Patterson-UTI Energy Inc (PTEN) 2026 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. My name is Abby, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Patterson-UTI First Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call (Operator Instructions)

各位女士、先生，感謝您稍候。我叫 Abby，今天將擔任本次電話會議的接線員。此刻，我謹代表公司歡迎各位參加 Patterson-UTI 2026 年第一季財報電話會議（接線員指示）

And I would now like to turn the conference over to Michael Sabella, Vice President of Investor Relations. You may begin.

接下來我想把會議交給投資人關係副總裁 Michael Sabella。您可以開始了。

Thank you, operator. Good morning, and welcome to Patterson-UTI's earnings conference call to discuss our first quarter 2026 results.

謝謝，接線員。各位早安，歡迎參加 Patterson-UTI 的財報電話會議，討論我們 2026 年第一季的業績表現。

With me today are Andy Hendricks, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Andy Smith, Chief Financial Officer. 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.

今天與我一同出席的有總裁兼執行長 Andy Hendricks，以及財務長 Andy Smith。提醒各位，本次電話會議中提及公司或管理階層對未來的計畫、意圖、目標、信念、預期或預測之陳述，均屬前瞻性陳述。這些前瞻性陳述受公司向 SEC 申報文件中所揭露之風險與不確定性影響，可能導致公司實際結果出現重大差異。

The company takes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. Statements made in this conference call include non-GAAP financial measures. The required reconciliations to GAAP financial measures are included on our website, patenergy.com and in the company's press release issued prior to this conference call. I will now turn the call over to Andy Hendricks Patterson-UTI as Chief Executive Officer.

公司不承擔公開更新或修訂任何前瞻性陳述之義務。本次電話會議中的陳述包含非 GAAP 財務衡量指標。與 GAAP 財務衡量指標之必要調節表已刊載於我們的網站 patenergy.com，並包含於本次電話會議前發布的公司新聞稿中。現在我將把電話會議交給 Patterson-UTI 執行長 Andy Hendricks。

Thank you, Mike, and welcome to our first quarter earnings conference call. I'm going to begin by saying we're hiring. Now let's get started. The first quarter of 2026 built on our momentum from 2025 with strong field execution, supported by our technology and digital offerings across our diversified drilling and completions businesses. Our team stayed focused on the same priorities that drove last year's results, staying close to customers, delivering high-quality services and products that help them operate efficiently and aligning CapEx and operating costs would be opportunities ahead.

謝謝你，Mike，也歡迎各位參加我們第一季財報電話會議。我先從一句話開始：我們正在招募人才。那麼我們開始吧。2026 年第一季延續了我們 2025 年的動能，憑藉強勁的現場執行力，並由我們在多元化鑽井與完井業務中的技術與數位化產品/服務所支撐。我們的團隊持續聚焦於推動去年成果的同樣優先事項：貼近客戶、提供高品質服務與產品以協助其提升營運效率，並在前方機會出現時使資本支出與營運成本保持一致。

We are proud of our performance and believe our position across all our businesses will allow us to continue delivering strong cash returns across a range of market conditions. The commodity outlook has shifted materially since the start of the year due to heightened geopolitical risk and oil supply disruptions in the Middle East, which will likely reshape global oil supply and demand balances for several years. These developments underscore the strategic importance of US oil and natural gas production and reinforce the need for a diversified global energy supply base with US shale production more critical than ever.

我們對自身表現深感自豪，並相信我們在各項業務的布局，將使我們能在各種市場情境下持續提供強勁的現金回饋。由於地緣政治風險升高以及中東地區原油供應中斷，商品展望自年初以來已出現重大轉變，這些因素很可能在未來數年重塑全球原油供需平衡。這些發展凸顯美國原油與天然氣生產的策略重要性，並強化對多元化全球能源供應基礎的需求，使美國頁岩油氣生產比以往任何時候都更為關鍵。

Over the past several years, even as expectations for US shale activity have fluctuated, we have remained focused on operational excellence in our core businesses. We have consistently believed that excelling in our core operating businesses is critical to enhancing shareholder value regardless of the macro environment.

過去幾年，即使市場對美國頁岩活動的預期起伏不定，我們仍持續專注於核心業務的卓越營運。我們始終相信，無論總體環境如何，在核心營運業務中表現出色，對提升股東價值至關重要。

Today, we are pleased with the efficiency of our operations and as US shale activity inflects higher, we believe the decisions we have made position us to capture outsized value from a higher US rig count. As a predominantly shale services company, we will always evaluate opportunities to deploy capital and expand our exposure to other geographies and product lines. However, we will remain disciplined and focused on returns for any potential growth investment. Momentum appears to be shifting back toward US land activity over the coming quarters.

目前，我們對營運效率感到滿意；隨著美國頁岩活動轉向上行，我們相信先前所做的決策使我們能在美國鑽機數增加時，捕捉更為可觀的價值。作為一家以頁岩服務為主的公司，我們將持續評估部署資本的機會，並擴大對其他地理區域與產品線的曝險。然而，對於任何潛在的成長投資，我們將保持紀律並以報酬為核心。未來幾季，動能似乎正轉回美國陸上活動。

But our corporate priorities remain unchanged. We will continue investing in technology and equipment that differentiates our services and supports long-term free cash flow per share while maintaining capital discipline, balance sheet strength and consistent returns of capital to shareholders. We are well positioned to execute on these priorities.

但我們的公司優先事項維持不變。我們將持續投資於能使服務差異化並支持長期每股自由現金流的技術與設備，同時維持資本紀律、資產負債表強度，以及對股東一貫的資本回饋。我們已具備良好條件來落實這些優先事項。

From a macro perspective, the outlook is improving, though the pace of recovery remains somewhat difficult to predict. We believe the industry will need to increase drilling and completion activity just to maintain oil production.

從總體面來看，展望正在改善，但復甦速度仍較難預測。我們認為，產業需要提高鑽井與完井活動，才能僅僅維持原油產量。

With oil prices now running significantly above the mid-December levels assumed in many customers' 2026 budgets. We are encouraged by the setup for higher US drilling and completion demand. Some customers have already started to make plans for higher activity levels later this quarter, and we are increasingly hear that the strip is likely to incentivize additional incremental oil-directed drilling and completion activity in the second half of this year. The current WTI strip exits 2027 at approximately $70 as those prices hold, higher activity into 2027 becomes more likely, as is typical, private customers are moving faster than the public.

由於目前油價顯著高於許多客戶在 2026 年預算中所假設的 12 月中旬水準。我們對美國鑽井與完井需求上升的態勢感到鼓舞。部分客戶已開始規劃在本季稍晚提高活動水準，而我們也愈來愈常聽到，期貨曲線（strip）很可能在今年下半年激勵更多增量、以原油為導向的鑽井與完井活動。目前 WTI 期貨曲線至 2027 年底約為每桶 70 美元；若這些價格得以維持，則 2027 年活動走高的可能性將增加；如同以往，民營客戶的行動速度快於上市公司。

Natural grass activity also appears likely to improve as newly commissioned LNG facilities drive higher export volumes. While some of the incremental demand may be met by additional pipeline capacity from the Permian Basin later in 2026, we believe additional drilling and completion activity in gas-focused basins will be needed to fully supply that growth.

天然氣活動看來也可能改善，因為新投產的 LNG 設施將帶動更高的出口量。雖然部分增量需求可能在 2026 年稍晚由二疊紀盆地新增的管線運輸能力所滿足，但我們認為，要完全供應這一成長，仍需要在以天然氣為主的盆地增加鑽井與完井活動。

As a result, we believe natural gas-directed drilling and completion activity is likely to increase in 2027. In our Drilling Services segment, we are very pleased with how the first quarter unfolded. Pricing remained steady, reflecting the value customers place on performance and reliability.

因此，我們認為以天然氣為導向的鑽井與完井活動很可能在 2027 年增加。在我們的鑽井服務事業部方面，我們對第一季的進展非常滿意。價格維持穩定，反映客戶對績效與可靠性的重視與認可。

In addition to the cost control programs we implemented towards the end of last year continued to gain traction and provide meaningful support to results. Because customer programs typically adjust with a lag to changes in commodity prices, activity for some customers in the first half of the year continues to reflect prior budget assumptions.

此外，我們在去年底推行的成本控管計畫持續發揮成效，並對業績提供了實質支撐。由於客戶方案通常會滯後反映商品價格變動，今年上半年部分客戶的活動仍反映先前的預算假設。

We are seeing conditions improve, and we expect momentum to build through the quarter. We expect our rig count will exit the second quarter above the quarterly average and near the high point so far for the year, around 92 to 95 rigs depending on the timing, positioning us well as we move into the second half. As E&Ps continue to drill deeper zones and extend lateral links, the importance of rig capability and contracted performance continues to grow.

我們看到情勢正在改善，並預期動能將在本季逐步增強。我們預期第二季的鑽機數將在季末高於季度平均，並接近今年迄今的高點，約為 92 至 95 部鑽機（視時點而定），使我們在進入下半年時具備良好態勢。隨著 E&P 業者持續鑽探更深層位並延長水平段長度，鑽機能力與合約化績效的重要性持續提升。

The number of the most capable rigs, those with the load-bearing capacity and pipe handling systems required for today's deeper and longer, more complex wells remains limited and driven by investments from the best-performing drilling contractors. With our in-house engineering expertise and disciplined approach to upgrades, we believe we are well positioned to gain share in this growing market in a capital-efficient manner. As rigs become larger and more technical, we expect this to strengthen our competitive position and support higher returns over time.

最具能力的鑽機數量——亦即具備承載能力與管柱處理系統、可滿足當今更深、更長且更複雜井況需求的鑽機——仍然有限，並主要由表現最佳的鑽井承包商投資所驅動。憑藉我們內部工程專業能力與對升級改造的紀律性做法，我們相信能以資本效率高的方式，在這個成長中的市場提升市占。隨著鑽機規模更大、技術性更高，我們預期這將強化我們的競爭地位，並在時間推移下支撐更高的報酬。

Our Completion Services segment delivered solid results for the quarter despite disruption from a January winter storm that effectively paused the completions business for five days. Excluding that impact, our frac operations ran near capacity with our natural gas-powered assets near fully utilized.

我們的完井服務事業部本季交出穩健成果，儘管 1 月的一場冬季風暴造成干擾，使完井業務實質暫停了五天。若排除該影響，我們的壓裂作業接近滿載運轉，而我們的天然氣動力資產幾乎完全被利用。

Demand for completion service is improving, particularly in the back half of 2026. And we are in discussions with customers on higher pricing to more appropriately reflect rising demand and the high industry utilization.

完井服務需求正在改善，特別是在 2026 年下半年。我們也正與客戶討論提高價格，以更適切反映需求上升與產業高利用率的情況。

Available frac capacity across the industry is limited and a few fleets that could be reactivated are among the industry's oldest and least efficient. The current pricing reactivation does not seem economical, and pricing would need to rise meaningfully to incentivize incremental supply as demand increases. While our completions business has nearly 250,000 cold stacked horsepower that could technically be reactivated.

全產業可用的壓裂產能有限，而少數可重新啟用的車隊多屬於產業中最老舊且效率最低的一批。以目前的價格水準來看，重新啟用似乎不具經濟性；隨著需求增加，價格需要顯著上升，才能激勵額外供給。雖然我們的完井業務有接近 250,000 匹冷停（cold stacked）的馬力，技術上可重新啟用。

We have been clear that our priority is to invest in newer technologies that will drive long-term returns. Our cold stacked equipment represents the oldest diesel equipment in our fleet and reactivating a single feet would require more than $10 million investment. While the equipment could likely find work in the current market, the long-term return potential remains uncertain, and we are not prioritizing investment in these older assets.

我們已明確表示，我們的首要任務是投資於能夠帶動長期回報的新技術。我們冷封存的設備代表我們機隊中最老舊的柴油設備，重新啟用單一車隊將需要超過1,000萬美元的投資。雖然該設備在目前市場中可能找到工作，但其長期回報潛力仍不確定，因此我們不會優先投資於這些較舊資產。

Over the past several years, we have high-graded our fleet by investing in newer natural gas-powered technologies that we believe will remain in demand and generate strong returns for years to come. We continue to expect our nameplate horsepower to decline this year as we execute this high-grading strategy.

過去幾年，我們透過投資於較新的天然氣動力技術來提升機隊品質（high-grade），我們相信這些技術將持續有需求，並在未來多年帶來強勁回報。隨著我們執行此一提升機隊品質策略，我們仍預期今年的名義馬力將下降。

Over the past several years, the frac industry has seen consolidation and bifurcation of equipment quality and efficiency. Lower tier pricing has constrained cash generation for smaller peers, limiting their access to capital and slowing investment in new technology. This dynamic continues to widen the gap between the industry leaders and the broader peer group, supporting a more rational and stable market with structurally higher returns over time. We expect our nameplate horsepower to continue to decline. We are directing capital towards expanding our Emerald fleet of 100% natural gas-powered assets.

過去幾年，壓裂（frac）產業出現整併，且設備品質與效率呈現兩極化。較低階的定價限制了較小同業的現金創造能力，進而限制其取得資本並放緩對新技術的投資。此一態勢持續擴大產業領導者與更廣泛同業群之間的差距，支持更理性且更穩定的市場，並隨時間推移形成結構性更高的報酬。我們預期名義馬力將持續下降。我們正將資本導向擴充我們的 Emerald 機隊（100%天然氣動力資產）。

By year-end, we expect more than 15% of our active horsepower to be powered entirely by natural gas with approximately 90% powered at least partially by natural gas. We believe we have one of the highest quality fleets in the industry, and this transition reflects our ongoing focus on improving operational performance. In our Drilling Products segment, the team delivered solid performance despite several industry headwinds.

到年底，我們預期超過15%的在役馬力將完全由天然氣驅動，約90%至少部分由天然氣驅動。我們相信我們擁有業界最高品質的機隊之一，而這項轉型反映我們持續專注於提升營運表現。在我們的鑽井產品（Drilling Products）部門，儘管面臨多項產業逆風，團隊仍交出穩健表現。

The conflict in the Middle East has increased risk in one of our key regions, which contributes roughly 10% to 15% and of segment revenue, primarily from Saudi Arabia. Land activity in Saudi Arabia largely tracked expectations during the quarter, although activity in certain regions was impacted.

中東衝突提高了我們其中一個關鍵區域的風險；該區域約貢獻部門營收的10%至15%，主要來自沙烏地阿拉伯。本季沙烏地阿拉伯的陸上活動大致符合預期，儘管部分地區的活動受到影響。

On the cost side, we've experienced meaningful inflation in several key inputs, particularly the material tungsten, where prices are significantly higher than a year ago. In addition, our Middle East operations have seen higher logistics and personnel costs due to the ongoing conflict in the region. Even with these challenges, our Drilling Products business delivered only a modest decline in adjusted gross profit versus the fourth quarter, and we are actively pursuing additional actions to further mitigate these risks.

在成本方面，我們在幾項關鍵投入上經歷了顯著通膨，尤其是鎢材料，其價格明顯高於一年前。此外，由於該地區衝突持續，我們的中東營運也面臨更高的物流與人員成本。即便有這些挑戰，我們的鑽井產品業務相較第四季的調整後毛利僅小幅下滑，我們也正積極推動更多措施以進一步降低這些風險。

From a competitive standpoint, we are encouraged by our position. We are pleased with the team's performance, and we believe we have grown to record market share in several key markets, including Saudi Arabia.

從競爭角度來看，我們對自身的定位感到鼓舞。我們對團隊表現感到滿意，並相信我們在多個關鍵市場（包括沙烏地阿拉伯）已成長至創紀錄的市占率。

In the US, we also believe there's additional upside with several large customers. Overall, our teams executed at a high level in the first quarter, maintaining a disciplined focus on service differentiation capital allocation and cost control as we navigated a demand environment shaped by customer budgets built on a crude oil price deck well below the current strip.

在美國，我們也認為與數家大型客戶仍有額外上行空間。整體而言，我們的團隊在第一季以高水準執行，在客戶預算係以遠低於目前期貨曲線（strip）的原油價格假設所建構、因而形塑需求環境的情況下，我們仍維持對服務差異化、資本配置與成本控管的紀律性聚焦。

We believe the indicators increasingly point to a period of higher commodity prices. Based on our customer conversations, we expect this to drive an increase in US shale activity starting later in the second quarter and continuing into the second half of the year.

我們認為各項指標愈來愈指向一段較高商品價格的時期。根據我們與客戶的對話，我們預期這將帶動美國頁岩活動自第二季後段開始增加，並延續至下半年。

Even if oil prices moderate somewhat from current levels, we would still expect upside versus today's activity. As we approach an inflection in US activity, it is worth briefly reflecting on the strategy we have followed in the past few years.

即使油價自目前水準略為回落，我們仍預期相較於今日的活動水準仍有上行空間。隨著美國活動接近轉折點，值得簡要回顧我們過去幾年所遵循的策略。

While we continue to evaluate opportunities to expand beyond our core markets, our priority will always be return on capital driven, and we have yet to find compelling opportunities that have cleared our investment threshold. We remain focused on strengthening our competitive position in our core businesses and improving efficiency.

雖然我們持續評估拓展至核心市場以外的機會，但我們的優先順序始終以資本回報為驅動，而我們尚未找到能通過投資門檻的具吸引力機會。我們仍專注於強化核心業務的競爭地位並提升效率。

Operationally and financially. As we've always said, we believe disciplined capital allocation and continuous improvement in our existing businesses are important ways to enhance shareholder value. With activity now inflecting higher, the decisions we have made in the past several years position us to deliver improved performance going forward. We are pleased with where the company stands today and are confident in our ability to continue delivering strong cash returns to shareholders.

在營運與財務方面。如同我們一貫所說，我們相信有紀律的資本配置與在既有業務中的持續改善，是提升股東價值的重要方式。隨著活動如今開始向上轉折，我們過去幾年所做的決策使我們得以在未來交出更佳表現。我們對公司目前的狀況感到滿意，並對持續向股東提供強勁現金回報的能力充滿信心。

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

接下來我把時間交給 Andy Smith，由他回顧本季的財務結果。

Thanks, Andy. Total reported revenue for the quarter was $1.117 billion. We reported a net loss attributable to common shareholders of $25 million or $0.06 per share. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter totaled $205 million, which included $3 million in early contract termination revenue in the Drilling Services segment. Our weighted average share count was 380 million shares during Q1.

謝謝，Andy。本季總報告營收為11.17億美元。我們報告歸屬普通股股東的淨損為2,500萬美元，或每股0.06美元。本季調整後EBITDA合計2.05億美元，其中包含鑽井服務（Drilling Services）部門3百萬美元的提前終止合約收入。第一季加權平均流通股數為3.80億股。

As expected, seasonal working capital headwinds impacted free cash flow in the first quarter. Given the timing and variability of these items throughout the year, we view full year free cash flow as the most meaningful measure of performance with working capital turning into a tailwind in the second half. In our Drilling Services segment, first quarter revenue was $352 million and adjusted gross profit was $134 million. Revenue and adjusted gross profit included the previously mentioned $3 million of early contract termination payments.

如預期，季節性的營運資金逆風影響了第一季的自由現金流。鑑於這些項目在全年中的時點與波動性，我們認為全年自由現金流是最具意義的績效衡量指標，而營運資金在下半年將轉為順風。在我們的鑽井服務部門，第一季營收為3.52億美元，調整後毛利為1.34億美元。營收與調整後毛利包含前述3百萬美元的提前終止合約付款。

In US contract drilling, we totaled 8,301 operating days in the quarter, with an average operating rig count of 92 rigs. Excluding early termination revenue, pricing was relatively steady versus the fourth quarter, and we continue to see benefits from the cost reduction actions implemented late last year.

在美國合約鑽井方面，本季合計8,301個作業日，平均運轉鑽機數為92座。排除提前終止收入後，價格相較第四季大致持平，我們也持續看到去年底實施的成本削減措施所帶來的效益。

For the second quarter in Drilling Services, we expect our rig count to average around 90 rigs, and we expect to exit the quarter above the average as we reactivate rigs in the back half of the quarter. We expect adjusted gross profit in the Drilling Services segment to be approximately $130 million, our guidance includes $5 million of rig reactivation and mobilization costs and assumes minimal second quarter revenue contribution from those reactivation. In our Completion Services segment, first quarter revenue was $680 million and adjusted gross profit was $98 million.

就第二季鑽井服務而言，我們預期鑽機數平均約為90座，且隨著我們在本季後半段重新啟用鑽機，預期季末將高於平均水準。我們預期鑽井服務部門的調整後毛利約為1.30億美元；我們的指引包含500萬美元的鑽機重新啟用與動員成本，並假設這些重新啟用在第二季對營收的貢獻極小。在我們的完井服務（Completion Services）部門，第一季營收為6.80億美元，調整後毛利為9,800萬美元。

Results reflected the impact of roughly five days of winter storm impact in January. Excluding that disruption, our frac calendars were essentially full with limited spare capacity to increase activity at an extremely efficient calendar.

結果反映1月約5天冬季風暴的影響。排除該干擾後，我們的壓裂排程幾乎滿檔，可用閒置產能有限，活動提升空間不大，且排程效率極高。

For the second quarter, we expect Completion Services adjusted gross profit to be approximately $105 million, with near full utilization of our active assets. First quarter Drilling Products revenue was $80 million and adjusted gross profit was $33 million. Results reflected disruption in the Middle East related to the ongoing conflict and some cost inflation.

對第二季而言，我們預期完井服務調整後毛利約為1.05億美元，在役資產將接近滿載利用。第一季鑽井產品營收為8,000萬美元，調整後毛利為3,300萬美元。結果反映中東因持續衝突造成的干擾，以及部分成本通膨。

For the second quarter, we expect Drilling Products adjusted gross profit to decline slightly driven by lower profitability in our international business, particularly in the Middle East and the normal impact of spring breakup in Canada. Other revenue was $6 million for the quarter with adjusted gross profit of $3 million. For the second quarter, we expect other adjusted gross profit to be approximately $5 million. General and administrative expenses in the first quarter were $69 million. For the second quarter, we expect G&A to be approximately $67 million.

對第二季而言，我們預期鑽井產品調整後毛利將小幅下滑，主因為國際業務獲利能力降低，尤其在中東，以及加拿大春季解凍期（spring breakup）的正常影響。本季其他營收為600萬美元，調整後毛利為300萬美元。對第二季而言，我們預期其他項目的調整後毛利約為500萬美元。第一季一般及行政費用為6,900萬美元。對第二季而言，我們預期G&A約為6,700萬美元。

On a consolidated basis in the first quarter, depreciation, depletion, amortization and impairment expense totaled $218 million. For the second quarter, we expect it to be approximately $220 million. During the first quarter, total CapEx was $117 million, including $54 million in drilling services, $45 million in completion services, $16 million in drilling products and $1 million in other in corporate. We ended the first quarter with $337 million of cash on hand and nothing drawn on our $500 million revolving credit facility. We have no senior note maturities until 2028.

以合併基礎計算，第一季折舊、耗竭、攤銷及減損費用合計為2.18億美元。第二季我們預期約為2.20億美元。第一季資本支出（CapEx）總計為1.17億美元，其中包含鑽井服務5,400萬美元、完井服務4,500萬美元、鑽井產品1,600萬美元，以及公司其他項目100萬美元。第一季末我們手上現金為3.37億美元，且5億美元循環信用額度未動用。我們在2028年前沒有任何優先票據到期。

Our Board has approved a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share payable June 15 to shareholders of record as of June 1. I'll now turn it back to Andy Hendricks for closing remarks.

董事會已核准每季每股0.10美元的股利，將於6月15日支付給截至6月1日登記在冊的股東。接下來我把時間交回給Andy Hendricks做結語。

Thanks, Andy. I want to close the call with some additional comments on our company and the industry. The commodity outlook has shifted meaningfully since the start of the year with both current and future oil prices now well above the assumptions embedded in our customers' initial 2026 budgets.

謝謝，Andy。我想以一些關於我們公司與產業的補充評論來結束本次電話會議。自年初以來，大宗商品展望已出現顯著轉變，目前與遠期油價均已明顯高於我們客戶最初2026年預算中所採用的假設。

While many customers remain cautious in the near term, we are seeing a clear change in market tone, including more discussions around rig reactivations, stronger completion demand and improving pricing across our businesses. Taken together, we have much more clarity on the market direction and these dynamics point to a more constructive environment for activity and profitability.

雖然許多客戶在短期內仍保持謹慎，但我們看到市場氛圍已明顯轉變，包括更多關於鑽機重新啟用的討論、更強勁的完井需求，以及我們各項業務的定價改善。綜合而言，我們對市場走向有了更清晰的判斷，而這些動態指向一個更有利於活動量與獲利能力的環境。

For Patterson-UTI, even as we expect industry drilling and completion activity to inflect higher, we will continue to invest in our strategic initiatives to improve returns. In completions, we will continue to favor technology investments over investing in our older cold stacked equipment and investing at a measured pace into new assets that should generate stronger returns over multiple years.

對Patterson-UTI而言，即便我們預期產業鑽井與完井活動將出現向上拐點，我們仍將持續投資於策略性計畫以提升報酬。在完井方面，我們將持續偏好技術投資，而非投入於較舊、冷封存（cold stacked）的設備，並以審慎的節奏投資於可在多年期間帶來更強報酬的新資產。

In drilling, we are executing a disciplined cadence of structural upgrades to support deeper wells and longer laterals, consistent with where customer demand is trending. Digital and AI investments remains central to our strategy and are embedded across all of our operations. And with the changing market sentiment, we believe that technology upgrades will be well supported through favorable contractual structures to support accretive returns.

在鑽井方面，我們正以紀律性的節奏推動結構性升級，以支援更深井與更長水平段（laterals），這與客戶需求的趨勢一致。數位與AI投資仍是我們策略的核心，並已嵌入我們所有營運之中。隨著市場情緒轉變，我們相信技術升級將能透過有利的合約架構獲得良好支撐，以支持具增益性的報酬。

Finally, while the macro environment has changed, our corporate priorities have not, we remain focused on generating durable returns and sustainable free cash flow through the cycle while returning capital to shareholders. Our balance sheet remains strong, and we expect to deliver another solid year of free cash flow in 2026. As we evaluate opportunities to deploy capital, we will remain disciplined and prioritize investments that offer the highest return potential.

最後，儘管總體環境已改變，我們的公司優先事項並未改變；我們仍專注於在景氣循環中創造持久報酬與可持續的自由現金流，同時回饋資本給股東。我們的資產負債表依然強健，且預期在2026年再交出一個穩健的自由現金流年度。在評估資本配置機會時，我們將保持紀律，並優先投資於具最高報酬潛力的項目。

With that, I'd like to thank the men and women of Patterson-UTI, who work hard every day to help provide energy to the world. Avi, could you please open the lines for the questions?

最後，我想感謝Patterson-UTI的每一位同仁，大家每天努力工作，協助為世界提供能源。Avi，請開放提問線路。

(Operator Instructions) Saurabh Pant, Bank of America.

(接線員指示) Saurabh Pant，美國銀行。

Andy I think your inbox is going to be full of resumes by the end of the day after listening to your first opening statement. But I guess, Andy, what I was getting at is, clearly, it sounds like the initial leg of the upside is being driven by the private completion of (inaudible)

Andy，我想在聽完你第一段開場陳述後，到今天結束前你的收件匣應該會塞滿履歷。不過我想說的是，很明顯聽起來這一波上行的初段動能是由民營業者的完井所帶動的(聽不清楚)

Like if the rate that the cycle begins. But already, we are talking about parisensing. We are pretty much sold out on our, Halliburton said the same day -- same thing, Liberty kind of saying the same thing, right? So -- how are the public, right?

就像景氣循環開始加速的速度一樣。但我們已經在談到parisensing。我們幾乎已經滿載（sold out）；Halliburton同一天也說了同樣的事，Liberty也有點在說同樣的事，對吧？所以——那上市公司這邊呢？

Maybe help us think about how are the public thinking about when they want to add activity, how much they want to add activity, if they want to add activity. right? And at that stage, what would the supply side of the acquisition look like, how much equipment, how much capacity we would have or not have on the sidelines ready to come back maybe both on the rig and the stack side, if you can talk to that.

也許請你幫我們理解一下，上市公司是怎麼想的：他們何時想增加活動量、想增加多少、以及是否想增加活動量，對吧？在那個階段，供給端的可動用狀況會是什麼樣子——有多少設備、多少產能在場邊（sidelines）可以回來，不論是鑽機端或封存端（stack side），如果你能談談這點。

Okay. Let me see where I can start. So to begin with, we're really excited about the opportunity to put drilling rigs back to work. And like I mentioned earlier, we think we'll be somewhere between two to five rigs as we exit the quarter based on timing of when things go out. That's going to lead to higher completions demand as everybody understands over time.

好的。我看看從哪裡開始說。首先，我們對讓鑽機重新投入作業的機會感到非常興奮。如我先前提到的，依據各項工作啟動的時間點，我們預期在本季結束時大約會介於2到5座鑽機。隨著時間推進，這將帶動更高的完井需求，這點大家都理解。

The interesting challenge that we have in the industry, as we've said, we're sold out of our top-tier equipment. We're essentially sold out of everything that convert natural gas. And we certainly will see a demand for more capacity as we move through the year. But before we start adding more capacity, we're going to be very focused on returns and trying to improve pricing where we can and we'll be continuing the discussions that we're already having with a number of our customers on what that pricing should look like given the tightness in the market and given the demand. And you'll see instances over time, potentially where there's some trading of customers within the market.

我們在產業中面臨的一個有趣挑戰是，如我們所說，我們的頂級設備已經滿載。基本上，所有可轉換為天然氣（convert natural gas）的設備也都已滿載。而且隨著今年推進，我們確實會看到對更多產能的需求。但在我們開始增加更多產能之前，我們會非常專注於報酬，並在可行之處努力改善定價；同時，我們也會持續與多位客戶進行目前已在進行的討論，針對在市場緊俏與需求存在的情況下，定價應該呈現什麼樣貌。而隨著時間推進，你可能會看到市場中出現一些客戶之間的調整或互換情形。

And we're going to work on improving pricing, improving returns before we start adding capacity. I think that's really critically important, especially given how pricing and completions has been pushed down over the last couple of years. And so it's important for us, important for our shareholders for us to improve the returns where we can before we start bringing more capacity onto the market and the completion side.

在我們開始增加產能之前，我們會先致力於改善定價、提升報酬。我認為這非常關鍵，特別是考量到過去幾年完井業務的定價一直被壓低。因此，對我們而言、也對股東而言，在把更多產能帶回市場、尤其是完井端之前，先在可行之處提升報酬是很重要的。

Right. No, that makes a ton of sense, Andy, right? And I'm glad your peers are taking the same approach, right? We've got a fixed pricing first, and then we'll talk about bringing capacity. So that's Fantastic.

對。不，這非常合理，Andy，對吧？而且我很高興你們同業也採取相同做法，對吧？我們先把定價固定好，然後再談把產能帶回來。所以這很棒。

And then my follow-up, Andy, is on just the way pricing would work right? On the rig side, there's a contract book you have over does the contract duration look like? How quickly can we expect higher pricing to show up in your numbers based on your contract book and the same thing on the frac side. How should we think about pricing reopeners three months, six months? Or are there still sufficient number of annual contracts where pricing would take time to reset?

接著我的追問，Andy，是關於定價機制會怎麼運作，對吧？在鑽機端，你們有一個合約存量（contract book）——合約期間通常是多長？基於你們的合約存量，我們可以多快在你們的數字中看到更高的價格反映？壓裂（frac）端也是同樣問題。我們應該如何看待定價重啟（reopeners）——三個月、六個月？或者仍有足夠多的一年期合約，使得定價需要時間才能重置？

Yes. I think the best way I can describe the pricing situation on the rig side is when we did the last quarterly conference call, we said leading edge was in kind of the low 30s, and that's been down from the mid- to low 30s. I think what we're seeing today is pricing that is starting to move up from the low 30s. I mean, I'm not ready to call mid- to low 30s, but it's definitely moving up from the low 30s at the leading edge with everything fully loaded on the drilling rig. And so we're excited about that.

是的。我能用來描述鑽機端定價情況的最佳方式是：在上一次季度電話會議時，我們說領先端（leading edge）的價格大概在30出頭，而那是從30中段到30出頭下來的。我認為我們今天看到的是，價格正開始從30出頭往上走。我的意思是，我還不準備說已回到30中段到30出頭，但在領先端、以鑽機全包（fully loaded）計算，確實正在從30出頭往上移動。因此我們對此感到振奮。

And -- the other piece is as we get these requests for these technology upgrades on the drilling rigs, be it structural, be it digital, that leads to an investment, and it's going to require a term contract. And we're hearing favorable commentary from our customers that they're willing to do that as well. And so that will lock in those returns for the investments that we have to make. But we are seeing leading-edge pricing on drilling rigs starting to move up. On the frac side, we're in discussions with the customers today.

另外一點是，當我們收到鑽機技術升級的需求時，不論是結構性升級或數位化升級，都會帶來投資，而這將需要一份定期合約（term contract）。我們也聽到客戶給出正面的回饋，表示他們也願意這麼做。因此，這將為我們必須投入的投資鎖定相應的報酬。但我們確實看到鑽機的領先端定價正在開始上升。至於壓裂端，我們目前正在與客戶進行討論。

We have anecdotal evidence out there where some of the customers have already given us 10% price increases. I think that's relatively small compared to how completions has been pushed down over the last couple of years. But I think that given the tightness in the market, certainly from our side and what we hear from competitors, that pricing will move up towards the end of this year throughout. It will move up steadily over the next months through the end of the year.

我們有一些軼聞證據顯示，部分客戶已經給了我們10%的價格上調。我認為，與過去幾年完井服務價格被壓低的幅度相比，這算是相對小的。但我認為，鑑於市場的緊俏程度，無論是從我們這邊，還是我們從競爭對手那裡聽到的情況，價格在今年年底前整體都會上行。在接下來幾個月到年底，價格會穩步上升。

Got it. Got it. And just to clarify very quickly, a majority of your frac contracts are on 3 months, 6 months kind of pricing reopeners. Is that right?

了解。了解。再很快確認一下，你們大多數的壓裂合約是3個月、6個月這種會重新開啟定價的條款。是這樣嗎？

It's a bit of a mix, and we have some spot work in the second quarter. We do have some contracts that are longer term where the pricing only resets every 6 months for some very large customers. And that's okay. We're happy to work for those customers and we've got some customers where you revisit it as frequently as every month. So we've got a mix.

這有點混合，我們在第二季也有一些現貨工作。我們確實有一些較長期的合約，對某些非常大的客戶，價格只會每6個月重設一次。這也沒問題。我們很樂意為這些客戶服務；也有一些客戶是頻繁到每個月都會重新檢視一次。所以我們是混合配置。

Derek Podhaizer, Piper Sandler.

Derek Podhaizer，Piper Sandler。

Maybe a first question on the rig supply. So I think on the website, you're at 88 rigs today, you're talking about upwards of adding 7 rigs by the end of the quarter. Just wanted to see how immaterial those expenses are to get those rigs back to work?

第一個問題可能是關於鑽機供給。我想在你們網站上，你們今天是88座鑽機，你們也提到到本季末會增加最多7座鑽機。想請教，把這些鑽機重新投入作業的費用有多不重要（或影響多小）？

And maybe how many more rigs would you have behind that that require real capital investments and all the upgrades you're talking about deeper wells, longer laterals I'm just trying to think through putting upward pressure on that low 30s day rate towards the mid-30s or even into the mid- to high 30s, like we saw last cycle, just thinking on a rig-by-rig basis and how the required capital cost would be to bring certain rigs maybe after these 7 or these 10? Just maybe some thoughts around that.

另外，在那之後你們還有多少座鑽機需要真正的資本投資，以及你們提到的那些升級（更深的井、更長的水平段）？我只是想推演一下，這是否會把目前三萬出頭的日費率往中三萬，甚至推到中高三萬（就像上一輪週期那樣）帶來上行壓力；從單機角度來看，把某些鑽機在這7座或10座之後再拉回來，需要多少資本成本？想聽聽你們對這方面的一些看法。

Sure. I think that to start with the regulator going back to work, they haven't it hasn't been too long ago that they were working, but there are some costs incurred to put them back to work. From an accounting standpoint, we even have to capitalize some of the mobilizations too. And we've got some rigs that are moving in different parts of the country. And so that puts us at around $5 million in CapEx just to get everything back to work and put a number of rigs out through the end of the second quarter and into the third.

當然。我想先從鑽機重新回到作業談起，它們離上次作業其實也沒有太久，但要讓它們重新開工仍會產生一些成本。從會計角度來看，我們甚至也必須把部分動員（mobilization）成本資本化。而且我們有一些鑽機在國內不同地區移動。因此，僅僅為了讓一切恢復運作，並在第二季末到第三季期間把多座鑽機重新投放出去，我們的資本支出大約是500萬美元。

So it's just the way we account for it, but we also get revenue back from that, we get paid for the mobilization too, but it comes through the CapEx line as well. As we move forward through the year, for some of the structural upgrades, we think that we have a relatively low-cost solution for a number of our customers out there.

所以這只是我們的會計處理方式；但我們也會從中取得收入，我們也會就動員收費，只是同時也會反映在資本支出項下。隨著今年往後推進，針對一些結構性升級，我們認為對不少客戶而言，我們有相對低成本的解決方案。

It could be in the range of just a few million dollars, and we can see paybacks in one year, 1.5 years on some of that depending on the day rates that we get, and we'll lock that into term contracts. And that will start to push the day rates higher. I've said this before a number of times when we get into the large structural upgrades that we do, the CapEx costs are significantly higher.

可能只是在幾百萬美元的範圍內；視我們拿到的日費率而定，其中一些的回收期可在1年到1.5年，我們也會把這些鎖進定期合約。而這將開始推動日費率走高。我之前也多次說過，當我們進入大型結構性升級時，資本支出成本會顯著更高。

When you look at the APEX-XC rigs that we have working in the field today, which went through a large upgrade process, those day rates are pushing $40,000 a day. And I think that in the market that we're in, we will be exceeding $40,000 a day towards the end of this year and early next year. With those types of large structural upgrades.

看看我們目前在現場作業的 APEX-XC 鑽機，它們經歷了大型升級流程，這些日費率正逼近每天40,000美元。我認為以我們所處的市場狀況，今年年底到明年初，我們將會超過每天40,000美元。在這類大型結構性升級之下。

Got it. Okay. Great. That's super helpful. I guess, on the frac side, I know you've talked about that you're effectively sold out.

了解。好。很好。這非常有幫助。我想在壓裂這邊，我知道你們提過你們基本上已經滿載售罄。

It's going to take a lot to bring equipment off the fence just given its legacy diesel. And maybe talk to the white space in the calendar in 2Q. Has that been fully soaked up how is second half firming up as far as your current frac equipment. Just trying to think through what needs to happen on your current active fleet as far as white space being soaked up for the remainder of the calendar year. before you would consider adding incremental new builds or equipment into this market, understanding that's likely going to be next-gen 100% natural gas type of equipment?

要把設備從「閒置狀態」拉回來需要付出很大代價，因為那是舊式柴油設備。也請談談第二季行事曆上的空檔（white space）。那些空檔是否已經完全被填滿？就你們現有壓裂設備而言，下半年排程的確定性如何？我想釐清的是，在你們考慮增加額外新造設備或把更多設備投入這個市場之前（理解那很可能會是下一代、100%天然氣類型的設備），你們現有的在役機隊在今年剩餘時間裡，行事曆空檔需要被填補到什麼程度？

Yes. This has been a very dynamic situation. So I can tell you as of last week, there was some white space in the calendar that I think a lot of people wouldn't have understood given commodity prices today. But as of 2 days ago, we've basically filled the majority of that white space. So hats off to the team in completions and working with the customers to fill that up.

是的。這一直是非常動態的情況。我可以告訴你，就在上週，行事曆上還有一些空檔，我想很多人以今天的商品價格來看可能不會理解。但就在兩天前，我們基本上已經把大部分空檔填滿了。所以要向完井團隊致敬，他們與客戶合作把排程補滿。

And we see for completions that the second quarter is really kind of a transitory quarter, not quite the inflection that we're seeing in drilling, but then that inflection and completion comes right after that. And we feel like as of today, that we're fully loaded in the third quarter.

我們看到在完井方面，第二季確實比較像是一個過渡性的季度，還不到我們在鑽井端看到的那種拐點，但之後完井的拐點會緊接著出現。而以今天來看，我們覺得第三季已經滿載。

So I'm really pleased with what the team is doing, how they're working with the customers, how they've loaded up the calendar in the second quarter, considering how the overall US rig count has continued to come down. But we -- looking past the second quarter and into the third, without getting into numbers, we feel like we're fully loaded in the third quarter.

所以我對團隊的表現非常滿意：他們如何與客戶合作、如何在第二季把行事曆排滿，尤其是在美國整體鑽機數持續下滑的情況下。但我們——展望第二季之後進入第三季，在不談具體數字的前提下，我們覺得第三季是滿載的。

Jim Rollinson, Raymond James.

Jim Rollinson，Raymond James。

As you kind of look at this, you've been through a lot of cycles, seeing a lot of these inflections I'm curious not calling you all just experienced. Just I'm curious -- how are you thinking about this as we go through the next couple of years, you've been talking, among others about how tight the market is underlying in frac for a while beyond just the fleet count numbers and all that. And I'm curious how you think about of getting all your pricing back to kind of where you were two, three years ago.

你們經歷過很多輪週期，也看過很多這類拐點；我很好奇——不是說你們只是很有經驗。我只是好奇——當我們走過未來幾年時，你們怎麼看待這件事？你們以及其他人談到壓裂市場的緊俏已經有一段時間了，不只是機隊數量等表面數字。我也好奇，你們如何看待把你們的定價拉回到兩三年前的水準。

And I'm also curious, given what you guys have been doing on the cost side over the last couple of years. How does that translate into margins relative to like right after next year, close your kind of low 20s EBITDA margins in completion services? I'm just trying to connect the dots here to see where we might think margins trend over the next couple of years?

我也好奇，考量你們過去幾年在成本端所做的事情，這會如何轉化為利潤率？例如到明年之後，你們完井服務的 EBITDA 利潤率是否能接近你們所說的20%出頭的水準？我只是想把這些線索串起來，看看未來幾年利潤率可能會怎麼走？

Okay. So a few things on completions and how it's going to play out in terms of margins and what are we going to do based on the tightness in the market. what's important for us right now is to try to constructively work with our customer base to get the pricing back in line for where we are in the market. Like I've mentioned, we've been pushed down in the completions pricing for the last couple of years. And for the shareholders, we need to get the returns back to a reasonable level.

好的。關於完井，以及它在利潤率上會如何發展、以及基於市場緊俏我們會怎麼做，有幾點要說。對我們現在最重要的是，嘗試以建設性的方式與我們的客戶群合作，讓定價回到與我們在市場中的位置相符的水準。如我提到的，過去幾年我們的完井定價一直被壓低。為了股東，我們需要把報酬率拉回到合理的水準。

And so while we're still generating good cash flow, there's still an opportunity to get the returns higher. And we want to do that before we start adding capacity. Now at the same time, throughout this year, we've been adding the new Emerald pumps that are 100% natural gas burning pumps and really excited about the uptake in the market. These pumps are really spoken for with various customers even before they show up in our own inventory. And so it's been a measured pace to bring those out.

因此，雖然我們仍在產生良好的現金流，但仍有機會把報酬率再提高。而我們希望在開始增加產能之前先做到這一點。同時，在今年一整年，我們一直在導入新的 Emerald 泵，這些是 100% 天然氣燃燒的泵，我們對市場的採用情況感到非常振奮。這些泵甚至在進入我們自有庫存之前，就已經被不同客戶幾乎全數預訂。因此，我們以較為審慎的節奏將它們推出。

And when we do bring those out, it starts to improve our pricing and returns as we introduce those into the various fleets. But we don't want to add significant capacity to the market until we can structurally really kind of try to move the pricing up back to where we think it needs to be to get our returns.

而當我們把它們推出時，隨著我們將其導入各個車隊，便開始改善我們的定價與報酬。但在我們能夠從結構上真正把價格推回到我們認為需要的水準、以取得應有報酬之前，我們不想向市場增加大量產能。

Now on the positive side, to be able to do this, as I've said, we also hear that a number of our competitors are near sold out too. And with all the consolidation we've seen in the completions market over the last five years, is just structurally in a better place. And so while we are still competitive, I think there's a measured level of discipline in that market, too, to try to improve that market for our shareholders before we start adding capacity.

從正面來看，為了能做到這點，如我所說，我們也聽到不少競爭對手也幾乎售罄。而且在過去五年我們看到完井市場的整併之後，整體結構上處於更好的位置。因此，雖然我們仍具競爭力，但我認為該市場也存在一種有節制的紀律，試圖在開始增加產能之前，先為股東改善市場環境。

Makes sense. And as I think about CapEx, you guys obviously set a budget at the beginning of the year, which was kind of implying a down year as we're all expecting and things have changed. I'm just curious how you think about incremental capital to the budget. It's obviously returns driven, but just the order of magnitude, so we can kind of think about that as this start to let the other direction?

有道理。談到資本支出（CapEx），你們顯然在年初設定了預算，當時大致暗示今年會是下行的一年，這也是大家的預期，但情況已經改變。我只是好奇你們如何看待在預算之外的增量資本投入。顯然是以報酬為導向，但就量級而言，我們可以如何思考——當情勢開始往另一個方向走時？

Yes. Jim, this is Andy. I don't -- we're kind of, again, on the front edges of this, and certainly, the conditions -- the market conditions that we're in today with remarkably different than what we looked in during our budget cycle -- so we're looking at it. I don't really have anything to give you right now, but I will say that we're looking at places where we think there could be opportunity, an opportunity to maybe lean into what we think is going to be a pretty strong price environment.

是的。Jim，我是 Andy。我不——我們某種程度上仍處於這件事的前緣，而且我們今天所處的市場狀況，與我們在預算編列週期時所看到的狀況有顯著不同——所以我們正在評估。我目前沒有什麼可以提供給你，但我會說，我們正在尋找一些我們認為可能存在機會的地方，也就是或許可以把握我們認為將會是相當強勁的價格環境。

Scott Gruber, Citigroup.

Scott Gruber，花旗集團。

I want to stay on the frac pricing discussion kind of topic du jour here. I want to dig in a little deeper just because historically the frac pricing discussion was kind of a simple generalized one. But today, there's so much more differentiation in the fleet. It's really a stratified fleet. So a couple of questions just thinking through how pricing could evolve from here.

我想繼續停留在壓裂定價這個今日熱門話題上。我想再深入一點，因為過去壓裂定價的討論通常是相對簡單、概括性的。但今天，車隊之間的差異化大得多。車隊其實是分層的。所以我有幾個問題，想從這裡開始思考定價接下來可能如何演變。

I guess to set kind of an upside scenario it's probably not unreasonable to discuss today. But kind of ballpark, how much incremental pricing would you need to see on the direct drive an e-frac to support new builds that reflect fleet expansion and not just replacement.

我想先設定一個上行情境，今天討論這個應該不算不合理。但大致上，直驅與電動壓裂（e-frac）要支撐新增建置（new builds），而且是反映車隊擴張而不只是汰舊替換，你們需要看到多少額外的定價提升？

I think when we look at how we're deploying the new Emerald direct drive systems for 100% natural gas into our existing fleet the economics for that are actually very good. And the way we're pricing those and bringing them in are very good. But it's equipment that we've had out there under contract or under agreements for the last year or so. that we really need to bring that up to a level overall. So we need to get our average up.

我認為，當我們把新的 Emerald 直驅系統（100% 天然氣）部署到我們既有車隊時，其經濟性其實非常好。而我們對其定價以及導入方式也非常好。但這些設備在過去一年左右已經以合約或協議形式在外運作，我們確實需要把整體水準拉升。所以我們需要把平均值提高。

It's not really about what we're getting for the new technology that we're putting out there. I think that's working really well. And I think we're getting the returns that we want out of that. And I'm more concerned about what we're getting in the overall averages. And I think that we're entering a very tight market for completions.

這並不完全是關於我們對外推出的新技術能拿到多少價格。我認為那部分運作得很好。而且我認為我們也取得了想要的報酬。我更在意的是我們整體平均能拿到多少。我認為我們正進入一個完井非常吃緊的市場。

As I've said for a while and for a few quarters, we've been sold out of our everything that can burn natural gas. But overall, the industry is about to enter a very tight market for completions. And I think that bodes well for all of us trying to get our returns up to acceptable levels. And then we can look at starting to bring in capacity increases of new technology.

如我一段時間以來、也在過去幾季所說，我們所有能燃燒天然氣的設備都已經售罄。但整體而言，產業即將進入一個完井非常緊俏的市場。我認為這對我們所有人把報酬提高到可接受水準是有利的。然後我們就可以開始考慮導入新技術的產能增量。

Yes. I think the only thing that I would add to that is kind of given where we are in the market right now and the premium that gas burning equipment gets today. I think we're seeing pricing improvement across the fleet, more so, obviously, on the gas burning stuff. And so as we look at that, combined with what is, we think, kind of a crystallizing version of the market over the next couple of years or at least more visibility than we've had historically. I think you don't have to see a huge amount of pricing to be able to justify some new builds into this type of a market, but you probably still need 5% to 10% additional.

是的。我想我唯一要補充的是，考量我們目前在市場中的位置，以及燃氣設備目前所享有的溢價。我認為我們看到整個車隊的定價都在改善，當然燃氣設備的改善更明顯。因此，當我們把這點與我們認為未來幾年市場逐漸明朗化——或至少比過去更有能見度——結合起來看，我認為不需要非常大幅的定價提升就能在這類市場中合理化一些新增建置，但你可能仍需要額外 5% 到 10%。

That makes sense. I mean, that's why I was going next is that gap kind of between the Emerald kit and the dual fuel kit. I imagine there's a gap between Emerald and Tier 4 dual and a gap between Tier 4 and Tier 2 dual -- any color you can give on those gaps? And as pricing improves, do those gaps compress -- or do they kind of retain and everything kind of goes up because you have the diesel displacement rates kind of sustaining a different economic advantage across a different type of kit.

這很合理。我的下一個問題正是 Emerald 套件與雙燃料套件之間的差距。我想像 Emerald 與 Tier 4 雙燃料之間有一個差距，而 Tier 4 與 Tier 2 雙燃料之間也有一個差距——你能否就這些差距提供一些說明？而且隨著定價改善，這些差距會縮小嗎——還是會維持，並且因為柴油替代率使不同套件之間的經濟優勢不同，所以整體一起上升？

And you're correct. There is various levels of technology and there is a pricing differential between those levels of technology. But the market situation that we're about to go in over the next 6 months is a rising tide that's going to lift all these boats. This -- the differentiation is still going to be there. The differential in the price is still going to be there -- but overall pricing for all these levels of technology, I expect to move up.

你說得沒錯。確實存在不同層級的技術，而這些技術層級之間也存在定價差異。但我們在未來 6 個月即將進入的市場情況，就像漲潮會把所有船都抬高。這——差異化仍然會存在。價格差距仍然會存在——但整體而言，我預期所有這些技術層級的定價都會上升。

Yes. And again, with the diesel gas spread, I think that while all pricing will move up, you may see the spread between the different levels of equipment widened just in terms of the cost differential.

是的。而且再加上柴油與天然氣價差，我認為雖然所有定價都會上升，但你可能會看到不同設備層級之間的價差擴大，主要是因為成本差異。

Yes. So you could see like Care 4 dual rise at a greater rate than Tier 2 is what you're saying?

是的。所以你的意思是，像 Tier 4 雙燃料的漲幅可能會比 Tier 2 更大？

Potentially, yes.

有可能，是的。

Stephen Gengaro, Stifel.

Stephen Gengaro，Stifel。

So two for me and one is on the same pricing discussion. But when we think about sort of the way the pricing contracts behave, given your positive commentary -- would you expect to see a strong inflection point in margin in the third quarter for completions? Or do you think it's more kind of a smoother increase as you go through the next couple of quarters? How should we think about kind of when we see it on the income statement?

我有兩個問題，其中一個也是關於同樣的定價討論。但當我們思考定價合約的表現方式時，考量你們正面的評論——你們是否預期完井業務在第三季的毛利率會出現明顯的拐點？還是你認為它會在接下來幾季呈現較為平滑的上升？我們應該如何思考它何時會反映在損益表上？

I think it's going to be more of a smoother increase in pricing, not just over the next two quarters but into '27 as well. And I think this is going to be based on like I said, constructive negotiations with our customers. We're going to have customers call that want to increase their capacity.

我認為定價會是較為平滑的上升，不僅是未來兩季，進入 2027 年也會如此。而我認為這將基於我所說的，與客戶進行具建設性的協商。我們會有客戶來電，希望增加他們的產能。

We're going to have E&P's call that we don't maybe not working for today, and it's going to create no opportunities and it's going to create negotiations with this customer base in general as to where this equipment goes. And this is an interesting market for us, but it's one that we need to do the right thing for our shareholders and improve the returns. And I think it's a steady process to do this over multi-quarters.

我們將會有一些E&P的合約（我們可能今天不會讓它生效／運作），這將不會帶來任何機會，並且一般而言會就這些設備要去哪裡，與這個客戶群展開協商。這對我們來說是一個有意思的市場，但我們必須做對股東有利的事並提升報酬。我認為這是一個需要跨越多個季度、穩步推進的過程。

Okay. That's helpful. And -- the other question I had was, when we think about on the drilling side and you talked about some of the performance-based and I guess, kind of packaging of products over between completions and drilling. How does that play out in a tighter market? Like does it -- is it better for you?

好的。這很有幫助。另外——我還有一個問題是，當我們從鑽井端來看，而你提到一些以績效為基礎的（我想是）在完井與鑽井之間的產品打包方式。在市場更緊俏的情況下，這會如何發展？例如，它——對你們來說會更好嗎？

Does it give you more opportunity? Do you think a tighter market helps that approach or hurts that approach? How should we think about that?

它會給你們更多機會嗎？你認為更緊俏的市場會幫助這種做法，還是會傷害這種做法？我們應該如何看待？

Yes. We've actually seen over the last couple of years since we introduced this, and this is our P10 Advantage offering that we have for the E&Ps across drilling and completions we've seen challenges because the market was getting softer. But I've actually been in discussions with some mid-tier operators who say, look, hey, we may kick off a program.

是的。其實在過去幾年自從我們推出這項方案以來——也就是我們針對E&P、涵蓋鑽井與完井的P10 Advantage方案——我們確實遇到一些挑戰，因為市場變得更疲弱。但我最近確實與一些中型營運商討論過，他們說：你看，我們可能會啟動一個計畫。

And if we do, we'd like to discuss with you what you can do for us because for them at a mid-tier level, expanding their program, they don't necessarily have all the internal resources to do that. And if we can help them on the efficiencies across drilling and completions, that's a positive form.

如果我們真的啟動，我們希望和你們討論你們能為我們做些什麼，因為對他們這種中型規模而言，要擴大計畫，他們不一定具備所有內部資源。如果我們能在鑽井與完井的效率上協助他們，這就是正面的。

So this will be a positive market for expanding that offering. I appreciate that you asked the question. because as some of these midsized E&Ps look to expand what they're doing, they're going to need help, and we are well positioned to help them out.

因此，這將是一個有利於擴大該方案的市場。我很感謝你問這個問題。因為當這些中型E&P想要擴大他們正在做的事情時，他們會需要協助，而我們具備很好的條件來幫助他們。

Arun Jerian, JPMorgan.

Arun Jerian，摩根大通。

Andy, your prepared comments suggest that the rig count is going to be trending up 5 to 7 rigs as we think about in 2Q. I'd love to get a little bit of color on which US shale basins, are you seeing that incremental demand in on the rig side?

Andy，你的事先準備發言顯示，當我們看第二季時，鑽機數可能會上升5到7座。我想多了解一些細節：在鑽機端，你們在美國哪些頁岩盆地看到這些增量需求？

Interestingly, Arun, it's -- we're seeing it across multiple basins. So it's not concentrated in any 1 particular basin. But we've got customers that are in multiple basins, looking at the economics that they have it's oil, it's gas, it's across the board. So it's broad, and that's actually quite encouraging that it's not concentrated into one basin. That means that there's further opportunities over the next few quarters and pass that to expand the rig count as operators continue to look at their economics.

有趣的是，Arun，我們——在多個盆地都看到了。所以並沒有集中在任何單一特定盆地。但我們有客戶分布在多個盆地，並在評估他們的經濟性——有石油、有天然氣，全面都有。所以是廣泛的，而這其實相當令人鼓舞，因為它沒有集中在單一盆地。這意味著在接下來幾個季度乃至更久，隨著營運商持續檢視其經濟性，仍有更多機會擴大鑽機數。

Got it. Got it. And just maybe my follow-up. Andy, you closed your prepared remarks talking about evaluating opportunities to deploy capital. You talked a lot about the Emerald technology, the 100% natural gas burning engines.

了解。了解。再追問一下。Andy，你在事先準備的結語提到正在評估部署資本的機會。你談了很多關於Emerald技術、100%燃燒天然氣的引擎。

What are you -- in terms of what are you looking for at this point to add that, call it, incremental capacity, your nameplate is actually going down this year, as you mentioned, but what are you looking for in terms of market signals to maybe step up, I think the CapEx guide is around $500 million or less this year, but what are you looking for to start, call it, deploying some growth capital in terms of the business?

就你們目前而言，若要增加（姑且稱之為）增量產能，你們在看什麼？如你所提，你們今年的名目產能其實在下降；但你們在看哪些市場訊號，可能會讓你們加快腳步？我想今年的資本支出指引大約是5億美元或更少——但你們在看什麼，才會開始（姑且稱之為）在業務上部署一些成長資本？

Yes, Arun, I appreciate the question because as everybody knows, we've been holding back some cash, looking for opportunity to deploy that cash, whether that was through increasing the dividend that we did here recently or buying back shares, which we did last year. And we've also looked at opportunities in M&A as well.

是的，Arun，我很感謝這個問題。因為大家都知道，我們一直保留部分現金，尋找部署這些現金的機會——不論是像我們最近做的提高股利，或是我們去年做的庫藏股回購。我們也同樣在尋找併購（M&A）的機會。

But as this market improves, we now have even further options because with an increasing activity and the demand that we're seeing on technologies, whether it's on the completion side with Emerald 100% natural gas or it's on the drilling side with the APEX-XC+ rig that we have we've got to evaluate what that looks like from a return standpoint and what we think is the right answer for the shareholders as we start to deploy more capital.

但隨著市場改善，我們現在有更多選項，因為活動增加、且我們看到對技術的需求——不論是在完井端的Emerald 100%天然氣，或是在鑽井端的APEX-XC+鑽機——我們必須從報酬角度評估其樣貌，並在開始部署更多資本時，判斷什麼才是對股東而言的正確答案。

Keith MacKey, RBC Capital Markets.

Keith MacKey，RBC資本市場。

I think it's I think it's pretty rare to have -- to be talking about termination revenue and rig activation in maybe the same call. Can you just -- maybe, Andy, walk us through a little bit about those factors and maybe it's a timing issue on the termination? And then with the rig reactivations, what type of CapEx or OpEx do these rigs need to come back? Is it a matter of increasing specification requests by the -- on behalf of the operators? Or any color there would be appreciated.

我想——我想同一通電話會同時談到終止收入與鑽機啟用，這應該相當罕見。你能不能——也許，Andy，帶我們稍微梳理一下這些因素？也許終止是時間點的問題？另外，關於鑽機重新啟用，這些鑽機要回到作業需要什麼樣的資本支出或營運支出？這是否與營運商提出更高規格的要求有關？任何補充說明都會很感謝。

Yes. This quarter, as everybody knows, has had a lot of moving parts to it. And we've had E&P customers that started off the year with a budget at a certain level based on commodity prices at a certain level. and still under a lot of pressure from investors to keep CapEx in line and not overspend their budgets. And so yes, we did have a -- we've got rigs come down.

是的。如大家所知，本季有很多變動因素。我們有一些E&P客戶在年初依據某一水準的商品價格，制定了某一水準的預算；同時仍承受投資人很大的壓力，要把資本支出控制在合理範圍內、不要超支。所以是的，我們確實有——我們有鑽機下線。

We've had termination payments. all in the same quarter that we're having discussions now to put rigs back to work. So it's been quite the quarter to try to navigate how we're going to manage this and watch our cost base as well because that creates challenges as the rig count is coming down, and then we've got to put a rig count back up to work, and it's in basins across the US. We've got rigs moving between basins. And so there's a lot of things going on.

我們也有終止付款。而就在同一個季度，我們現在又在討論讓鑽機重新回到工作。所以這一季在摸索我們要如何管理、以及如何同時控管成本基礎方面，確實相當不容易；因為鑽機數在下降時會帶來挑戰，接著我們又得把鑽機數拉回來投入作業，而且是在美國各個盆地。我們有鑽機在不同盆地之間移動。因此有很多事情同時在發生。

in terms of the cost base to put the rigs back to work after they've come down. In terms of overall numbers to put rigs back to work, if they've been working I'd say in the last year, then we're in probably a range of $2 million CapEx to put them back to work. But there's also -- there's -- there's certainly no upgrades that are less than $1 million in terms of technology. And we're getting requests for structural upgrades. We're getting requests for some digital solution upgrades.

就讓鑽機在下線後重新回到作業的成本基礎而言。以整體數字來看，如果這些鑽機在過去一年內有在工作，我會說讓它們重新回到作業，資本支出大概在200萬美元的範圍。但另外——也——當然在技術方面，任何升級幾乎都不會低於100萬美元。我們也收到結構性升級的要求。我們也收到一些數位解決方案升級的要求。

And -- it really depends on the customer, where they're working, what the objective is that they're drilling as to the capacity that they wanted to do. And so that could potentially drive some more capital spend but we're still evaluating that and just trying to make sure that we understand the market and that we work through those discussions with the customers because as we spend those kind of dollars on upgrades, then we certainly want a contract to cover that.

而且——這真的取決於客戶、他們在哪裡作業、以及他們鑽探的目標是什麼，從而決定他們想要的能力／產能。因此，這可能會推動更多資本支出；但我們仍在評估，並且只是想確保我們理解市場，並與客戶把這些討論走完，因為當我們在升級上花這種金額時，我們當然希望有合約能夠涵蓋這些投入。

Yes. And just to clarify, all that, make sure that we understand the rigs that we're talking about in the second quarter, we even completed the $5 million of operating expenses to reactivate those rigs. That's OpEx. That's not CapEx. The CapEx is probably on the rigs that would go to work that those rigs maybe are a little further out and have it worked so recently.

是的。另外再澄清一下：為了確保我們理解我們在第二季所談的那些鑽機，我們甚至已經完成了500萬美元的營運費用，用於重新啟用那些鑽機。那是OpEx。不是CapEx。CapEx可能是用在那些將要投入作業、但可能更晚一些、且最近沒有作業過的鑽機上。

Got it. I appreciate that color. Maybe just turning to inflation. I think that certainly is a concern. There's some obvious places where we might be seeing it.

了解。我很感謝這樣的補充說明。也許轉到通膨這個議題。我認為那確實是一個令人擔憂的點。我們可能在一些明顯的地方看到它。

But what type of potential inflationary factors are you watching? And how much of that do you think you're able to mitigate.

但你們正在關注哪些可能的通膨因素？你認為其中有多少是你們能夠緩解的？

Certainly, in a lot of areas, of course, diesel price is moving up. The one thing that I will say is there's plenty of sand in the Permian Basin. So we're not seeing any challenges around sand where we have a lot of completion activities today. in terms of the Permian. Maybe some of the smaller basins are starting to tighten up a little bit, but we expect that changes over time, too, and then we're accommodated there.

當然，在很多領域，例如柴油價格正在上升。我想說的一點是，二疊紀盆地（Permian Basin）的砂子供應很充足。因此，就二疊紀而言，在我們目前有大量完井作業的地方，我們沒有看到砂子方面的任何挑戰。也許一些較小的盆地開始稍微吃緊，但我們也預期這會隨時間改變，而我們在那邊也能因應。

And then on the drilling product side, it's dealing with some of the materials that we have. Basically saying that tungsten prices are moving up significantly right now. We're not the only industry right now given what's happening in the world that requires Tungsten. And so we're seeing that move up. But we actually have ways to mitigate that.

另外在鑽井產品端，主要是在處理我們使用的一些材料。基本上就是說，鎢的價格目前正在大幅上漲。考量到全球正在發生的事情，需要鎢的不只有我們這個產業。所以我們看到價格上行。但我們其實有方法可以緩解。

We use the tungsten in the matrix body bits if we start to produce more steel is steel body bits and we can mitigate the cost of the tungsten as well. So just a number of things going on, but there's ways that we can mitigate that. We if there are costs that are moving up that we need to pass through to the customers, this is absolutely the right market to be able to do that in. And so we'll be looking at that as well.

我們在基體（matrix body）鑽頭中使用鎢；如果我們開始生產更多鋼體（steel body）鑽頭，也可以緩解鎢的成本。所以有不少事情正在發生，但我們有方法可以緩解。如果有一些上升的成本需要轉嫁給客戶，這絕對是適合這麼做的市場環境。因此我們也會評估這一點。

Doug Becker, Capital One.

Doug Becker，Capital One。

Andy, just wanted to get a finer point on how many rigs will be reactivated with the $5 million in costs? And is there a line of sight to some term work? Or are you really just seeing the spot market pick up to the point that gives you the comfort to deploy that capital?

Andy，我想更精準地問一下：這 500 萬美元的成本會讓多少座鑽機重新啟用？另外，是否能看到一些長約工作（term work）的能見度？還是你們只是看到現貨市場（spot market）回升到讓你們有信心投入這筆資本的程度？

Yes. I would say right now, nothing at that level yet, but we are looking ahead to the year as to what the needs might be in the second half of this year. and going into early 2027 and having those discussions with customers.

是的。我會說目前還沒有到那個程度，但我們正在展望今年，看看今年下半年以及進入 2027 年初可能會有哪些需求，並與客戶進行相關討論。

And we'll certainly give you more information at the next quarter -- but when we talk about $5 million, that also includes mobilization costs as well, not just what we do in the drilling rig. But the market is certainly moving in the right direction to allow us to do some potentially significant upgrades on technology and maybe even take some share as we do this and we're excited for the discussions that we're in, we're excited for the market and the changing conditions.

我們當然會在下個季度提供更多資訊——但當我們談到 500 萬美元時，其中也包含動員（mobilization）成本，不只是鑽機本身的投入。不過市場確實正朝正確方向發展，讓我們有機會在技術上做一些可能相當顯著的升級，甚至在這個過程中取得一些市占，我們對目前進行中的討論感到振奮，也對市場與環境的變化感到期待。

I've been optimistic through the year as we've been managing the business, but I'm far more than optimistic at this point in the market for where it's going right now.

今年在我們經營管理業務的過程中，我一直保持樂觀，但就目前市場的走向而言，我現在的信心遠不只是樂觀。

Yes, definitely make sure clarify that, that $5 million ties to that 92% to 95% (inaudible) rate that we're talking about earlier.

是的，一定要釐清：這 500 萬美元是對應到我們先前談到的 92% 到 95%（聽不清）利用率。

Got it. No, that makes sense. And maybe just a housekeeping item. You mentioned that firm cost about 5 days on completion services. Just any EBITDA impact from there?

了解。不，這很合理。另外一個例行問題。你提到完井服務大約損失了 5 天。這對 EBITDA 有任何影響嗎？

On the winter storm?

你是指冬季風暴嗎？

Yes.

是的。

It was about $9 million. That's what we saw. We had that included in our guidance when we gave it last quarter. We weren't quite as fine a point on it. We said 5% to 10%, but it ended up being at the high end of that range.

大約是 900 萬美元。這是我們看到的影響。我們在上季給出指引時就已把這個納入。當時沒有講得那麼精準。我們說是 5% 到 10%，但最後落在區間的高端。

Eddie Kim, Barclays.

Eddie Kim，Barclays。

Just surprised that the overall US land rig count is still roughly flat since the beginning of the Iran conflict about two months ago. even as oil prices have increased substantially over that time period. Does that sort of reflect customers being in wait and see mode before deciding to pull the trigger on increasing activity or more so maybe the lag between actually making that decision and actually standing up a rig. Just any color there?

我有點意外，整體美國陸上鑽機數自伊朗衝突開始（約兩個月前）以來仍大致持平，儘管這段期間油價已大幅上升。這是否反映客戶在決定扣下扳機、提高活動量之前仍處於觀望模式？或者更可能是從做出決策到實際架設一座鑽機之間存在時間落差？能否補充一些看法？

And -- but it does seem like based on your outlook and your commentary that the industry-wide rig count should start picking up here within a matter of weeks.

另外——但看起來依你們的展望與評論，整體產業的鑽機數應該會在幾週內開始回升。

Yes, I'll start, and then Andy can jump in and give you some more color. But I mean, our customers, just like we did, we went through a budget cycle and sort of all of this kind of came on right after we've kind of made our plans for the year.

是的，我先說，然後 Andy 可以再補充一些細節。我們的客戶跟我們一樣，剛走完預算循環，而這一切大致是在我們剛把今年的計畫定下來之後才發生的。

And so to change those plans on a on a pretty quick time line without 100% surety where it was going to end up or how long it was going to last, would be pretty difficult, I think, to even ask of our customers. And so I'm not surprised kind of by the pace at which things have started to come back. But that's my take on it. I don't know, Andy, if you have something you want to add to that?

因此，要在很短的時間內改變那些計畫，而且在還無法 100% 確定最後會如何發展、或會持續多久的情況下，我認為會相當困難，甚至很難要求客戶這麼做。所以我對事情回升的速度並不意外。這是我的看法。我不知道，Andy，你是否想補充？

Yes. Eddy in the public data you can get on the rigs, what you can see is that some of the biggest E&P operators in the US that you buy gas from really haven't changed their programs. They're just sticking to their programs right now throughout the year because that's when they've set their budgets on -- and I think that really will probably kind of stay that way. I think you'll see other publics, and I think you'll see private start to move quicker.

是的。Eddy，從你能取得的鑽機公開數據來看，你會看到美國一些最大的 E&P 業者——也就是你買天然氣的那些——其實並沒有改變他們的計畫。他們目前就是全年按既定方案執行，因為他們的預算就是依此編列的——我認為大概會維持這樣。我想你會看到其他上市公司，以及民營公司會更快行動。

And that's what you're seeing in our rig count projections right now. But these large E&Ps will relook at their budgets for 2027, and that's why I'm also encouraged for next year as well. So I think you're going to see some of -- you've got some public, you've got some mid-tier E&Ps, you've got some privates that are all starting to we think this year and with increasing rig count and increasing completion activity and then the very large E&Ps will kick in for '27.

這也正是你在我們目前的鑽機數預測中看到的情況。但這些大型 E&P 會在 2027 年重新檢視他們的預算，這也是我對明年同樣感到鼓舞的原因。所以我認為你會看到：有一些上市公司、有一些中型 E&P、也有一些民營業者，我們認為今年就會開始動起來，帶動鑽機數增加與完井活動增加；而非常大型的 E&P 則會在 2027 年加入。

That's very helpful color. And just as it relates to your rigs, you mentioned exiting this quarter about 92 to 95 rigs, seems like just based on your commentary that 2026 could almost look like a near image of 2025. At the beginning of last year, you guys were running about $15 million active rigs. Do you think that $105 million is achievable for you guys by the fourth quarter of this year? Or would that be too much of a stretch?

這些補充非常有幫助。另外回到你們的鑽機，你提到本季末大約是 92 到 95 座；看起來依你們的評論，2026 年幾乎可能會像 2025 年的翻版。去年年初你們大約在跑 15 百萬美元的活躍鑽機。你認為到今年第四季，你們有機會達到 1.05 億美元嗎？還是那會太勉強？

I think it's too early to tell or try to project exactly what our rig count number is going to be at the end of this year, but we are encouraged about the discussions that we're having that we will put up more rigs in the second half after the second quarter. So very happy to be working in this type of market versus dealing with for the last year or so.

我認為現在要判斷或精準推估今年年底我們的鑽機數還太早，但我們對目前進行中的討論感到鼓舞，我們將在第二季之後、也就是下半年架設更多鑽機。所以，相較於過去一年左右所面對的情況，我們很高興能在這樣的市場環境中運作。

Dan Kutz, Morgan Stanley.

Dan Kutz，摩根士丹利。

So maybe one on the international businesses that you guys have, kind of looking past the near-term disruptions related to the comp -- have you had any customer conversations or inbound in other regions outside of the Middle East or even any conversations with customers there that could -- that indicates potential activity upside or any inbound on incremental demand for Patterson services and equipment, whether it's across the drilling more global kind of drilling products business or you have the Lat Am drilling footprint and the turn will JV in the UAE. But yes, just wondering if you could care any thoughts or views or conversations that you've had about potential incremental upside in the international space.

所以也許想問一個關於你們國際業務的問題，稍微看遠一點、先不看與同業比較（comp）相關的短期干擾——你們是否有和其他地區（中東以外）的客戶交流，或收到任何來自其他地區的主動詢問？或者即便是在中東，你們與客戶的對話中是否有任何跡象顯示潛在活動有上行空間，或有對 Patterson 服務與設備的額外需求的詢問，不論是更全球化的鑽井產品業務，或是你們在拉丁美洲的鑽井布局，以及在阿聯酋的 Turn-Well 合資企業。總之想請教你們對國際市場可能出現的增量上行空間，有沒有任何想法、觀點或對話可以分享。

Yes, I'll give you some color on what we're seeing. So I'll start with the Middle East from Kuwait on down to Oman. That's where we have a really solid drilling products business. we did see onshore activity relatively steady in those markets, especially Saudi Arabia and the UAE. But offshore, they did shut down a lot of the activity kind of midway through this conflict.

好的，我可以補充一些我們看到的情況。我先從中東談起，從科威特一路到阿曼。那裡是我們鑽井產品業務非常扎實的區域。我們確實看到這些市場的陸上活動相對穩定，尤其是沙烏地阿拉伯與阿聯酋。但在海上方面，他們在這場衝突進行到一半左右時關停了不少活動。

And so that's had an effect. Also, particularly in Saudi Arabia, our customer there was working through some of their inventory that they had still in their warehouses. And I think that slowed product sales for everybody over there. And at some point, that will end and then product sales will start to move up. And so with the onshore activity steady, we think we have some interesting opportunities over there.

因此這確實帶來影響。另外，特別是在沙烏地阿拉伯，我們那邊的客戶正在消化他們倉庫裡仍然存放的一些庫存。我認為這讓那邊所有人的產品銷售都放緩了。而在某個時間點，這個狀況會結束，之後產品銷售就會開始回升。因此在陸上活動維持穩定的情況下，我們認為那邊有一些很有意思的機會。

We are seeing some higher costs on logistics to get products and materials into the Middle East, and we've certainly seen a slowdown in Kuwait as well. So we'll just have to see how a lot of this plays out. Moving over to South America. We did ship 2 drilling rigs down to Argentina. We do expect over the next year to 2 years that in Argentina, the rig count continues to move up.

我們也看到把產品與材料運進中東的物流成本上升，而且我們也確實看到科威特的活動放緩。所以接下來就得看看這些事情會如何發展。再談到南美。我們已經把 2 座鑽機運到阿根廷。我們預期在未來 1 到 2 年，阿根廷的鑽機數量會持續上升。

We may get to participate more in that process. We'll see. It's too early to call anything out on that yet. -- but we're in a number of conversations in Argentina. And I'll just go ahead and mention Venezuela.

我們可能會在這個過程中有更多參與機會。我們再觀察。現在還太早，暫時不便對此做任何明確說法——但我們在阿根廷正進行多場對話。我也順帶提一下委內瑞拉。

Nobody's talked about Venezuela in a while. There is a number of interested parties looking at Venezuela to try to get in there and increase production, especially in the Orinoco belt for heavy oil. But these -- these discussions will take time. And I think that process will go very slow. But there are -- as I mentioned, there are a number of interested parties.

已經有一段時間沒有人談委內瑞拉了。目前有不少有興趣的各方在關注委內瑞拉，試圖進入並提高產量，尤其是奧里諾科帶（Orinoco belt）的重油。但這些——這些討論需要時間。我認為這個進程會非常緩慢。不過如我所說，確實有不少有興趣的各方。

That's all really helpful. And then coming back to the US, not sure if something that you guys if this is something that you guys track or have noticed or heard folks talking about, but just figured given your kind of unique footprint at the top, both driller and frac service company. seen some indicating that DUC inventories are low, potentially even materially low.

這些都非常有幫助。接著回到美國，不確定你們是否有追蹤、注意到或聽到大家在談，但考量你們在上游端有相當獨特的布局，同時涵蓋鑽井與壓裂服務公司；我看到一些訊息指出 DUC（已鑽未完井）庫存偏低，甚至可能是顯著偏低。

And obviously, that can influence the relative pace of drilling versus completions activity at least from your remarks so far, it seems like you see upside in both markets, but just wondering if lower inventories is just kind of structural and as efficiencies improve or if you think that there's a dynamic there that could influence the pace of drilling versus completions activity.

而這顯然會影響鑽井相對於完井活動的節奏。至少從你們目前的評論來看，你們似乎認為兩個市場都有上行空間；但我想問的是，較低的庫存是否只是結構性現象、隨著效率提升而形成，或你認為其中存在某種動態，可能會影響鑽井相對於完井活動的速度。

Sure. I think with the DUC inventory this year, what we've seen is that it's come down, and a lot of that has to -- it's just directly related to the rig count coming down. and the number of wells between the drilling rigs and the completion activity.

當然。我認為今年的 DUC 庫存，我們看到它確實下降了，而這很大程度上——其實是直接與鑽機數下降有關，以及鑽機鑽井與完井活動之間的井數配置。

But also with some of the smaller customers, what we've seen is that they've really kind of tried to pace themselves through the year, and I'm talking about starting off at the beginning of the year where they drilled some wells and then they were going to complete them later. And some of those customers have called us based on current economics and said, hey, we want to frac these wells sooner.

但另外，在一些較小的客戶身上，我們看到他們今年其實一直在刻意控制節奏；我指的是年初開始時，他們先鑽一些井，然後打算晚些時候再完井。而其中一些客戶基於目前的經濟性打電話給我們說，嘿，我們想更早對這些井進行壓裂（frac）。

And so where we could, we've tried to accommodate them. And that's also led to some better returns on some of that work that we've done when we pulled that work forward. And -- but I wouldn't say it's widespread yet so far. But now we're going into a period where the drilling rig count is going to start to move up. And we're going to see the DUC inventory start to move up until completion activity moves up.

因此在我們能力允許的範圍內，我們盡量配合他們。而當我們把這些工作提前時，也讓我們在部分已完成的工作上取得更好的回報。不過——我不會說目前這已經很普遍。但現在我們正進入一個鑽機數將開始回升的階段。在完井活動回升之前，我們會看到 DUC 庫存開始回升。

And with the tightness in the completion market, and there could be a period that we are increasing DUCs even more than normal until we do get more completion work out there. So I think it's going to be very positive for completions in the second half of this year.

而在完井市場偏緊的情況下，可能會有一段期間，我們增加 DUC 的幅度甚至會高於正常水準，直到市場上出現更多完井工作。所以我認為這對今年下半年的完井業務會非常正面。

Donald Crist, Johnson Rice.

Donald Crist，Johnson Rice。

Andy, I just have one kind of macro question. Hearing from some really smart people around the world and given your contacts in the Middle East that worldwide supplies are dwindling and the dichotomy between the physical markets and the financial markets for oil are pretty significant. And with that background, we're hearing that the strip could increase pretty materially despite whether or not this war is over sooner rather than later. And I'm just curious as to your kind of macro view on oil and whether or not we ever go back to $65 or $70 oil or if we do stay higher at, call it, an $80-plus oil level for the coming years. I know that's kind of more philosophical, but just your thoughts.

Andy，我只有一個偏宏觀的問題。我從全球一些非常聰明的人那裡聽到，加上你們在中東的人脈，全球供應正在縮減，而石油的實體市場與金融市場之間的落差相當明顯。在這樣的背景下，我們聽到即使這場戰爭不論是較早或較晚結束，遠期曲線（strip）仍可能相當幅度地上升。我想請教你對油價的宏觀看法：我們是否還會回到每桶 65 或 70 美元，或未來幾年是否會維持在更高的水準，例如每桶 80 美元以上。我知道這比較偏哲學性，但想聽聽你的想法。

Well, Don, I really appreciate that macro question, and I'll start by qualifying that I'm not a commodities trader, but there's some interesting things happening in the market. And before you get into the crude discussion, there's a real challenge in some of the refined products like jet fuel, kerosene, distillates where those commodities have been ramping up at a faster rate than crude oil.

嗯，Don，我很感謝這個宏觀問題。我先說明一下，我不是大宗商品交易員，但市場上確實有一些有趣的事情正在發生。在談原油之前，像航空燃油、煤油、餾分油等部分成品油面臨真正的挑戰，這些商品的漲勢比原油更快。

And so I think that commodity traders on the crude side are kind of watching how these product sides trade to try to determine what the real cost per barrel should be because there is starting to be this disconnect between what traders opinion are of what all should trade at versus where you can physically get oil today and where you can move it to.

因此我認為原油端的商品交易員正在觀察這些成品端的交易情況，試圖判斷每桶的真實成本應該是多少，因為交易員認為「應該交易在什麼價位」與你今天實際能取得原油、以及能把油運到哪裡之間，開始出現這種脫節。

So we still, of course, have a bottleneck of crude in terms of global production that's missing and that's going to have to get filled at some point or it's going to have to start moving again, and that will take months to work itself out. So I think where the strip trades today, looking forward, is -- seems to be more of a best guess versus what the material price of a barrel of oil really is. And it will be interesting to see how that shakes out over the next year.

所以我們當然仍面臨原油的瓶頸，也就是全球產量有缺口，這個缺口終究必須在某個時間點被補上，或者供應必須重新開始流動，而這需要數個月才能逐步消化。因此我認為，今天遠期曲線的交易水準——往前看——看起來更像是一種最佳猜測，而不一定反映每桶原油真正的實質價格。接下來一年這會如何發展，會很值得觀察。

Yes. We're hearing from some really smart people that the strip is probably not going back to the $70 level again. So we'll see. We'll watch it together. I appreciate the thoughts.

是的。我們從一些非常聰明的人那裡聽到，遠期曲線可能不會再回到 70 美元的水準。所以我們再看看。我們一起觀察。感謝你的看法。

Sure. But I'm certainly encouraged by how our customer base is reacting and how they're discussing the forward strip and the fact that we can tell you today that we're putting drilling rigs out.

當然。不過我確實受到鼓舞，因為我們看到客戶群的反應方式，以及他們如何討論遠期曲線；而且我們今天也可以告訴你，我們正在把鑽機投入運作。

John Daniel, Daniel Energy Partners.

John Daniel，Daniel Energy Partners。

So I've got three questions, and you might have answered all of these. And so I apologize if you did. But from the supply chain perspective, Andy, specifically for drilling capital equipment, where are the longest lead times today? And do you see that being a limiting or delay in rig reactivations over the next several quarters?

所以我有三個問題，而你可能已經把這些都回答了。如果你已經回答過，我先說聲抱歉。但從供應鏈的角度來看，Andy，特別是針對鑽井資本設備，目前哪些項目的交期最長？你是否認為這會在未來幾個季度限制或延遲鑽機重新啟用？

So there are some long lead items, some are close to a year. But those are some specialty items for some very large upgrades. But that being said, we've already been placing some orders for some long lead items. So we keep some things moving within the existing budget. As we -- when we talk about our capital budget at the beginning of the year, we talked about it's not just maintenance.

確實有一些長交期的項目，有些接近一年。但那些是針對某些非常大型升級的特殊項目。不過話說回來，我們已經在為一些長交期項目下單了。所以我們會在既有預算內讓一些事情持續推進。正如我們在年初談到資本預算時所說的，這不只是維護。

We've got technology upgrades built in. So we try to stay in front of some of these long lead items. And I don't think the lead time really changes. They just are what they are on some of these long-lead components that we've got to have, and we keep those on order where it makes sense. That being said, there's some shorter lead items, too, around structural steel and things like that, that we can get in a relatively reasonable pace.

我們把技術升級也納入其中。所以我們會盡量提前因應這些長交期項目。而我不認為交期真的會改變。對於我們必須要有的某些長交期零組件而言，交期就是那樣；在合理的情況下，我們會持續下單備貨。話雖如此，也有一些較短交期的項目，例如結構鋼材之類，我們能以相對合理的速度取得。

I haven't heard anything from the teams and we've had a lot of discussions over the that gives me any concern that we're going to have trouble getting any of these types of items at the pace that we think we're going to need them. So I think we're going to be fine on the technology and structural upgrades that we could potentially do over the next year.

我沒有從團隊那邊聽到任何訊息——我們也做了很多討論——會讓我擔心我們無法以我們預期需要的速度取得這類物料。所以我認為，在未來一年我們可能進行的技術與結構升級方面，應該不會有問題。

Okay. That's helpful. And then you touched on international, Argentina and Venezuela. I'm curious what -- how do the rig specs differ between those markets and what you're doing here in the states? And just any operational color there would be helpful.

好的。這很有幫助。另外你提到國際市場、阿根廷和委內瑞拉。我想了解——這些市場的鑽機規格和你們在美國這邊做的有何不同？任何營運面的補充說明都會很有幫助。

Yes. The good news for Argentina Baker is that you can take a drilling rig from the US and you can move it right down there and drill one of the horizontals that they want to drill. So that's an almost identical rig spec. When you get to Venezuela, you kind of have to break it up into which basin you're talking about.

是的。對阿根廷來說，好消息是你可以把一台美國的鑽機直接運到那邊，然後鑽他們想鑽的水平井。所以那幾乎是完全相同的鑽機規格。至於委內瑞拉，你得先區分你談的是哪個盆地。

But if you're talking about the Orinoco basin in the heavy oil we were drilling those wells 20 years ago with 1,000 horsepower rigs. And so very easily, you can take the 1,500-horsepower rig out of the US and put it in there, and it's going to do better than we did before 20 years ago. And you do have some deeper onshore plays where you need 2,000 or 3,000 horsepower. But I suspect that the focus in Venezuela is going to be on the heavy oil because of the refineries in the Gulf Coast.

但如果你談的是奧里諾科盆地的重油區，我們20年前用1,000馬力的鑽機就在鑽那些井了。因此你很容易把美國的1,500馬力鑽機帶過去，它的表現會比我們20年前做得更好。另外也有一些更深的陸上區塊需要2,000或3,000馬力。但我猜委內瑞拉的重點會放在重油，因為墨西哥灣沿岸的煉油廠。

And you've got -- the rigs in the US will easily go down there and work there.

而且——美國的鑽機很容易就能下去那邊作業。

Okay. And then final one, for the people of your employees that were in the Middle East, what percent of them left when the conflict started? And what percent have returned? And then just as the guy that kind of oversees all these people, like what's your -- how do you think about sending more people back? And when do you do that?

好的。最後一個問題，關於你們在中東的員工，衝突開始時有多少比例離開？又有多少比例已經返回？另外，作為某種程度上負責統籌這些人的主管，你怎麼看待再派更多人回去？你會在什麼時候做這件事？

Yes. So first, I want to say, and they know who they are within the company, hats off to our enterprise response team. They were running a 24-hour operation to logistically check on everybody that we had from Kuwait all the way down to Oman. Make sure that people were okay, comfortable where they were, assistance to move them out where they needed to get moved out.

是的。首先我想說——公司內部他們知道我在說誰——要向我們的企業應變團隊致敬。他們以24小時運作的方式，從科威特一路到阿曼，逐一在後勤上確認我們每一位同仁的狀況。確保大家都平安、所在位置舒適，並在需要撤離時協助安排轉移。

And one of the bigger concern areas was we had a number of rotators working in the field in the UAE -- we had to get them out over land to Oman and then fly them out of Oman once the flights were working in a reasonable way.

其中一個比較大的關切區域是：我們有不少輪調人員在阿聯酋的現場工作——一旦航班恢復到較合理的運作狀態，我們必須先讓他們走陸路撤到阿曼，再從阿曼搭機離開。

At this point today, we've got really everybody back to where they are. And so it's relatively business as usual. I say relatively because we do have concerns -- but the people that we have over there are comfortable working over there. If they're not happy working over there, we've certainly got work for them here. As I mentioned, we're hiring. So we've got plenty of stuff going on. But no, the people that we're happy to go back.

截至今天，我們基本上已經讓所有人都回到他們原本所在的位置。所以整體而言算是相對回到正常營運。我說相對，是因為我們確實仍有一些擔憂——但我們在那邊的人對於在當地工作是安心的。如果他們不願意在那邊工作，我們在這裡當然也有工作可以安排給他們。如我提到的，我們正在招募。所以我們有很多事情在進行。不過，是的，大家都很願意回去。

And that concludes our question-and-answer session. I will now turn the conference back over to Andy Hendricks for closing remarks.

以上為我們的問答環節。我現在把電話會議交回給Andy Hendricks做結語。

Thanks, Abby. I just want to thank everybody that dialed in today for our conference call. It's exciting time in the industry where we are seeing this inflection and very happy to report this quarter that we're putting drilling rigs back to work and that we have a good line of sight on completions for the rest of the year to be relatively fully loaded out. So thank you.

謝謝你，Abby。我想感謝今天撥入參加我們電話會議的每一位。我們正處於產業令人振奮的時刻，因為我們看到這個轉折點；也很高興在本季報告，我們正讓鑽機重新投入作業，而且我們對今年剩餘時間的完井作業有很清晰的能見度，預期將維持相對滿載。謝謝。

And ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's call, and we thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

各位女士、先生，今天的電話會議到此結束，感謝各位的參與。您現在可以掛線。