Patterson-UTI Energy Inc (PTEN) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning. Thank you for standing by. My name is Prilla, and I will be your conference operator today.

早安.謝謝你的支持。我叫 Prilla，今天我將擔任你們的會議操作員。

At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Patterson-UTI Third Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions)

此時，我歡迎大家參加 Patterson-UTI 2024 年第三季財報電話會議。（操作員說明）

I would now like to turn the conference over to Michael Sabella. You may begin.

我現在想把會議交給麥可·薩貝拉。你可以開始了。

Thank you, operator. Good morning, and welcome to Patterson-UTI's Earnings Conference Call to discuss our third quarter 2024 results. With me today are Andy Hendricks, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Andy Smith, Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝你，接線生。早安，歡迎參加 Patterson-UTI 的收益電話會議，討論我們 2024 年第三季的業績。今天與我在一起的有總裁兼執行長安迪‧亨德里克斯 (Andy Hendricks)；和財務長安迪史密斯。

As a reminder, statements that are made in this conference call that refer to the company's or management's plans, intentions, targets, beliefs, expectations or predictions for the future are considered forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties as disclosed in the company's SEC filings which could cause the company's actual results to differ materially. The company takes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements.

提醒一下，本次電話會議中涉及公司或管理層的計劃、意圖、目標、信念、期望或對未來的預測的聲明均被視為前瞻性聲明。這些前瞻性陳述受到公司向 SEC 文件中揭露的風險和不確定性的影響，這可能導致公司的實際結果出現重大差異。該公司沒有義務公開更新或修改任何前瞻性陳述。

Statements made in this conference call include non-GAAP financial measures. The required reconciliation to GAAP financial measures are included on our website, patenergy.com, and in the company's press release issued prior to this conference call.

本次電話會議中的聲明包括非公認會計準則財務指標。我們的網站 patenergy.com 以及本次電話會議之前發布的公司新聞稿中均包含所需的 GAAP 財務指標調節表。

I will now turn the call over to Andy Hendricks, Patterson-UTI's Chief Executive Officer.

我現在將電話轉給 Patterson-UTI 執行長安迪·亨德里克斯 (Andy Hendricks)。

Thanks, Mike. Welcome to our third quarter earnings conference call. It's been one year since our first earnings call after acquiring Ulterra and merging with NexTier, and the year has been transformative for Patterson-UTI. These strategic moves have solidified our position as a leading player in the oilfield services sector.

謝謝，麥克。歡迎參加我們的第三季財報電話會議。自從我們收購 Ulterra 並與 NexTier 合併後第一次召開財報電話會議以來，已經過去一年了，這一年對 Patterson-UTI 來說是變革性的一年。這些策略舉措鞏固了我們作為油田服務領域領導企業的地位。

Despite a challenging macro environment including fluctuations in oil and natural gas prices and shifting industry activity across key basins, we have successfully integrated NexTier and Ulterra. All of our segments are performing well given the backdrop, and we have stayed focused on operational excellence for our customers and free cash flow for our investors. We believe that the progress we have made in just one year will create value over the long term for the company and for shareholders.

儘管宏觀環境充滿挑戰，包括石油和天然氣價格波動以及跨主要盆地的產業活動轉移，我們仍成功整合了 NexTier 和 Ulterra。在這種背景下，我們所有的部門都表現良好，我們一直專注於為客戶提供卓越運營，為投資者提供自由現金流。我們相信，我們在短短一年內的進步將為公司和股東創造長期價值。

I want to extend a sincere thank you to all of our employees whose hard work and dedication have been crucial to the success of the integration. We could not have done it without you, and we are grateful for your contributions in making this process smoother and more efficient. We believe we've only begun to unlock the true value of our company. There are many opportunities to further integrate our operations, and we are just starting to realize the potential commercial synergies. Our integrated approach across the entire drilling and completions process is strengthening relationships with a broader customer base and positioning us for long-term success and strong financial returns.

我要向我們所有員工致以誠摯的謝意，他們的辛勤工作和奉獻精神對整合的成功至關重要。沒有您，我們不可能做到這一點，我們感謝您為使這一過程更加順利和高效而做出的貢獻。我們相信我們才剛開始釋放公司的真正價值。我們有很多進一步整合業務的機會，而且我們才剛開始實現潛在的商業綜效。我們在整個鑽井和完井流程中的綜合方法正在加強與更廣泛的客戶群的關係，並使我們能夠獲得長期成功和強勁的財務回報。

Even in a challenging market, we think there's still room for capital-efficient profitable growth for Patterson-UTI.

即使在充滿挑戰的市場中，我們認為 Patterson-UTI 仍有資本高效的獲利成長空間。

In the first four quarters, since the transaction closed, we generated almost $570 million of free cash flow. We have used that free cash flow to make $346 million of share repurchases while paying a steady dividend and reducing our net debt, including leases. The total cash returned to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends amounts to 15% of our current market cap, while our net debt, including leases, is down by 7%.

自交易完成以來的前四個季度，我們產生了近 5.7 億美元的自由現金流。我們利用自由現金流進行了 3.46 億美元的股票回購，同時支付穩定的股息並減少了我們的淨債務（包括租賃）。透過股票回購和股利返還給股東的現金總額占我們目前市值的 15%，而我們的淨債務（包括租賃）下降了 7%。

This past year has showcased Patterson-UTI's resilience and strength through different points in the cycle. We always recognize that there can be fluctuating demand for our services and our combined size, scale and broad service offerings position us well to compete in any market.

過去的一年在周期的不同階段展示了 Patterson-UTI 的韌性和實力。我們始終認識到，對我們服務的需求可能會出現波動，而我們的綜合規模、規模和廣泛的服務產品使我們能夠在任何市場中競爭。

On our previous earnings call, we shared exciting news that we had entered into our first fully integrated drilling and completion arrangement under a performance-based agreement. This customer is using a broad suite of our products and services across an entire pad, marking a new chapter in how we deliver value. As shale evolves, we believe companies with differentiated business models will be best positioned for premium returns. As one of the largest drilling and completion companies in US shale, we are confident in our ability over the long term to deliver best-in-class results to our customers while driving accretive returns for our investors.

在先前的財報電話會議上，我們分享了令人興奮的消息，即我們已根據基於績效的協議達成了第一個完全整合的鑽井和完井安排。這位客戶在整個焊盤上使用了我們廣泛的產品和服務，這標誌著我們交付價值的新篇章。隨著頁岩氣的發展，我們相信擁有差異化商業模式的公司將最有可能獲得優質回報。作為美國頁岩氣最大的鑽井和完井公司之一，我們有信心長期為客戶提供一流的業績，同時為投資者帶來豐厚的回報。

The results have been very encouraging. Both our customer and Patterson-UTI are benefiting from this integrated approach. We are on track to complete the path ahead of schedule and expect accretive returns relative to our overall business.

結果非常令人鼓舞。我們的客戶和 Patterson-UTI 都從這種整合方法中受益。我們預計提前完成這條道路，並期望相對於我們的整體業務獲得增值回報。

Our unique commercial strategy is being noticed by the market, and there are several potential new customers that are paying close attention to the success of our integrated approach. We are in discussions with other potential customers for a similar concept, and we think this commercial strategy could have significant upside.

我們獨特的商業策略正在受到市場的關注，並且有一些潛在的新客戶正在密切關注我們整合方法的成功。我們正在與其他潛在客戶討論類似的概念，我們認為這種商業策略可能具有顯著的優勢。

The wellsite integration opportunities will be enabled by our cutting-edge PTEN Performance Center, where our customers, along with our teams, will be able to digitally track their full pad from start to finish. This is truly shaping up to be a win-win situation, and we think this commercial strategy has the potential to bring significant value to our customers and our investors.

井場整合機會將由我們先進的 PTEN 性能中心提供，我們的客戶和我們的團隊將能夠從頭到尾以數位方式追蹤他們的整個平台。這確實是一個雙贏的局面，我們認為這個商業策略有潛力為我們的客戶和投資者帶來巨大的價值。

Rather than reacting to the market, we are anticipating its direction and positioning our company to lead shale into its next phase.

我們不是對市場做出反應，而是預測市場的方向，並將我們的公司定位為引領頁岩氣進入下一階段。

On the macro front in drilling, we expect to see a relatively steady rig count for our Tier 1 high-spec drilling rigs through the rest of the year and into 2025 based on our contracts and also based on our large customer programs. However, at the same time, the overall industry rig count may fluctuate as older lower-spec assets could see weaker demand from smaller E&Ps.

在鑽井的宏觀方面，根據我們的合約以及我們的大型客戶計劃，我們預計今年剩餘時間到 2025 年我們的 1 級高規格鑽機數量將保持相對穩定。然而，與此同時，整個行業的鑽機數量可能會波動，因為較小的勘探和生產公司對舊的低規格資產的需求可能會減弱。

In completions, we expect customers will continue to flex activity to maintain spending within their budget, which is likely to impact frac activity through year-end before recovering in the first half of 2025.

在完工過程中，我們預計客戶將繼續靈活活動以將支出維持在預算範圍內，這可能會影響到年底的壓裂活動，然後在 2025 年上半年恢復。

On the natural gas side, we've seen commodity prices somewhat stabilized recently, reinforcing our optimism about the long-term outlook for natural gas activity. While it will take some time for the natural gas market to fully rebalance, we think the market is stabilizing and should have some upside at some point in 2025 as domestic demand rises and LNG takeaway begins to come online.

在天然氣方面，我們看到大宗商品價格最近有所穩定，增強了我們對天然氣活動長期前景的樂觀態度。雖然天然氣市場完全重新平衡需要一段時間，但我們認為市場正在趨於穩定，並且隨著國內需求的上升和液化天然氣外賣開始上線，預計在 2025 年某個時候會有一些上行空間。

On the oil front, we observed a slight softening of activity during the third quarter, primarily driven by customer-specific M&A and ongoing natural gas takeaway constraints from the Permian Basin.

在石油方面，我們觀察到第三季的活動略有疲軟，這主要是由於特定客戶的併購以及二疊紀盆地持續的天然氣外運限制所致。

Going forward, we expect all activity will remain steady into next year. Over the past couple of years, our customers have been less responsive to fluctuations in oil prices, which has reduced the cyclicality of our business. When oil prices declined towards the end of the third quarter, we did not see any change in customer plans, and we do not expect our customers to change their plans absent an extended move in the commodity relative to what we have seen recently.

展望未來，我們預計明年所有活動都將保持穩定。過去幾年，我們的客戶對油價波動的反應較不敏感，這降低了我們業務的周期性。當油價在第三季末下跌時，我們沒有看到客戶計劃有任何變化，我們預計，如果商品價格相對於我們最近看到的情況沒有大幅波動，我們的客戶也不會改變他們的計劃。

This stability has been an advantage as we make long-term plans for our business, and we have maintained a disciplined approach to capital deployment. Even in the challenging market we have seen in the second half of this year, we are generating strong free cash flow. Looking ahead, we anticipate average activity in 2025 will be slightly below 2024 with our rig count essentially steady from current levels.

當我們為我們的業務制定長期計劃時，這種穩定性一直是一個優勢，我們一直保持嚴格的資本部署方法。即使在今年下半年充滿挑戰的市場中，我們仍然產生了強勁的自由現金流。展望未來，我們預計 2025 年的平均活動將略低於 2024 年，而我們的鑽機數量將基本穩定於目前的水平。

There is some potential for modest improvements in natural gas markets later next year, although we are not planning for it at this time based on industry LNG facility delays. We are working to ensure that the company has the appropriate cost structure for this environment. We think there is room for Patterson-UTI to capitalize on future opportunities as the market evolves while still generating strong free cash flow. We are committed to returning cash to shareholders.

明年晚些時候，天然氣市場有可能出現適度改善，但由於該行業液化天然氣設施的延誤，我們目前尚未對此做出計劃。我們正在努力確保公司擁有適合這種環境的成本結構。我們認為，隨著市場的發展，Patterson-UTI 有空間利用未來的機會，同時仍產生強勁的自由現金流。我們致力於向股東返還現金。

In our drilling services segment, we saw a slight reduction in our rig count early in the third quarter, mainly due to customer M&A and oil basins. Our natural gas drilling activity saw a slight increase as the quarter progressed. Once again, our adjusted daily gross margin exceeded expectations. Revenue per day continues to remain stable while we continue to focus on our cost structure, demonstrating our commitment to return on capital even in a challenging market.

在鑽井服務領域，第三季初我們的鑽機數量略有減少，這主要是由於客戶併購和油田的影響。隨著本季的進展，我們的天然氣鑽探活動略有增加。我們調整後的每日毛利率再次超出預期。每日收入持續保持穩定，同時我們繼續專注於成本結構，這表明我們即使在充滿挑戰的市場中也致力於實現資本回報。

In the US, we began the fourth quarter operating 107 rigs and are currently operating 105 rigs. We believe our rig count is likely to remain steady through the rest of the year with steady activity in both oil and natural gas basins. For the industry, we see the potential for the overall rig count to move somewhat lower, while at the same time, the industry continues to move towards Tier 1 rigs. This provides a steady level of activity for our company compared to the overall industry. We believe we operate one of the highest quality rig fleets in the US.

在美國，我們從第四季開始營運 107 台鑽孔機，目前正在運作 105 台鑽孔機。我們相信，隨著石油和天然氣盆地的活動穩定，今年剩餘時間我們的鑽機數量可能會保持穩定。對於該行業而言，我們認為整體鑽機數量有可能有所下降，同時該行業繼續向一級鑽機發展。與整個行業相比，這為我們公司提供了穩定的活動水平。我們相信我們運營著美國質量最高的鑽機隊之一。

In completion services, revenue was up slightly sequentially as we saw a mix shift towards more integrated services. Although we did see some unplanned gaps that impacted fixed cost leverage and caused the segment adjusted gross profit to decline sequentially. Natural gas completion activity was up compared to the second quarter. We anticipate that completion activity will decline sequentially in the fourth quarter on a combination of the usual holiday seasonality and also slowing completion activity as customers look to maintain their budgets.

在完井服務方面，收入環比略有增長，因為我們看到混合服務轉向更全面的服務。儘管我們確實看到一些計劃外的缺口影響了固定成本槓桿，並導致該部門調整後的毛利連續下降。天然氣完工量較第二季增加。我們預計，由於通常的假期季節性因素以及客戶希望維持預算而導致的完工活動放緩，第四季度的完工活動將連續下降。

We continue to see strong financial results from our electric fleets that have been fully deployed, which are delivering higher-than-average returns compared to the completion services segment average. We should see the percentage of pump hours generated by our electric frac equipment to increase again in the fourth quarter. Even as we recently lowered our 2024 CapEx expectation, we increased our electric horsepower to 155,000 in the fourth quarter as we continue to high-grade our fleet.

我們繼續看到我們已全面部署的電動車隊取得了強勁的財務業績，與竣工服務部門的平均回報率相比，這些車隊的回報率高於平均水平。我們應該會看到電動壓裂設備產生的泵浦時數百分比在第四季度再次增加。儘管我們最近降低了 2024 年資本支出預期，但隨著我們繼續對機隊進行升級，我們在第四季度將電動馬力增加至 155,000 馬力。

In the year since we merged the completion businesses of NexTier and Patterson-UTI, we are pleased with our performance during this time given industry trends. We have maintained capital discipline relative to our peers while also upgrading our fleet, and this has contributed significantly to the strong free cash flow generation of the company. We believe our entire fleet of horsepower is one of the highest quality in the industry with approximately 80% being able to be powered by natural gas.

自從我們合併 NexTier 和 Patterson-UTI 的完井業務以來，考慮到行業趨勢，我們對這段時間的表現感到滿意。相對於同行，我們保持了資本紀律，同時也升級了我們的機隊，這為公司強勁的自由現金流產生做出了重大貢獻。我們相信，我們的整個馬力機隊是業內最高品質的車隊之一，其中約 80% 能夠由天然氣提供動力。

Over the past year, we have made significant investments in our business to secure future work while simultaneously delivering strong free cash flow for our investors. This dual focus on technology growth and financial discipline underscores our commitment to enhancing shareholder value in a competitive landscape.

在過去的一年裡，我們對我們的業務進行了大量投資，以確保未來的工作，同時為我們的投資者提供強勁的自由現金流。對技術成長和財務紀律的雙重關注凸顯了我們在競爭環境中提高股東價值的承諾。

Results in our drilling products segment remained strong with revenue in the US improving sequentially even as the industry rig count declined. In addition, the team has done an excellent job outperforming the broader market through superior customer service. Over the past year, one of the most exciting developments has been the coordination between our drilling services teams and our drilling products team.

儘管行業鑽機數量下降，但我們的鑽井產品部門的業績仍然強勁，美國的收入持續成長。此外，團隊透過卓越的客戶服務表現出色，跑贏大盤。在過去的一年裡，最令人興奮的發展之一是我們的鑽井服務團隊和鑽井產品團隊之間的協調。

Since we closed the Ulterra transaction last year, the market share of our drill bits on our own rigs has increased by more than 10%, which shows a strong industrial logic to this M&A. We think there is still significant upside as we see the opportunity to deliver a unique product to our customers.

自從我們去年完成Ulterra交易以來，我們自有鑽機上的鑽頭市場份額已經增長了10%以上，這表明這次併購具有很強的產業邏輯。我們認為仍有很大的上升空間，因為我們看到了向客戶提供獨特產品的機會。

On the international front, we are also excited to have signed a previously announced joint venture agreement in the UAE with subsidiaries of ADNOC Drilling and SLB. We will hold a 15% interest in a newly created company named Turnwell Industries, which has been awarded a contract to drill and complete 144 unconventional wells for ADNOC. We will provide expertise as ADNOC begins what we believe will be a groundbreaking project that could result in multiple years of unconventional drilling and completion activity, and our participation allows us to gain a valuable presence in the region with a limited capital contribution.

在國際方面，我們也很高興與 ADNOC Drilling 和 SLB 的子公司在阿聯酋簽署了先前宣布的合資協議。我們將持有一家名為 Turnwell Industries 的新公司 15% 的權益，該公司已獲得為 ADNOC 鑽探和完井 144 口非常規井的合約。隨著阿布達比國家石油公司開始我們認為將是一個開創性的項目，我們將提供專業知識，該項目可能會導致多年的非常規鑽探和完井活動，我們的參與使我們能夠以有限的資本投入在該地區獲得寶貴的影響力。

I'll now turn it over to Andy Smith, who will review the financial results for the third quarter.

我現在將其交給安迪史密斯，他將審查第三季的財務表現。

Thanks, Andy. Total reported revenue for the quarter was $1,357 million. We reported a net loss attributable to common shareholders of $979 million or $2.50 per share in the third quarter. This included an $885 million impairment of goodwill, a $114 million asset retirement charge and $7 million in merger and integration expenses. Excluding the goodwill impairment, asset retirement charge and merger and integration expenses, our adjusted net income would have been $2 million.

謝謝，安迪。該季度報告的總收入為 13.57 億美元。我們報告第三季普通股股東淨虧損為 9.79 億美元，即每股 2.50 美元。其中包括 8.85 億美元的商譽減損、1.14 億美元的資產報廢費用以及 700 萬美元的合併整合費用。不包括商譽減損、資產報廢費用以及合併和整合費用，我們調整後的淨利潤將為 200 萬美元。

Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter totaled $275 million, which also excludes the previously mentioned special items. Our weighted average share count was 392 million shares during Q3, and we exited the quarter with 390 million shares outstanding. As previously noted, during the third quarter, we reported an $885 million charge related to the impairment of goodwill that was recorded with the NexTier merger. The merger was a stock-for-stock transaction that was negotiated at a zero premium to the market price of a share of next year at the time of the deal announcement on June 15, 2023.

該季度調整後 EBITDA 總計 2.75 億美元，其中還不包括前面提到的特殊項目。第三季我們的加權平均股數為 3.92 億股，本季結束時流通股數為 3.90 億股。如前所述，在第三季度，我們報告了與 NexTier 合併記錄的商譽減損相關的 8.85 億美元費用。此次合併為股票換股票交易，談判價格較 2023 年 6 月 15 日交易公告時明年的股票市場價格為零溢價。

The recorded equity consideration was based on Patterson-UTI's share price at the time the transaction closed on September 1, 2023, which was 34% higher relative to the announcement date. This higher share price resulted in higher recorded equity consideration, leading to the recognition of goodwill from the transaction, the goodwill impairment related to our completion services reporting segment.

記錄的股權對價是根據 2023 年 9 月 1 日交易結束時 Patterson-UTI 的股價計算的，較公告日期上漲 34%。較高的股價導致記錄的股權對價較高，從而從交易中確認商譽，即與我們的竣工服務報告部門相關的商譽減損。

On a periodic basis, we evaluate our fleet of drilling rigs for marketability based on the condition of inactive rigs, expenditures that would be necessary to bring in active rigs to working condition, and the expected demand for drilling services by rig type. The components comprising rigs that will no longer be marketed are evaluated and those components with continuing utility to our other marketed rigs are transferred to other rigs or to our yards to be used as spare equipment. The remaining components of these rigs are retired.

我們定期根據閒置鑽機的狀況、使活動鑽機恢復正常工作所需的支出以及按鑽機類型劃分的鑽井服務的預期需求，評估我們的鑽機機隊的適銷性。對不再銷售的鑽孔機組成的零件進行評估，並將那些對我們其他銷售的鑽孔機繼續有用的零件轉移到其他鑽孔機或我們的船廠作為備用設備。這些鑽孔機的其餘零件已退役。

In the third quarter of 2024, we identified 42 legacy non-Tier 1 rigs and equipment to be retired. Given our updated view on the outlook for industry drilling activity in the US, we believe these rigs have limited commercial opportunity and are unlikely to ever return to work with our significant capital investment. We recorded a $114 million charge related to this retirement in the third quarter of 2024.

2024 年第三季度，我們確定了 42 個傳統非一級鑽孔機和設備將退役。鑑於我們對美國工業鑽探活動前景的最新看法，我們認為這些鑽井平台的商業機會有限，並且不太可能在我們大量資本投資的情況下恢復工作。我們在 2024 年第三季記錄了與此退休相關的 1.14 億美元費用。

During the first nine months of the year, we generated $322 million of free cash flow with more than $100 million generated in the third quarter. During the third quarter, we returned $71 million to shareholders, including an $0.08 per share dividend and $40 million used to repurchase more than 4 million shares.

今年前 9 個月，我們產生了 3.22 億美元的自由現金流，其中第三季產生了超過 1 億美元。第三季度，我們向股東返還了 7,100 萬美元，其中包括每股 0.08 美元的股息以及用於回購超過 400 萬股股票的 4,000 萬美元。

In the fourth full quarter since we closed the NexTier merger and Ulterra acquisition, we have used $346 million to repurchase shares. This is in addition to reducing net debt, including leases and paying a steady dividend. Our cash returned to shareholders in the first full quarter since the NexTier merger and Ulterra acquisition closed, totaled 15% of the current market cap, while our net debt, including leases over that same time is down 7%. We have lowered our share count by 7% over that same time period.

自從我們完成 NexTier 合併和 Ulterra 收購以來的第四個完整季度，我們已使用 3.46 億美元回購股票。除此之外，還減少了淨債務，包括租賃和支付穩定的股息。自 NexTier 合併和 Ulterra 收購結束以來，我們在第一個完整季度向股東返還的現金總計佔當前市值的 15%，而我們的淨債務（包括同期的租賃）下降了 7%。同期我們將股份數量減少了 7%。

In our drilling services segment, third quarter revenue was $422 million and adjusted gross profit totaled $171 million. In US contract drilling, we totaled 9,870 operating days. Average rig revenue per day was $36,000, with average rig operating cost per day of $19,900. The average adjusted rig gross profit per day was $16,100. We continue to see a relatively steady revenue per day with mostly steady recent pricing for our top-tier assets. We also saw a sequential improvement in our cost per day during the quarter.

在我們的鑽井服務部門，第三季營收為 4.22 億美元，調整後毛利總計 1.71 億美元。在美國合約鑽井中，我們的作業天數總計為 9,870 天。平均每天的鑽孔機收入為 36,000 美元，平均每天的鑽機營運成本為 19,900 美元。調整後的鑽孔機平均每日毛利為 16,100 美元。我們繼續看到每日收入相對穩定，我們的頂級資產近期定價基本上穩定。我們也看到本季每天的成本連續改善。

On September 30, we had contracts for drilling rigs in the US, providing for approximately $401 million of future day rate drilling revenue. Based on contracts currently in place, we expect an average of 58 rigs operating under term contracts during the fourth quarter of 2024 at an average of 33 rigs operating under term contracts over the four quarters ending September 30, 2025.

9 月 30 日，我們在美國簽訂了鑽機合同，提供約 4.01 億美元的未來日費率鑽探收入。根據現有合同，我們預計 2024 年第四季度平均有 58 座鑽機根據定期合約運營，截至 2025 年 9 月 30 日的四個季度平均有 33 座鑽機根據定期合約運營。

In our other drilling services businesses besides US contract drilling, which is mostly international contract drilling and Directional Drilling, third quarter revenue was $66 million with an adjusted gross profit of $11 million. We saw an improvement in our Directional Drilling results compared to the second quarter, driven by market share gains and higher margins. For the fourth quarter in US contract drilling, we expect to average 106 active rigs with adjusted gross profit per operating day of slightly less than $15,000.

除了美國合約鑽井（主要是國際合約鑽井和定向鑽井）之外，我們的其他鑽井服務業務第三季收入為 6,600 萬美元，調整後毛利為 1,100 萬美元。與第二季相比，在市佔率成長和利潤率提高的推動下，我們的定向鑽井績效有所改善。對於第四季度美國合約鑽井，我們預計平均有 106 個活躍鑽機，調整後每個工作日的毛利將略低於 15,000 美元。

The reduction in margins is a function of contract churn in the drilling business as our contract book continues to reset to the current market rate. However, we are encouraged by the resiliency of recent term contract rates. Aside from US contract drilling, we expect other drilling services adjusted gross profit to be down slightly compared to the third quarter.

利潤率的下降是鑽井業務合約流失的結果，因為我們的合約帳簿繼續重置為當前市場利率。然而，近期定期合約費率的彈性令我們感到鼓舞。除美國合約鑽井外，我們預計其他鑽井服務調整後毛利將較第三季小幅下降。

Revenue for the third quarter in our completion services segment totaled $832 million with an adjusted gross profit of $128 million. We saw a slight increase in revenue on a shift towards more jobs with additional completion-related integration services. However, several of our fleets experienced unplanned gaps, which impacted fixed cost leverage on those fleets compared to the second quarter.

竣工服務部門第三季營收總計 8.32 億美元，調整後毛利為 1.28 億美元。我們看到，由於透過額外的完成相關整合服務轉向更多工作，收入略有增加。然而，我們的一些機隊出現了計劃外的缺口，與第二季度相比，這影響了這些機隊的固定成本槓桿。

The higher revenue was mostly a function of an increase in activity in natural gas basins relative to the second quarter. During the fourth quarter, we expect to see lower pumping hours compared to the third quarter as our customers flex completion activity to maintain spending within their budgets, while there is also additional downtime associated with normal holiday seasonality. For the fourth quarter, we expect completion services adjusted gross profit to be approximately $85 million.

收入增加主要是由於天然氣盆地活動相對第二季度增加。與第三季相比，我們預計第四季度的抽油時間會減少，因為我們的客戶會靈活完成活動以將支出維持在預算範圍內，同時還會出現與正常假期季節相關的額外停機時間。對於第四季度，我們預計竣工服務調整後毛利約為 8,500 萬美元。

We believe the completion services segment is likely to see higher adjusted gross profit in the first half of 2025 relative to our expectations for the second half of this year. Third quarter drilling products revenue totaled $89 million, which was a 4% increase sequentially. Adjusted gross profit was $42 million. The higher sequential improvement in revenue was mostly the result of the resumption of normal activity in Canada following normal spring breakup.

我們認為，相較於今年下半年的預期，竣工服務板塊 2025 年上半年的調整後毛利可能會更高。第三季鑽井產品營收總計 8,900 萬美元，較上一季成長 4%。調整後毛利為 4,200 萬美元。收入的環比改善主要是由於加拿大在春季正常解散後恢復了正常活動。

In the US, we saw higher revenue and margins even on a lower US industry rig count as our US operations continue to see strong share gains in margins. For the fourth quarter, we expect a slight sequential increase in drilling products revenue and adjusted gross profit compared to the third quarter, driven by growth in our international business, while revenue in the US business is expected to decline slightly on a lower industry rig count.

在美國，即使美國工業鑽機數量較少，我們也看到了更高的收入和利潤，因為我們的美國業務的利潤份額繼續強勁增長。對於第四季度，在國際業務成長的推動下，我們預計鑽井產品收入和調整後毛利與第三季度相比將略有環比增長，而由於行業鑽機數量減少，預計美國業務收入將略有下降。

Other revenue totaled $15 million for the quarter with $5 million in adjusted gross profit. We expect other fourth quarter revenue and adjusted gross profit to be flat with the third quarter.

該季度其他收入總計 1500 萬美元，調整後毛利為 500 萬美元。我們預計第四季其他收入和調整後毛利將與第三季持平。

Reported selling, general and administrative expenses in the third quarter were $65 million. For Q4, we expect SG&A expenses of approximately $65 million. On a consolidated basis for the third quarter, total depreciation, depletion, amortization and impairment expense excluding the goodwill impairment totaled $375 million, of which $114 million was from the previously mentioned drilling rig asset retirement. For the fourth quarter, we expect total depreciation, depletion, amortization and impairment expense of approximately $255 million.

第三季報告的銷售、一般和管理費用為 6,500 萬美元。對於第四季度，我們預計 SG&A 費用約為 6500 萬美元。在第三季合併基礎上，不包括商譽減損的折舊、消耗、攤銷和減損費用總額為3.75億美元，其中1.14億美元來自前面提到的鑽機資產報廢。我們預計第四季的折舊、消耗、攤提和減損費用總額約為 2.55 億美元。

During Q3, total CapEx was $181 million, including $69 million in drilling services, $87 million in completion services, $16 million in drilling products and $8 million in other at corporate. For the fourth quarter, we expect total CapEx of roughly $150 million, which brings our full year CapEx expectation to around $690 million. We are proud of the way we have managed our CapEx in 2024, and our CapEx this year is expected to come in materially below our original budget.

第三季度，資本支出總額為 1.81 億美元，其中包括 6,900 萬美元的鑽井服務、8,700 萬美元的完井服務、1,600 萬美元的鑽井產品和 800 萬美元的其他公司支出。對於第四季度，我們預計總資本支出約為 1.5 億美元，這使得我們全年資本支出預期達到 6.9 億美元左右。我們對 2024 年資本支出的管理方式感到自豪，預計今年的資本支出將大大低於我們的原始預算。

Yet we are exiting the year with more next-generation electric horsepower than what we expected in the original budget and one of the highest quality drilling rig fleets in the industry. We will continue to make targeted investments in next-generation equipment across all our businesses while also maintaining a strict focus on capital discipline.

然而，今年結束時，我們將擁有比我們最初預算預期更多的下一代電動馬力，以及業內最高品質的鑽機隊之一。我們將繼續對所有業務的下一代設備進行有針對性的投資，同時嚴格關注資本紀律。

We closed Q3 with nothing drawn on our $615 million revolving credit facility as well as a $115 million cash in -- cash on hand. We do not have any senior note maturities until 2028. All three rating agencies have recently affirmed our investment-grade credit rating. The investment-grade rating allows us to maintain a lower cost of capital, and we are focused on managing our capital structure in a way that protects our credit rating. We expect to generate another quarter of strong free cash flow in the fourth quarter. We still expect approximately 40% of our adjusted EBITDA to convert to free cash flow in 2024, including customer prepayments we received in 2023 for work performed in 2024.

截至第三季度，我們的 6.15 億美元循環信貸額度以及 1.15 億美元現金（庫存現金）均未提取任何資金。2028 年之前我們沒有任何優先票據到期日。三大評等機構最近均確認了我們的投資等級信用評等。投資等級評級使我們能夠保持較低的資本成本，並且我們專注於以保護我們的信用評級的方式管理我們的資本結構。我們預計第四季將再產生強勁的自由現金流。我們仍預期 2024 年調整後 EBITDA 的約 40% 將轉化為自由現金流，包括我們在 2023 年收到的 2024 年工作的客戶預付款。

Our Board has approved an $0.08 per share dividend for Q4. Year-to-date through the third quarter, we have returned $366 million to shareholders consisting of $270 million for share repurchases and $96 million for dividends. After we pay our dividend in Q4, we will have reached our goal to return at least $400 million to our shareholders in 2024. We are continuing to explore all uses of cash, including the option to further accelerate our share repurchases.

我們的董事會已批准第四季每股股息 0.08 美元。年初至今，截至第三季度，我們已向股東返還 3.66 億美元，其中 2.7 億美元用於股票回購，9,600 萬美元用於股息。在第四季度支付股息後，我們將實現在 2024 年向股東返還至少 4 億美元的目標。我們正在繼續探索現金的所有用途，包括進一步加速股票回購的選擇。

I'll now turn it back over to Andy Hendricks for closing remarks.

現在我將把它轉回給安迪·亨德里克斯做總結發言。

Thanks, Andy. I want to close on a few key takeaways. First, we're excited about the service and product capabilities that we now have at Patterson-UTI and are proud of the teams for all they have accomplished over the last year to integrate the businesses and work together.

謝謝，安迪。我想以一些關鍵要點作為結束語。首先，我們對 Patterson-UTI 現在擁有的服務和產品能力感到興奮，並為團隊在過去一年中在業務整合和合作方面所取得的成就感到自豪。

We have created an important company in the oilfield services market, which has an unparalleled offering in drilling and completions. On the macro in Q4 in contract drilling, I expect that the overall industry rig count will see some declines in the fourth quarter as smaller E&Ps slow for year-end before possibly increasing in the first half of 2025. While at the same time, our Patterson-UTI Tier 1 high-spec rig count will be relatively steady. This is primarily due to the larger drilling programs that we are involved in and the continuing high grading of industry rigs to Tier 1 high-spec rigs.

我們創建了一家油田服務市場上的重要公司，在鑽井和完井領域提供無與倫比的服務。就合約鑽井第四季的宏觀情況而言，我預計第四季度整個行業鑽機數量將出現一些下降，因為小型勘探和生產活動在年底放緩，然後可能在 2025 年上半年增加。同時，我們的 Patterson-UTI Tier 1 高規格鑽孔機數量將相對穩定。這主要是由於我們參與了規模更大的鑽井項目，以及工業鑽機不斷升級為一級高規格鑽機。

In our Completions business, while the fourth quarter shows a seasonal slowdown, we do not think this is an accurate representation of the way the market will take shape throughout 2025. As we move through negotiations for work in 2025, there are many things that we believe are working to our advantage. We think our top-tier assets are positioned to remain well utilized even as the lower end of the industry fleet continues to fall off.

在我們的竣工業務中，雖然第四季度出現季節性放緩，但我們認為這並不能準確反映 2025 年市場的形成方式。當我們進行 2025 年工作談判時，我們認為有很多事情對我們有利。我們認為，即使產業中的低端資產持續下滑，我們的頂級資產仍將保持良好的利用率。

Given the higher capital intensity on the average fleet, there is likely to be very little spare capacity in the high-end natural gas-powered portion of our fleet. Said simply, the completions dynamic in Q4 is not indicative of the frac demand setup for 2025 and demand for the high end of the frac fleet could tighten as we move through 2025.

鑑於平均機隊的資本密集度較高，我們機隊中高階天然氣動力部分的閒置產能可能很少。簡而言之，第四季的完工動態並不代表 2025 年的壓裂需求，隨著 2025 年的到來，對高階壓裂船隊的需求可能會收緊。

As I previously mentioned, even though we have not worked through a budget process for next year, we believe that the average activity levels in 2025 in the US could be slightly lower than the activity in 2024. And with the rig count essentially stable from where we are today. As such, we will ensure that the company is appropriately structured for the level of activity. I anticipate that total CapEx for 2025 will be lower than our 2024 CapEx, and we will continue to invest in technologies where we get higher returns. We are focused on cash conversions in each of our segments. We are rationalizing our asset base and are no longer investing in certain assets that we do not believe will be competitive going forward.

正如我之前提到的，儘管我們尚未制定明年的預算流程，但我們認為美國 2025 年的平均活動水平可能會略低於 2024 年的活動水平。鑽機數量與今天相比基本穩定。因此，我們將確保公司的結構適合其活動水平。我預計 2025 年的總資本支出將低於 2024 年的資本支出，我們將繼續投資於可以獲得更高回報的技術。我們專注於每個細分市場的現金轉換。我們正在合理化我們的資產基礎，並不再投資於我們認為未來不具競爭力的某些資產。

We have retired 42 rigs that have been idle for more than three years. Additionally, we are retiring and decommissioning nearly 400,000 horsepower of older Tier 2 diesel frac equipment this year. And even with the new build electric equipment, we will have reduced our completions fleet by about 10% to 3 million-horsepower by year-end. We do not see a path to making a return investing in these uncompetitive assets for Patterson-UTI or even for other players in the industry. Therefore, we are taking a leadership role to reduce the supply of equipment in what is currently an oversupplied market.

我們已經退役了 42 台閒置超過三年的鑽孔機。此外，我們今年還將退役和退役近 40 萬馬力的舊 Tier 2 柴油壓裂設備。即使使用新建的電力設備，到年底我們的完工機隊數量仍將減少約 10%，達到 300 萬馬力。對於 Patterson-UTI 甚至業界其他參與者來說，我們看不到透過投資這些缺乏競爭力的資產來獲得回報的途徑。因此，我們正在發揮領導作用，在目前供應過剩的市場中減少設備供應。

At Patterson-UTI, the benefits of size, scale and integration are apparent in our ability to deliver best-in-class service to our customers. As our customers become more focused on data and make database decisions, we are increasingly optimistic that service quality and depth of offering will be a heavy driver of contractor selection, which should be a tailwind for our Drilling and Completions wellsite integration program. While the low-hanging fruit from NexTier and Ulterra transaction has been realized, there are still significant operational and commercial synergies remaining, and we are just starting to realize the full benefit of our capabilities.

在 Patterson-UTI，規模、規模和整合的優勢在我們為客戶提供一流服務的能力中顯而易見。隨著我們的客戶越來越關注數據並做出資料庫決策，我們越來越樂觀地認為，服務品質和服務深度將成為承包商選擇的重要驅動力，這應該成為我們的鑽井和完井井場整合計劃的推動力。雖然 NexTier 和 Ulterra 交易的唾手可得的成果已經實現，但仍然存在重大的營運和商業協同效應，我們才剛開始實現我們能力的全部優勢。

We have a strong balance sheet and an investment-grade capital structure, and we expect to continue to deliver strong free cash flow while also advancing our technical capabilities. We will continue to use our capital to look to drive incremental returns for our shareholders, which could potentially include accelerating our shareholder repurchases.

我們擁有強大的資產負債表和投資等級資本結構，我們預計將繼續提供強勁的自由現金流，同時提高我們的技術能力。我們將繼續利用我們的資本為股東帶來增量回報，其中可能包括加速股東回購。

With that, we'd now like to open the lines for Q&A, and I'll hand it over to Prilla.

至此，我們現在要開始問答環節，我將把它交給 Prilla。

(Operator Instructions) Scott Gruber, Citigroup.

（操作員指示）Scott Gruber，花旗集團。

Andy, you mentioned higher gross profit in the first half of next year for Completion, which seems very reasonable given the kind of exaggerated seasonality you have here in 4Q, and certainly aligns with your flattish drilling activity forecast. But just thinking about where the run rate kind of profit margins for the business lands early next year, can you provide any color on where you think that lands? I realize there's a lot of moving pieces today, so feel free to provide a range. But curious whether you can get back to the 3Q level of profit next year after we work through the seasonality? So kind of thinking about 2Q next year. Can you get back to what you guys just printed here in 3Q?

安迪，您提到明年上半年竣工的毛利更高，考慮到第四季度誇大的季節性，這似乎非常合理，並且肯定與您持平的鑽井活動預測相符。但只要想想明年初該業務的運行率利潤率會達到什麼水平，你能提供任何你認為的利潤率的顏色嗎？我意識到今天有很多令人感動的事情，所以請隨意提供一個範圍。但好奇明年我們度過季節性後能否恢復到第三季的利潤水準？所以有點考慮明年第二季的情況。您能回顧一下你們剛剛在第三季印製的內容嗎？

Yes. So as we look at Q4, we certainly are seeing a reduction in the activity. But as I mentioned, we don't think that's indicative of what's going to happen next year. We think that the start of the year brings a reset, and I think you'll see, especially for our Completions business, a lot of equipment go back to work. And I think the pace of that is still not clear, but we do think over the first half of the year, it's going to move back up to where we've had it kind of midyear this year.

是的。因此，當我們觀察第四季度時，我們肯定會看到活動減少。但正如我所提到的，我們認為這並不預示明年會發生什麼。我們認為今年年初會帶來一次重置，我想你會看到，特別是對於我們的完井業務來說，很多設備恢復工作。我認為這一速度仍不清楚，但我們確實認為在今年上半年，它將回到今年年中的水平。

So we think it's relatively steady after that ramp-up as well. So in terms of margin and profitability, we're certainly looking at the structure of the company. As I mentioned, we believe that the overall setup for 2025 in activity is slightly lower than what we've seen in 2024. And we are looking at the structure of the company, and we've already made some moves on that.

因此，我們認為在成長之後它也相對穩定。因此，就利潤率和獲利能力而言，我們當然會關注公司的結構。正如我所提到的，我們認為 2025 年的整體活動設定略低於我們在 2024 年看到的情況。我們正在研究公司的結構，我們已經對此採取了一些行動。

So we do think that there's certainly lots of room to improve profitability over what we're going to see in Q4 because that's really an anomaly with the customers that are slowing down for the quarter. So profitability in the margins will move up, and we're certainly going to target margins that we had kind of mid-level of this year.

因此，我們確實認為，與我們在第四季度看到的情況相比，獲利能力肯定還有很大的提高空間，因為這對於本季客戶成長放緩來說確實是一個反常現象。因此，利潤率的獲利能力將會上升，我們肯定會達到今年中等水準的利潤率目標。

I appreciate that. And I just wanted to turn to the Turnwell JV. It's certainly a very interesting development. And it sounds like your participation is going to be somewhat modest here near term. But can you provide some color on how you'll be participating near term? Is that just advisory? I don't believe you're contributing rigs or pumps, but is there an opportunity to pull through bids? And then longer term, would you look to have your participation evolve? Would you aim to provide rigs longer term? So just some more color on the JV, that would be great.

我很欣賞這一點。我只是想求助於 Turnwell JV。這當然是一個非常有趣的發展。聽起來你的參與近期會比較溫和。但您能否透露您近期將如何參與？這只是建議嗎？我不相信你們會提供鑽孔機或泵，但是有機會通過投標嗎？從長遠來看，您會希望您的參與不斷發展嗎？您的目標是長期提供鑽孔機嗎？因此，只要在合資企業上再添加一些顏色，那就太好了。

Yes. So we're really excited about the opportunities with this JV. We're excited to participate in this project, which is moving the needle for production for ADNOC over time over the long term as they seek to develop their unconventional resources. I'm pleased that they wanted to work with us as a partner in this process.

是的。因此，我們對與這家合資企業合作的機會感到非常興奮。我們很高興參與這個項目，從長遠來看，該項目將推動 ADNOC 的生產，因為他們尋求開發非常規資源。我很高興他們想在這個過程中作為合作夥伴與我們合作。

So we're initially providing expertise, which we've already started to move some people over in that direction since signing the JV to plan to go forward. And so for now, it's going to be expertise, and we'll slowly add people into that system over there to help them with their program. There's already a number of rigs that ADNOC drilling owns that are currently working on the project.

因此，我們最初是提供專業知識，自從簽署合資企業以來，我們已經開始將一些人帶到這個方向，並計劃繼續推進。所以現在，這將是專業知識，我們將慢慢地將人員添加到那裡的系統中，以幫助他們完成他們的計劃。阿布達比國家石油公司擁有的許多鑽井平台目前正在從事該計畫。

They are in discussions to increase the rig count. We may be a part of that. But one of the tenets of what we're doing in international markets is to be very careful with how we're deploying capital. the capital that we spend for growth has to clear the hurdle of simple things like buying back our own shares and other opportunities we may have in the US.

他們正在討論增加鑽孔機數量。我們可能是其中的一部分。但我們在國際市場上所做的事情的原則之一是非常謹慎地配置資本。我們用於成長的資本必須清除一些簡單事情的障礙，例如回購我們自己的股票以及我們在美國可能擁有的其他機會。

And so if we move rigs over there in that direction, it will be because it makes sense from a capital deployment standpoint. And also, it doesn't impact our plans to return cash to shareholders, which is our primary focus. So I would say that there could be that potential for us to do that. but we're still working through that at this time, and our priorities are still returning cash to shareholders.

因此，如果我們朝那個方向移動鑽井平台，那是因為從資本部署的角度來看這是有意義的。而且，它不會影響我們向股東返還現金的計劃，這是我們的主要關注點。所以我想說我們有潛力做到這一點。但目前我們仍在解決這個問題，我們的首要任務仍然是向股東返還現金。

Stephen Gengaro, Stifel.

史蒂芬·根加羅，斯蒂菲爾。

I think two for me, but maybe I'll start. You talked about retiring some frac, some older frac horsepower. And when you think about sort of the supply/demand for pressure pumping and you mentioned it's a bit oversupplied right now. How do you think about like the medium term sort of '25, '26, the type of attrition that you expect to see and kind of where maybe older versus new equipment fits in? And is there a way kind of how you gauge what industry attrition should look like to kind of get us back closer to balance?

我想有兩個，但也許我會開始。您談到了淘汰一些壓裂機，一些舊的壓裂機馬力。當您考慮壓力泵的供應/需求時，您提到現在有點供應過剩。您如何看待「25」、「26」的中期情況，您期望看到的消耗類型以及舊設備與新設備的適應情況？有沒有一種方法可以衡量產業的流失情況，讓我們更接近平衡？

I think overall, the industry is seeing attrition. We wanted to get out there and take a leadership role in making these announcements and saying that, look, we are taking out approximately 400,000 horsepower of the older equipment. At the same time, we've added at the high end of the spectrum with newer electric equipment. And so we think that this is prudent for us, it's prudent for the industry, and we expect others to do similar.

我認為總體而言，該行業正在經歷人員流失。我們希望走出去，在發布這些公告時發揮領導作用，並表示，看，我們正在淘汰大約 40 萬馬力的舊設備。同時，我們在高階產品中添加了更新的電氣設備。因此，我們認為這對我們和整個行業來說都是謹慎的，我們希望其他人也能這樣做。

I think that it depends on where you're working and the type of work you're doing. But if you're doing spot work in the Midland basin, you're not probably making enough returns to actually maintain your equipment. So you're naturally getting attrition at the same time from that. When you're like us, you're working on some of the larger programs for some of the bigger customers. We are maintaining our equipment, but it's going to be, in general, higher-end equipment. We have used some of that Tier 2 equipment from time to time during the year, but we didn't reinvest in the maintenance. And we just consumed it as we used it. And so that's how we see it.

我認為這取決於您在哪裡工作以及您所做的工作類型。但如果您在米德蘭盆地進行現場工作，您可能無法獲得足夠的回報來實際維護您的設備。所以你自然會同時受到磨損。當您像我們一樣時，您正在為一些較大的客戶開發一些較大的專案。我們正在維護我們的設備，但總的來說，它將是更高端的設備。我們在這一年中時不時地使用了一些二級設備，但我們沒有在維護上再投資。我們只是邊使用邊消耗它。這就是我們的看法。

I think we will -- if we're in a relatively flat market, which we believe we're going to see next year with a little bit of overall activity down, we're still going to use a little bit of Tier 2 here and there in the mix of our fleet, but we won't reinvest in it and we'll continue to consume it next year. And I think you're going to see the same from other companies as well. So I think overall, what you're seeing in the industry is near zero investment in that equipment because we're certainly not investing in it. And I think it's only the smaller players that own some that would continue to invest.

我認為我們會——如果我們處於一個相對平穩的市場，我們相信明年我們會看到整體活動略有下降，我們仍然會在這裡使用一點二級在我們的機隊中，但我們不會再投資它，明年我們將繼續消費它。我想你也會從其他公司看到同樣的情況。因此，我認為總體而言，您在該行業中看到的設備投資幾乎為零，因為我們肯定不會對其進行投資。我認為只有擁有一些股份的小型企業才會繼續投資。

The other thing you're seeing is a continued trend to higher amounts of horsepower per fleet. We're doing more simul-frac, we're doing the occasional simul-frac, and that's consuming horsepower as well. And so when you look at the overall industry activity, these kind of activities are massed with more of the larger pressure pumping companies doing more simul-frac and occasional trimul-frac.

您看到的另一件事是每個車隊的馬力持續增加的趨勢。我們正在進行更多的同步壓裂，我們偶爾會進行同步壓裂，這也會消耗馬力。因此，當你觀察整個行業活動時，會發現此類活動集中在更多大型壓力泵公司進行更多的同時壓裂和偶爾的三重壓裂。

And so I do believe that in 2025, it is going to be a tight market. We're not going to invest in the older equipment, so it's not going to be available to help fill in on some of the fleets when it might have been in the past, and it's going to cause a tightness from that standpoint. You've got higher amounts of horsepower per fleet with the larger programs. And the primary driver is natural gas. People want to use natural gas and essentially everything that we have that can burn natural gas is working. So that's how we see it. And I do think the market tightens as we work through 2025, even in a relatively flat market once we get going again in the new year.

因此，我確實相信，到 2025 年，市場將會緊張。我們不會投資舊設備，因此它無法幫助填補過去可能存在的一些艦隊，從這個角度來看，這將導致緊張。專案越大，每個車隊的馬力就越高。主要驅動力是天然氣。人們想要使用天然氣，基本上我們擁有的所有可以燃燒天然氣的東西都在工作。這就是我們的看法。我確實認為，隨著 2025 年的到來，市場將會收緊，即使在新的一年重新開始時市場相對穩定。

Yes, Stephen. I would add to that, I would add a little bit to that. But again, I think Andy said it right, that with higher -- with more equipment on site, again, also higher utilization of that equipment. I mean, we're pumping now 21-plus hours a day. So you've really gotten very efficient on site. But at the same time, that should or it stands to reason, and I can't quantify this for you today, but it stands to reason that should increase attrition. And we'll see that attrition at the lower end of the market on the less economic equipment, which today is the Tier 2 diesel stuff. So we think that across the industry, we'll see more of that coming out over the near term.

是的，史蒂芬。我想補充一點，我想補充一點。但同樣，我認為安迪說得對，現場設備數量更高，設備的利用率也更高。我的意思是，我們現在每天吸奶超過 21 小時。所以您在現場確實變得非常有效率。但同時，這應該或按理說是合理的，我今天無法為您量化這一點，但按理說，這應該會增加人員流失。我們將看到低端市場對經濟性較差的設備的消耗，這些設備今天是二級柴油設備。因此，我們認為在整個產業中，我們將在短期內看到更多這樣的產品出現。

Okay. That's very helpful. And then the other question I had was, back in the NexTier days, I know Matt and the team are working hard on kind of the integration of services at the wellsite and adding kind of incremental profitability there. Where does that stand right now kind of across the company-wide fleet?

好的。這非常有幫助。然後我遇到的另一個問題是，早在 NexTier 時代，我知道 Matt 和團隊正在努力整合井場的服務，並增加那裡的增量獲利能力。目前，這在整個公司範圍內處於什麼位置？

Yes. That's one thing NexTier done a great job of, with all the different service lines they had. So it wasn't just hydraulic fracturing. It was [case toll] Wireline, NexMile logistics, power solutions and moving natural gas, managing sand, contracts, et cetera, et cetera.

是的。這是 NexTier 做得很好的一件事，他們擁有各種不同的服務線。所以這不僅僅是水力壓裂。[案例收費] 有線、NexMile 物流、電力解決方案和天然氣運輸、沙子管理、合約等等。

As we merge Patterson-UTI next year together, we were missing those pieces on the legacy Patterson-UTI fleet. And there were some quick wins on that coming out of the gate post acquisition merger of the businesses. And then as we work through the year, we've seen more of that. There's still some more upside on that, but it's been a steady increase of various of the subsegments moving on to that fleet and further integrating over the last year.

當我們明年將帕特森-UTI 合併在一起時，我們遺漏了舊帕特森-UTI 機隊中的那些部分。在業務收購合併後，我們很快就取得了一些成果。隨著這一年的工作，我們看到了更多這樣的事。這還有更多的好處，但去年進入該機隊並進一步整合的各個細分市場一直在穩步增長。

Keith Mackey, RBC Capital Markets.

基思·麥基，加拿大皇家銀行資本市場部。

Maybe just wanted to start out on the free cash flow returns. Certainly has been a priority for Patterson. You're going to do the $400 million of returns this year. And I know it's early to start talking about 2025. But certainly, you have mentioned potentially accelerating free cash flow returns and buybacks on this call a couple of times.

也許只是想從自由現金流回報開始。當然，這是帕特森的首要任務。今年你將完成 4 億美元的回報。我知道現在開始談論 2025 年還為時過早。但當然，您在這次電話會議上多次提到了可能加速自由現金流回報和回購的可能性。

So maybe if you could just kind of frame out how we should be thinking about 2025? Is it 50% of free cash flow return? Is it relative to that $400 million number? And really just at this point, what is on and what is off the table? Is it free cash flow returns will come from free cash flow? Or could you potentially use debt to fund the buyback? Just how should we be thinking about the overall framework for next year? And I know it's early.

那麼，您是否可以概括一下我們該如何思考 2025 年？是自由現金流回報的50%嗎？它與 4 億美元的數字有關嗎？就在此時此刻，什麼是可行的，什麼是不可行的？自由現金流回報是否會來自於自由現金流？或者你可以使用債務來為回購提供資金嗎？我們該如何思考明年的整體框架？我知道現在還早。

Yes. Keith, this is Andy. It is early. We are kind of on the front end of our budget cycle going into next year. And so I'm not going to commit certainly to anything more than what we have said is our long-term commitment of 50% of free cash flow to shareholders. I can say that just in general, I don't foresee us going out and financing some kind of a buyback, doing any kind of a leverage recap through the debt markets. We're pretty -- again, as we said in the call, we're very comfortable with our investment-grade credit rating. We don't want to do anything to jeopardize that and a leverage recap would necessarily be kind of exactly the opposite of what you'd probably want to do, if that's your goal.

是的。基思，這是安迪。現在還早。我們正處於明年預算週期的前端。因此，除了我們所說的向股東提供 50% 自由現金流的長期承諾之外，我肯定不會做出任何其他承諾。我可以說，總的來說，我預計我們不會出去為某種回購融資，透過債務市場進行任何形式的槓桿回顧。正如我們在電話中所說，我們再次對我們的投資等級信用評級感到非常滿意。我們不想做任何危及這一點的事情，而槓桿回顧必然與您可能想要做的完全相反，如果這是您的目標的話。

So I don't really see that as being something that's applicable to us, but we'll give better guidance next quarter around what our actual goals are for 2025 once we've gone through our budget process and conferred with our Board.

因此，我並不認為這適用於我們，但一旦我們完成預算流程並與董事會協商，我們將在下個季度圍繞 2025 年的實際目標提供更好的指導。

One of the things we talked about is even though we see a slightly lower overall activity next year, that's also reduced CapEx. So we're still going to be producing strong free cash flow next year.

我們討論的一件事是，儘管我們看到明年的整體活動略有下降，但這也減少了資本支出。因此，明年我們仍將產生強勁的自由現金流。

Yes. Understood. Understood. Andy, just on the integrated job, I know that's -- you're getting close to finishing up the pad. Can you just talk maybe about some of the early lessons learned operationally and commercially? You've been very clear that this isn't bundling. Just curious to see how the reception of that has been from the customers? Do they see it that way as well?

是的。明白了。明白了。安迪，就綜合工作而言，我知道——你即將完成該工作簿。您能否談談早期在營運和商業方面學到的一些經驗教訓？您已經非常清楚地表明這不是捆綁銷售。只是想知道客戶對此的反應如何？他們也這麼看嗎？

Yes. What I'm hearing is that the customer is very pleased with what we've done in this whole process With all new things, there's certainly some bumps as you get started. But we've beat the curve on every well we've drilled so far on the pad and things are going really well in the overall process as we move over to completions.

是的。我聽到的是，客戶對我們在整個過程中所做的事情感到非常滿意。但到目前為止，我們在平台上鑽探的每一口井都已經突破了曲線，隨著我們進入完井階段，整個過程進展得非常順利。

And so overall, it's going really well. I think the most interesting thing about a project like this, and I think as we get into discussion for more, we'll really understand what that potential is. But we would not have necessarily run all of our services for this customer as we are doing today, if we hadn't presented this opportunity to them to allow us to allow our businesses to work together, integrate some workflows in some places and then try to see what their plans were and bring production forward.

總的來說，一切進展順利。我認為像這樣的專案最有趣的事情是，我認為當我們進行更多討論時，我們會真正理解這種潛力是什麼。但是，如果我們沒有向他們提供這個機會，讓我們的業務能夠協同工作，在某些地方集成一些工作流程，然後嘗試，我們不一定會像今天這樣為該客戶運行所有服務。推進生產。

And so the fact that we're running more services and selling more products from our businesses than we would have initially, to me, is probably the biggest win. And then, of course, we're going to get a bonus for outperforming at the same time. But excited about the potential.

因此，對我來說，我們的業務比最初運行更多的服務並銷售更多的產品，這可能是最大的勝利。當然，我們同時也會因為表現出色而獲得獎金。但對潛力感到興奮。

It's still early days. We're in some discussions with some other E&Ps who see what we're doing on this project. And again, as I said before, if you're a multinational E&P, this is probably not for you. You've probably got plenty of support in your offices where you may not need our help across the entire spectrum. But when you think about some of the mid-tier E&Ps in the US that may not be staffed the same as a multinational, and we offer some opportunities to bring in some extra expertise in different areas to bolster what they're doing and help them out and help bring production forward for them.

現在還為時過早。我們正在與其他一些勘探與生產公司進行討論，他們了解我們在這個項目上所做的事情。再說一遍，正如我之前所說，如果您是一家跨國勘探與生產公司，這可能不適合您。您的辦公室可能已經獲得了大量支持，但您可能不需要我們在整個範圍內提供協助。但是，當您想到美國的一些中型勘探與生產公司的人員配置可能與跨國公司不同時，我們提供了一些機會，引進不同領域的一些額外專業知識，以支持他們正在做的事情並幫助他們並幫助他們提高生產。

Ati Modak, Goldman Sachs.

阿蒂·莫達克，高盛。

So as you talk about the budget for the next year in terms of CapEx, I'm just curious about your approach to that. Do you have a target return that you are focused on and then back into the CapEx needs? Or are there certain CapEx components that might be relatively more rigid given the focus on gas power fleets?

因此，當您談論明年的資本支出預算時，我只是對您的處理方法感到好奇。您是否有一個關注的目標回報，然後再回到資本支出需求？或者，考慮到對燃氣動力車隊的關注，某些資本支出組件可能相對更加嚴格？

Yes. Again, we're just starting the budget process. I'm not going to get real specific about dollar values. But I will say, in general, we're pretty comfortable with operating in an environment where we're converting about 40% of our EBITDA to free cash flow. And so if you back into that based on whatever you sort of think about your projections for 2025, you can kind of come to a number. So that's really the framework that we're operating under today and that we'll continue, likely continue to operate under.

是的。再說一遍，我們才剛開始預算流程。我不會具體說明美元價值。但我要說的是，總的來說，我們對在將 40% 的 EBITDA 轉化為自由現金流的環境中運作感到非常滿意。因此，如果您根據對 2025 年預測的看法重新審視這一點，您就可以得出一個數字。這確實是我們今天所依據的框架，我們將繼續、很可能繼續在這個框架下運作。

Got it. And then you mentioned in the prepared comments that pumping hours on your electric fleets were pretty good. Any color you can provide on maybe what that number was for the electric fleets or what an average number is across the fleet mix today? How does that compare to last year and expectations for '25 as we work through efficiency improvements?

知道了。然後您在準備好的評論中提到，您的電動車隊的泵送時間非常好。您可以提供任何顏色來說明電動車隊的數字是多少，或者今天整個車隊的平均數字是多少嗎？當我們努力提高效率時，與去年和 25 年的預期相比如何？

Good question. I don't have all those numbers in front of me. I will tell you that as we gain more experience with the electric equipment, we've increased the amount of hours that we pumped. So they're very competitive with what we've done on Tier 4 DGB plus you get the higher substitution rates. So in general, it's working well.

好問題。我面前沒有所有這些數字。我會告訴您，隨著我們在電氣設備方面獲得更多經驗，我們增加了泵送時間。因此，它們與我們在 Tier 4 DGB 上所做的工作非常有競爭力，而且您可以獲得更高的替代率。所以總的來說，它運作得很好。

Everything that we do is pumping 20 to 21 hours a day at a minimum. And that's just really kind of the baseline expectation for all of our fleets that are out there working today. And the electric is certainly in that and moving up a little bit higher at the same time.

我們所做的一切都是每天至少吸奶 20 到 21 小時。這確實是我們今天在外工作的所有機隊的基本期望。電動車當然也在其中，同時價格也漲了一點。

Arun Jayaram, JPMorgan.

阿倫‧賈亞拉姆，摩根大通。

Andy, I wanted to start with Completions. Looking at the numbers, it does appear that PTEN has lost a bit of share in completions over the past few quarters. I was wondering if you could just comment on your thoughts on just share. How important do you think it is for PTEN to get its share back? And perhaps just your overall strategy during the current RFP season?

安迪，我想從完成開始。從這些數字來看，PTEN 在過去幾季的完工量份額上確實有所下降。我想知道你是否可以評論一下你的分享想法。您認為PTEN收回份額有多重要？也許只是您在當前 RFP 季節的整體策略？

Yes. I don't think we really lost any share. I think that some of it is customer mix and what different customers are doing with their plans. But share is certainly not our primary focus. Our primary focus is cash, it's dollars, it's margin. That's where our focus is. But I think you'll see things play out across 2025 that we'll be holding our own share. I think in the fourth quarter, you're just seeing some specific customer cases that we have where we've got customers that are, in some cases, wanting to spend less than what they had budgeted. But I think with the reset you'll see in '25, the increasing activity in the first half of '25 will show that we still have roughly the same share.

是的。我認為我們並沒有真正失去任何份額。我認為其中一些是客戶組合以及不同客戶正在執行的計劃。但分享當然不是我們的首要關注。我們的主要關注點是現金、美元、利潤。這就是我們的重點。但我認為，到 2025 年，你會看到我們將持有自己的份額。我認為在第四季度，您只會看到我們的一些特定客戶案例，在某些情況下，我們的客戶希望花費少於他們的預算。但我認為，隨著你將在 25 年看到的重置，25 年上半年不斷增加的活動將表明我們仍然擁有大致相同的份額。

Got it. Got it. And as we think about fourth quarter, a bit of an anomaly here. But as we think about the first half of next year, Andy, help us think about how many incremental fleets you expect to come back into the active fleet count for you? And just general thoughts on pricing conditions perhaps at the premium end of the market.

知道了。知道了。當我們想到第四季時，這裡有點反常。但是，當我們考慮明年上半年時，安迪，請幫助我們考慮一下您預計將有多少增量機隊重新回到活躍機隊中？只是對高端市場定價條件的一般想法。

I think that you've seen this year -- I'll start with the pricing. You've seen this year where pricing has been under pressure. We're still going through a bit of an RFP season across the industry. Could be a little bit more pressure as we get into '25. I think that pricing will really kind of stabilize as we start off 2025 and then that -- those events will be behind us.

我想你今年已經看到了——我將從定價開始。今年你已經看到定價面臨壓力。整個產業仍處於 RFP 季節。當我們進入 25 年後，壓力可能會更大一些。我認為，從 2025 年開始，定價將真正趨於穩定，然後這些事件就會成為過去。

In terms of fleets, I think what you'll see from us in overall activity level and active horsepower that it may not get back to where it was at the end of the first quarter. But by the end of the first half, I think we'll be back to where we were at a level that kind of reflects Q2, Q3 this year.

就機隊而言，我認為您將從我們的整體活動水平和活動馬力中看到，它可能不會回到第一季末的水平。但到上半年結束時，我認為我們將回到反映今年第二季、第三季的水平。

Waqar Syed, ATB.

瓦卡爾·賽義德，ATB。

Andy, do you have plans for additional e-fleet new building next year?

安迪，您明年有計劃建造更多的電子車隊新建築嗎？

Waqar, so yes, we do have plans within the CapEx budget to bring in new technology. We've already brought in, for instance, a natural gas reset pump that we're working in the field today. We may expand on that. We may expand on what we're doing with electric, but we will be bringing in high tech in to the higher end of the market that burns 100% natural gas. I think it's not a one size fits all. It's not everybody that's using electric out there. There's other solutions that can burn 100% natural gas. But I think it's a bit of a mix. But we will continue to invest at the higher end of the fleet within the overall CapEx budget, which we've said will be a little bit lower next year than this year.

Waqar，所以是的，我們確實有在資本支出預算內引入新技術的計劃。例如，我們已經引進了今天在現場工作的天然氣重置泵。我們可能會對此進行擴展。我們可能會擴大我們在電力領域所做的事情，但我們將把高科技引入 100% 天然氣燃燒的高端市場。我認為這不是一刀切的。並不是每個人都使用電力。還有其他可以燃燒 100% 天然氣的解決方案。但我認為這有點混合。但我們將繼續在整體資本支出預算範圍內投資於高階機隊，我們曾表示明年的資本支出預算將比今年略低。

Okay. And then the 155,000 horsepower that you have of e-fleet, are you running all the e-fleets in like e-fleet, they are on their own fleets? Or are you taking some of the equipment and putting it into your traditional conventional equipment, so you have mixed type of fleet?

好的。然後，你擁有 155,000 馬力的電子艦隊，你是否像電子艦隊一樣運行所有電子艦隊，他們在自己的艦隊上？或者您將一些設備放入傳統的常規設備中，這樣您就擁有了混合類型的機隊？

We have a mix of multiple configurations. So we're running full e-fleets on standard zipper. We've got full e-fleets on simul-frac, and we've also got Tier 4 DGB where we supplement and have maybe a couple of the e-pumps on location at the same time where we do that. And in some cases, we'll start a Tier 4 DGB with some electric as we transition a customer from Tier 4 DGB to electric as well. So sometimes it's a transition. Sometimes, it's just that we add a couple of electric pumps to boost the overall displacement of natural gas. So we do things for a variety of reasons depending on location, basin and customer.

我們有多種配置的組合。因此，我們正在使用標準拉鍊來運行完整的電子車隊。我們擁有完整的同步壓裂電子車隊，我們還擁有 4 級 DGB，我們可以在其中進行補充，並且可能同時在現場部署幾個電子泵。在某些情況下，當我們將客戶從 Tier 4 DGB 過渡到電力時，我們會啟動帶有一些電力的 Tier 4 DGB。所以有時候這是一個過渡。有時，我們只是添加幾個電動幫浦來提高天然氣的整體排氣量。因此，我們根據地點、流域和客戶的不同原因採取不同的行動。

Okay. And what proportion of your fleets or horsepower would you characterize as Tier 4 DGB and e-fleets?

好的。您認為 4 級 DGB 和電子車隊佔您的車隊或馬力的比例是多少？

Basically, what we've said is 80% of what we're running today burns natural gas. And there's even -- in that mix, there are some Tier 2 dual fuel in that mix, and they're still bringing value to customers, but we don't intend to continue to invest in Tier 2. But so that means that it's probably around 70% of what we run is a combination of both Tier 4 DGB and electric or 100% natural gas reset.

基本上，我們所說的是我們今天運行的 80% 都是燃燒天然氣。甚至 - 在這種組合中，有一些 Tier 2 雙燃料，它們仍然為客戶帶來價值，但我們不打算繼續投資 Tier 2。但這意味著我們運行的大約 70% 可能是 Tier 4 DGB 和電力或 100% 天然氣重置的組合。

Okay. And then just final question on Drilling margin bottoming. You have about $15,000 margins guidance for is that the bottom or do you see additional declines as we get into next year?

好的。然後是關於鑽探利潤觸底的最後一個問題。您的利潤指引約為 15,000 美元，這是底部還是隨著我們進入明年，您是否會看到進一步的下降？

I'm not sure we know yet. We haven't really worked on the full budget for next year. I do think that activity is relatively steady. I do think that it helps us where we continue to do some technical and technology add-ons on some of the rigs that are out there. So I'll defer on that. But I would say, overall, things are relatively steady.

我不確定我們是否知道。我們還沒有真正制定明年的全部預算。我確實認為活動相對穩定。我確實認為這對我們繼續在現有的一些鑽孔機上進行一些技術和技術附加組件有幫助。所以我會推遲這一點。但我想說，整體而言，情況相對穩定。

Connor Jensen, Raymond James.

康納詹森，雷蒙德詹姆斯。

You noted some additional synergy opportunities still remaining with the integration of NexTier and Ulterra past what you've done to this point. Wondering if you could give some examples where you could see additional uplift or what there is left to do there?

您注意到，除了您目前所做的工作之外，NexTier 和 Ulterra 的整合仍然存在一些額外的協同機會。想知道您是否可以舉一些例子，在這些例子中您可以看到額外的提升或還需要做什麼？

Yes. So I was talking about earlier, especially on the NexTier now on the completion side, we've still got some frac out there that aren't fully integrated necessarily with our Wireline or our NexMile logistics. And I think there's still some more opportunities where we'll see that improve. And one of the things that goes underappreciated, it's part of the Completions business, but it's submitting, and submitting is actually more related to drilling, and that business has been growing. And while it's small relative to hydraulic fracturing, it's doing really well. And we think we're now one of the bigger players in submitting in the US as well.

是的。所以我之前談過，特別是在 NexTier 現在完成方面，我們仍然有一些壓裂裝置不一定與我們的有線或 NexMile 物流完全整合。我認為我們還有更多機會看到這種改進。其中一件被低估的事情是，它是完井業務的一部分，但它是提交，而提交實際上與鑽井更相關，而且該業務一直在增長。雖然相對於水力壓裂來說它的規模很小，但它的效果確實很好。我們認為我們現在也是美國提交內容的較大參與者之一。

So overall, there are some really good things happening in there despite what we're seeing with some of our customers slowing down in Q4. We're still seeing some good work by the teams and how they're running the businesses, how they're providing very efficient services for the customers. And we think that still bodes well for us in 2025.

因此，總體而言，儘管我們看到一些客戶在第四季度放緩，但仍然發生了一些非常好的事情。我們仍然看到團隊的一些出色工作以及他們如何經營業務，如何為客戶提供非常有效率的服務。我們認為這對 2025 年的我們來說仍然是個好兆頭。

Got it. That's good to hear. It seems like Ulterra is doing reasonably well, also, considering the environment. Maybe some additional color on what's driving the outperformance there and how much of that is in the US versus international?

知道了。很高興聽到這個消息。考慮到環境，Ulterra 的表現似乎也相當不錯。也許還有一些額外的資訊來說明是什麼推動了那裡的優異表現，以及其中有多少是在美國與國際之間？

Yes. So as I mentioned earlier, and I use this word specifically, they're doing an excellent job. I mean if you think about the market we're in, with the rig count in the US the overall US rig count has come down. But yet at the same time, they continue to produce, continue to show strength in what they're doing across the US.

是的。正如我之前提到的，我專門使用這個詞，他們做得非常出色。我的意思是，如果你考慮我們所處的市場，隨著美國的鑽機數量，美國的整體鑽機數量已經下降。但同時，他們繼續生產，繼續在美國各地的工作中展現實力。

And outside the US, I think there's still potential to grow. So I think we've been gaining some share in the US. I think we're going to gain share definitely in the international markets just because we have so much more room to go there. And so they're just doing a fantastic job.

在美國以外，我認為仍有成長潛力。所以我認為我們在美國已經獲得了一些份額。我認為我們肯定會在國際市場上獲得份額，因為我們有更多的空間去那裡。所以他們做得非常出色。

Saurabh Pant, Bank of America.

索拉布潘特，美國銀行。

Andy, if you don't mind, still on the Completion side and just to get a flavor of what to expect for the future. If you can just look back, Andy, right? We started the year with close to around $200 million in profitability. We are ending at $85 million. Can you give us some color on how much of that decline is activities/white space, right? So cost adoption issues versus true pricing? Because I'm thinking pricing, if it stays flat, at least the calendar utilization white space part of it can come back. And that would give us some clever of what to expect.

安迪，如果您不介意的話，仍然處於完成階段，只是為了了解對未來的期望。如果你能回頭看看，安迪，對嗎？今年年初，我們的獲利能力接近 2 億美元左右。我們的收盤價為 8500 萬美元。您能否告訴我們，活動/空白空間的下降有多少，對吧？那麼成本採用問題與真實定價之間的關係呢？因為我正在考慮定價，如果它保持平穩，至少日曆利用率空白部分可以回來。這會讓我們對接下來的事情有所了解。

No, I think there's certainly been some pricing pressure this year. We have had activity come down. We've had white space in the calendar. We've got a mix of things going on. But there has been some pricing pressure natural gas basins and even a little bit in the Permian with some of the RFP bids that people have had to go through in processes like that. I do think all that sort of stabilizes as we get going again in the first half of next year. And so even though overall activity might be down a little bit, I do think pricing stabilizes.

不，我認為今年肯定存在一些定價壓力。我們的活動有所下降。我們的日曆中有空白。我們正在發生各種各樣的事情。但天然氣盆地存在一些定價壓力，甚至在二疊紀盆地也存在一些定價壓力，人們必須在這樣的過程中經歷一些 RFP 投標。我確實認為，隨著我們在明年上半年重新開始，所有這些都會穩定下來。因此，儘管整體活動可能略有下降，但我確實認為價格穩定了。

Q4 is really where we're having the most impact because of the slowdown by some of our customers, but we're going to get into a reset early next year.

由於一些客戶的成長放緩，第四季度確實是我們受到最大影響的地方，但我們將在明年初進行重置。

Okay. Okay. I got it. I got it. So it sounds like pricing is stabilizing, right? So as utilization starts to normalize, you get your profitability back?

好的。好的。我得到了它。我得到了它。所以聽起來價格正在穩定，對嗎？那麼，隨著利用率開始正常化，您的獲利能力就會恢復嗎？

Yes, I think we've seen the majority of the pricing pressure this year and it stabilizes early next year.

是的，我認為我們今年已經看到了大部分的定價壓力，並將於明年初穩定下來。

Okay. Okay. Perfect. I got it. And then Andy Smith, I know CapEx will have to wait a little longer to get the details. But as a frame of reference, Andy. Can you just remind us the $690 million in CapEx for this year? How do we split that into the various buckets across maintenance, across the market upgrades, across growth? And then for next year, should we bake in some CapEx for the Turnwell joint venture?

好的。好的。完美的。我得到了它。然後安迪史密斯（Andy Smith），我知道資本支出將需要等待更長的時間才能獲得詳細資訊。但作為一個參考框架，安迪。您能否提醒我們今年的資本支出為 6.9 億美元？我們如何將其分為維護、市場升級和成長的各個部分？那麼明年，我們是否應該為 Turnwell 合資企業注入一些資本支出？

Yes. So maintenance is somewhat tricky when you start thinking about it because, again, as we retire Tier 2 fleets and we replace those with electric fleets, how does that characterize? Is that growth CapEx or maintenance CapEx? So as you think about it going forward, I don't think we have anything in our minds that would be necessarily incremental supply to the market.

是的。因此，當您開始考慮維護問題時，維護會有點棘手，因為當我們退役二級車隊並用電動車隊取代它們時，這有何特點？這是成長資本支出還是維護資本支出？因此，當你考慮未來時，我認為我們沒有任何想法必然會增加市場供應。

There will be some items that we have traditionally called growth that are high-value return items. I mean these are very good returns, and we spend probably in the neighborhood of $40 million to $60 million on those types of items every year.

會有一些我們傳統上稱為成長的項目是高價值退貨項目。我的意思是這些都是非常好的回報，我們每年在這些類型的產品上花費大約 4000 萬到 6000 萬美元。

And then the rest of it is really maintaining kind of our sort of fleet size as well as enhancing the capability of our assets at the same time just doing the traditional maintenance, which is really kind of the R&M side. So it's very difficult to break it into maintenance either this year and/or going forward. So what I would say is we're looking at a CapEx number next year, just first pass. That is, again, below kind of where we're looking at today, and we'll just give better guidance on that as we go forward next quarter.

然後剩下的就是維持我們的機隊規模，並增強我們資產的能力，同時進行傳統的維護，這實際上是 R&M 方面的工作。因此，今年和/或今後很難將其進行維護。所以我想說的是，我們正在研究明年的資本支出數字，這只是第一步。這又低於我們今天所看到的情況，我們將在下個季度繼續提供更好的指導。

Okay. Okay. No, that's fair, Andy. And then one very quick one, at the end I know somebody asked on the integrated drilling and completion contracts and what's the feedback from the customers. I'll ask the same question, but I'll ask you what's the feedback from Patterson-UTI within the organization? What's the biggest advantage you see for yourself in execution from a planning, supply chain, technology standpoint? What's the biggest advantage to you as an organization?

好的。好的。不，那是公平的，安迪。然後是一個非常快的問題，最後我知道有人詢問了綜合鑽井和完井合約以及客戶的回饋是什麼。我會問同樣的問題，但我會問你組織內 Patterson-UTI 的回饋是什麼？從規劃、供應鏈、技術的角度來看，您認為自己在執行過程中最大的優勢是什麼？作為一個組織，您最大的優勢是什麼？

I see a lot of excitement in the people. The people that I talk to on our teams that are overseeing this project and managing the different aspects and coordinating across the different business lines. I see a lot of excitement in the people and that excitement is contagious. And that type of excitement leads to more work. And so that's exciting. I'm going to go with that.

我看到人們非常興奮。我與我們團隊中負責監督該專案、管理不同方面並協調不同業務線的人員進行了交談。我看到人們充滿興奮，這種興奮具有感染力。這種興奮會帶來更多的工作。這很令人興奮。我會同意的。

Kurt Hallead, Benchmark Company.

庫爾特·哈勒德，基準公司。

So Andy, just maybe just kind of beat the completion horse again here just in the context of maybe the conviction in the recovery in activity that you expect, I know you referenced a number of different times during the call some specifics related to customers that are going to be a drag for you here in the fourth quarter. So are those -- I'm assuming, but I just want to be clear that those same customers are telling you yet, we're going to slow down here in the fourth quarter, but you better make sure you got your stuff ready to go because we're going to be kicking it in starting January. Is that the underpinning of the conviction you have on the recovery on frac activity going into next year?

所以安迪，也許只是在你所期望的活動復甦的背景下再次擊敗完成馬，我知道你在電話會議期間多次提到了與客戶相關的一些細節第四季度對你來說會是一個拖累。那些也是——我假設，但我只是想澄清，那些相同的客戶還告訴你，我們將在第四季度放慢速度，但你最好確保你準備好你的東西去吧，因為我們將從一月份開始就開始做這件事。這是您對明年壓裂活動復甦的信念的基礎嗎？

We have very, very strong conviction that these customers are going to restart early in 2025. Our biggest challenge right now is balancing carrying the cost through Q4 so that we can restart. And so that's the challenge with what you're seeing in the margins for completions in the fourth quarter. But we want to make sure that we can get off on the right foot when we do restart in the first quarter because service quality is always paramount important along with safety, everything else. So we are carrying some extra costs in the fourth quarter because we have very strong convictions that they are going to restart.

我們非常非常堅信這些客戶將在 2025 年初重新啟動。我們現在最大的挑戰是平衡第四季的成本，以便我們能夠重新啟動。這就是您在第四季度完工利潤中看到的挑戰。但我們希望確保第一季重啟時能夠順利起步，因為服務品質與安全和其他一切一樣始終是最重要的。因此，我們在第四季度承擔了一些額外成本，因為我們堅信他們將重新啟動。

Got you. Okay. That's great. And then maybe just a follow-up on the drilling products. Just maybe an update on what percent of that revenue through the first nine months of the year have been international? And then you got the JV, which should help. But what do you think the -- there a lot of conversation about international activity kind of flattening out into next year and especially in Saudi. But given that backdrop, and I think you guys were needing some market share, so can you give us an update on how you think the drilling products international business could grow relative to the market?

明白你了。好的。那太棒了。然後也許只是鑽井產品的後續行動。或許可以更新一下今年前九個月的營收中有多少來自國際市場？然後你得到了合資企業，這應該會有所幫助。但你認為呢——有很多關於國際活動的討論會在明年趨於平緩，尤其是在沙烏地阿拉伯。但考慮到這種背景，我認為你們需要一些市場份額，所以您能給我們介紹一下您認為鑽井產品國際業務相對於市場如何成長的最新情況嗎？

Yes, I don't have the exact numbers in front of me. It's in the range of 30% to 40%. Really excited about the international potential for Ulterra just because they're still relatively new in a lot of markets over there. The JV in Abu Dhabi with ADNOC Drilling may be a part of that. But I would say it's not really factoring into the plans. Saudi still has potential for growth. There's other markets. Even though Saudi rig count is coming down, our percent of the share is smaller compared to others.

是的，我面前沒有確切的數字。其範圍為 30% 至 40%。我們對 Ulterra 的國際潛力感到非常興奮，因為它們在許多市場上仍然相對較新。阿布達比與 ADNOC Drilling 的合資企業可能是其中的一部分。但我想說這並沒有真正納入計劃中。沙特仍有成長潛力。還有其他市場。儘管沙烏地阿拉伯的鑽機數量正在下降，但與其他國家相比，我們所佔的份額較小。

We're moving from a remanufacturing facility to a full manufacturing facility in Saudi. And so we anticipate share growth over there. We're getting more traction in some of the offshore international markets as well. where the company has only really started to play over the last couple of years. So excited about the potential.

我們正在從沙烏地阿拉伯的再製造工廠搬遷至完整的製造工廠。因此，我們預計那裡的份額將會成長。我們在一些離岸國際市場也獲得了更多的關注。該公司在過去幾年才真正開始涉足這一領域。對潛力感到非常興奮。

Yes, Kurt, I would add to that, And again, you know this, but relative to sort of our larger service-oriented businesses, Completions and Drilling, where if you think about putting an asset into those markets into those international markets, you really have to be kind of clear on the economics long term as it's a pretty big commitment.

是的，庫爾特，我想補充一點，再說一次，你知道這一點，但相對於我們更大的以服務為導向的業務，完井和鑽井，如果你考慮將資產投入這些市場進入那些國際市場，你確實必須對長期經濟有一定的了解，因為這是一項相當大的承諾。

Ulterra and drilling products, they're selling a product and so they can be much more nimble and can really I mean they're all over the place around the world selling drill bits, and it is a much more -- it's very efficient and it's, again, it's a much easier operation to run and to make inroads into the international markets and say, the heavy equipment service side would be. So they continue to sort of expand their international reach, and we'll continue to do so. So pretty excited about that.

Ulterra 和鑽井產品，他們銷售的是一種產品，所以他們可以更加靈活，而且真的可以我的意思是他們在世界各地銷售鑽頭，而且它是一個更有效率和更有效率的產品。營運和進軍國際市場要容易得多，比如說重型設備服務方面。因此，他們繼續擴大其國際影響力，我們也將繼續這樣做。對此非常興奮。

Eddie Kim, Barclays.

埃迪金，巴克萊銀行。

Just one question from me. So you and others have called out and guided to a fairly steep sequential decline in the completions business into 4Q. You mentioned normal seasonal holidays and customers trying to spend within budgets. But is there anything outside of that, that you think could be at play here? Customers holding off on activity because of oil price volatility or waiting to get more clarity on what OPEC is going to do? Just any other factors you're seeing based on your conversations that might be contributing to customers kind of slowing down here in 4Q?

我只想問一個問題。因此，您和其他人呼籲並引導第四季竣工業務出現相當大的連續下降。您提到了正常的季節性假期和客戶試圖在預算範圍內消費。但除此之外，您認為還有什麼可能在這裡發揮作用嗎？由於油價波動，客戶推遲了活動，或者等待更清楚地了解歐佩克將要做什麼？根據您的對話，您發現其他任何可能導致第四季度客戶成長放緩的因素嗎？

Yes. That's a good question, and welcome to our calls. So what we're seeing in completions over the last couple of years has been steady increasing efficiency. And I think that a number of our customers have not completely baked their plans around these increasing levels of efficiency. In a lot of cases, we've finished programs early and customers have elected not to spend early on the next year's budget yet until they get clarity on what that's going to look like.

是的。這是一個很好的問題，歡迎您來電諮詢。因此，我們在過去幾年中看到的完工情況是效率的穩定提高。我認為我們的許多客戶還沒有完全圍繞這些不斷提高的效率水平來制定他們的計劃。在許多情況下，我們提前完成了項目，客戶選擇不提前支出明年的預算，直到他們清楚地了解情況。

I really don't think it has to do with volatility in commodities. I think that our customers have been more neutral to what's going on with commodities because they've been trading within a range. And I don't hear from any customers that they're waiting on any signal from OPEC or any other changes in commodity.

我真的不認為這與大宗商品的波動有關。我認為我們的客戶對大宗商品的情況更加中立，因為他們一直在一定範圍內進行交易。我沒有聽到任何客戶說他們正在等待歐佩克發出的任何信號或大宗商品的任何其他變化。

I really think it's really more about planning and looking at their specific budgets. And in our case, we had six customers that didn't want to overspend or dip into next year's budget. In some cases, wanted to reduce this year's budget. But I think as we get into '25 we'll see the E&Ps working with our own teams to better prepare for what that pace looks like for the year and things could be more normalized next year than they were this year.

我真的認為這更多的是關於規劃和考慮他們的具體預算。在我們的案例中，我們有六位客戶不想超支或削減明年的預算。在某些情況下，希望減少今年的預算。但我認為，隨著進入 25 年，我們將看到勘探與生產部門與我們自己的團隊合作，更好地為今年的步伐做好準備，明年的情況可能會比今年更加正常化。

And that is the end of our Q&A session. I would like to turn the conference back to Andy Hendricks for closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想請安迪·亨德里克斯（Andy Hendricks）致閉幕詞。

Thanks, Prilla. So I just want to thank everybody for dialing into the call today. And once again, I'd like to thank all of our teams across Patterson-UTI for all the great work that you do for our customers and for our shareholders. Thanks a lot.

謝謝，普里拉。我只想感謝大家今天撥電話。我要再次感謝 Patterson-UTI 的所有團隊為我們的客戶和股東所做的一切出色工作。多謝。

Thank you. And this concludes today's conference call. Thank you all for participating and you may now disconnect.

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝大家的參與，現在您可以斷開連線了。