on the cost reduction front. So I appreciate that dynamic. As we get out beyond 2024, I'm just kind of curious as to what do you see the primary driver for margin improvement? Do you think is it going to be more internal? Or is it going to be external, for example, like pricing power or those dynamics? Just a little -- how -- I'd like to get your sense on how you're thinking about the margin improvement once you get beyond '24?

我一直很欣賞它的色彩和洞察力，內容非常豐富。所以我先問了一個宏觀問題，然後又問了一個財務問題。那麼就讓我先解決財務問題吧？你們提到在降低成本方面還有更多的工作要做。所以我很欣賞這種動態。當我們進入 2024 年後，我只是有點好奇您認為利潤率改善的主要驅動力是什麼？你認為它會更內部嗎？還是它是外部的，例如定價權或那些動態？只是一點點——如何——我想了解一下，一旦你過了 24 年，你對利潤率的改善有何看法？

Kurt, thanks for the good question. I'll start off and Clay, I'm sure, will want to chime in on this one as well. But I think what we see is that there are several opportunities to continue to see an improvement in our margin over the next several years. So obviously, you touched on the cost-out program. We're still in the relatively early phases of that $75 million cost-out program, really got started at the very end of last year, and we probably worked about -- we have worked our way through about 30% of that at this point in time. We expect that to pick up a bit into Q2, which is why you see an improvement in the incremental margins. But -- and we're always going to be -- but really expect that to wind out as we work our way through Q3 and Q4. We're going to continue to look for other opportunities.

庫爾特，謝謝你提出的好問題。我將首先開始，我確信克萊也想參與其中。但我認為我們看到的是，未來幾年我們的利潤率有很多機會繼續提高。顯然，您談到了成本支出計劃。我們仍處於 7500 萬美元成本計劃的相對早期階段，去年年底才真正開始，我們可能正在努力 - 目前我們已經完成了大約 30%及時。我們預計第二季度這一數字將有所回升，這就是為什麼您會看到增量利潤率有所改善。但是，我們總是會這樣，但我們真的希望隨著第三季和第四季的進展，這種情況將會結束。我們將繼續尋找其他機會。

We're always looking to streamline and optimize the operations within the company. But the work we've done -- obviously done a tremendous amount of heavy lifting over the last several years, and this is another small step, relatively speaking, from a cost-out standpoint that we'll have wrapped up in '24. As we get into '25 and beyond, you're going to see the continued progression of lower-margin contracts and projects winding out of the system.

我們始終致力於簡化和優化公司內部的營運。但我們所做的工作——顯然在過去幾年中完成了大量繁重的工作，相對而言，從我們將在 24 年完成的成本支出的角度來看，這只是又一小步。當我們進入 25 世紀及以後，您將看到低利潤合約和專案不斷退出系統。

We've been seeing that over the last several quarters. We'll see that gradually take place through the remainder of '24. And then as Clay touched on expectations for one of our businesses, in particular, to really come to an end of some of those contracts quite suddenly really at the end of '24, and should more or less be a step change in '25, which should allow more margin improvement. That's one out of many businesses, but still makes a difference.

過去幾個季度我們已經看到了這一點。我們將看到這在 24 年剩餘的時間裡逐漸發生。然後，當克萊談到對我們一項業務的期望時，特別是在 24 年底突然真正終止其中一些合同，並且或多或少應該是 25 年的一個階躍變化，這應該會帶來更多的利潤改善。這只是眾多業務中的一項，但仍扮演著重要角色。

Also, we'll continue to see improved absorption across the entire footprint. I think when we get into '25, we'll see continued strong activity in international and offshore markets and we expect North America to be much healthier. Right now, we have cross-currents with international more than offsetting what's happening in North America, but North America is certainly a drag. And if we can get all 8 cylinders firing, that's another step-up from a margin improvement standpoint, just from a throughput point of view. And then lastly, pricing, as the cycle progresses and advances and matures, that's really when we have a better opportunity once capacity is fully absorbed and it becomes more of a conversation of how quickly can I get something versus what's the price. That's sort of the final leg up that we are looking forward to and counting on in the not-too-distant future.

此外，我們將繼續看到整個足跡的吸收率有所提高。我認為，當我們進入 25 年時，我們將看到國際和離岸市場的持續強勁活動，我們預計北美將更加健康。目前，我們與國際上的逆流不僅僅抵消了北美發生的情況，但北美肯定是一個拖累。如果我們能讓所有 8 個汽缸都點火，那麼從利潤改善的角度來看，僅從吞吐量的角度來看，這就是另一個進步。最後，定價，隨著週期的進展、進步和成熟，一旦產能被完全吸收，我們就會有更好的機會，這更多地變成了一個關於我能多快得到某樣東西與價格的對話。這是我們期待並期待在不久的將來取得的最後一步。

That's great color. And then, Clay, bigger picture dynamic, right? We've had a lot of discussion of late increasing crescendo discussion around the data center build-out and what that's going to mean for grid demand, et cetera, right? So I guess I'm curious on 2 fronts. Number one, do you see an opportunity for NOV to provide some element of equipment into the data center build-out infrastructure and/or what do you think the ultimate pull is going to be with respect to your customer base in terms of drilling activity, track activity and so on?

那顏色真棒。然後，克萊，更大的動態，對吧？我們已經就資料中心擴建以及這對電網需求意味著什麼等進行了很多討論，對嗎？所以我想我對兩個方面感到好奇。第一，您是否認為 NOV 有機會為資料中心擴建基礎設施提供某些設備元素和/或您認為在鑽井活動方面對您的客戶群的最終吸引力是什麼？

Yes. I think we're probably, frankly, more likely to be a customer of those data centers as our digital offering continues to grow. I mean we're employing artificial intelligence and a lot of sophisticated edge compute and cloud offerings, which is growing pretty rapidly here. But kind of the second order implications for our business as we both know, these data centers are going to drive up electricity demand across the U.S., which is going to require more natural gas, require more sources, electricity, including renewables.

是的。坦白說，我認為隨著我們的數位產品不斷成長，我們更有可能成為這些資料中心的客戶。我的意思是，我們正在採用人工智慧和許多複雜的邊緣運算和雲端產品，這些產品在這裡成長得相當迅速。但正如我們都知道的，這些資料中心對我們業務的二階影響將推高美國各地的電力需求，這將需要更多的天然氣、更多的資源、電力，包括再生能源。

And Kurt, as you're aware, we're pursuing very disruptive technology in the land win space that we're pretty excited about through our Keystone efforts and making good progress there. And so I think NOV's participation in that phenomenon of U.S. electricity demand rising sharply is going to be more around helping our customers actually provide that electricity, both renewables as well as in the traditional natural gas space. And so really kind of interesting developments in that area.

庫爾特，如您所知，我們正在土地獲勝領域追求非常顛覆性的技術，我們對通過 Keystone 的努力並取得良好進展感到非常興奮。因此，我認為 NOV 參與美國電力需求急劇增長的現象將更多地圍繞著幫助我們的客戶實際提供電力，包括再生能源和傳統天然氣領域的電力。該領域的發展確實很有趣。

Thank you. And I would now like to hand the conference back to Clay Williams for further remarks.

謝謝。現在我想將會議交還給克萊威廉斯進一步發表評論。

Thank you, Michelle. Appreciate everyone joining us this morning, and we look forward to speaking to you again in July when we report our second quarter earnings. Thank you.

謝謝你，米歇爾。感謝今天早上加入我們的每個人，我們期待在 7 月報告第二季度收益時再次與您交談。謝謝。

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

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。