Ring Energy Inc (REI) 2025 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the Ring Energy second quarter and full year 2025 earnings conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this event is being recorded. I will now turn the call over to Al Petrie, Investor Relations for Ring Energy.

早安，歡迎參加 Ring Energy 第二季和 2025 年全年財報電話會議。（操作員指示）請注意，此事件正在被記錄。現在我將電話轉交給 Ring Energy 投資人關係部門的 Al Petrie。

Thank you, operator, and good morning, everyone. We appreciate your interest in Ring Energy. We'll begin our call with comments from Paul McKinney, our Chairman of the Board and CEO, who will provide an overview of key matters for the second quarter of 2025 as well as our updated outlook.

謝謝接線員，大家早安。感謝您對 Ring Energy 的關注。我們的電話會議將從董事會主席兼首席執行官保羅·麥金尼 (Paul McKinney) 的評論開始，他將概述 2025 年第二季度的關鍵事項以及我們的最新展望。

We'll then turn the call over to Travis Thomas, Ring Energy's Executive VP and CFO, who will review our financial results. Paul will then return with some closing comments before we open the call for questions.

然後，我們將把電話轉給 Ring Energy 的執行副總裁兼財務長 Travis Thomas，他將審查我們的財務結果。在我們開始提問之前，保羅將回來發表一些結束語。

Also joining us on the call today and available for the Q&A session are Alex Dyes, Executive VP and Chief Operations Officer; James Parr, Executive VP and Chief Exploration Officer; and Shawn Young, Senior VP of Operations. You are welcome to reenter the queue later with additional questions. I would also note that we have posted an updated corporate presentation on our website.

今天參加電話會議並參與問答環節的還有執行副總裁兼營運長 Alex Dyes、執行副總裁兼首席勘探官 James Parr 和營運高級副總裁 Shawn Young。歡迎您稍後再重新加入隊列並提出其他問題。我還要指出的是，我們已經在我們的網站上發布了更新的公司介紹。

During the course of this conference call, the company will be making forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and those actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements.

在本次電話會議期間，本公司將根據聯邦證券法做出前瞻性陳述。投資人需注意，前瞻性陳述並不能保證未來的業績，實際結果或發展可能與前瞻性陳述中的預測有重大差異。

Finally, the company can give no assurance that such forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. Ring Energy disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

最後，本公司不能保證此類前瞻性聲明的正確性。Ring Energy 不承擔更新或修改任何前瞻性聲明的意圖或義務，無論其是否由於新資訊、未來事件或其他原因。

Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. These and other risks are described in yesterday's press release and our filings with the SEC. These documents can be found in the Investors section of our website located at www.ringenergy.com. Should one or more of these risks materialize or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially.

因此，您不應過度依賴前瞻性陳述。這些風險和其他風險已在昨天的新聞稿和我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中進行了描述。這些文件可在我們網站 www.ringenergy.com 的「投資者」版塊找到。如果其中一項或多項風險成為現實，或相關假設被證明有誤，實際結果可能會發生重大差異。

This conference call also includes references to certain non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable measure under GAAP are contained in yesterday's earnings release. Finally, as a reminder, this conference call is being recorded.

本次電話會議也提及了某些非公認會計準則財務指標。昨天的收益報告中包含了這些非 GAAP 財務指標與 GAAP 下最直接可比較指標的對帳。最後，提醒一下，本次電話會議正在錄音。

I would now like to turn the call over to Paul McKinney, our Chairman and CEO.

現在我想將電話轉給我們的董事長兼執行長保羅‧麥金尼 (Paul McKinney)。

Thanks, Al, and thank you, everyone, for joining us today and for your continued interest in Ring Energy. We enjoyed another strong quarter, a quarter where we not only set new records for oil and BOE sales, but we also set a record for adjusted free cash flow despite considerably lower oil prices.

謝謝，Al，也謝謝大家今天加入我們，並感謝你們對 Ring Energy 的持續關注。我們又度過了一個強勁的季度，本季我們不但創下了石油和石油桶銷售額的新紀錄，而且儘管油價大幅下跌，我們也創下了調整後自由現金流的新紀錄。

Our operational performance during the second quarter of 2025 was largely due to the continuing success we enjoyed in the first quarter, namely that our PDP production base, the new wells drilled so far this year and the newly acquired Lime Rock assets continue to perform at the higher end of our forecast. Also contributing to our success was the progress our operating team made by reducing operating costs.

我們 2025 年第二季的營運表現很大程度上歸功於我們在第一季度取得的持續成功，即我們的 PDP 生產基地、今年迄今為止鑽探的新井以及新收購的 Lime Rock 資產繼續保持我們預測的較高水平。我們的營運團隊透過降低營運成本所取得的進步也為我們的成功做出了貢獻。

There are several highlights to point out in this regard. First was the quick and efficient integration of the Lime Rock assets into our operations, where we not only reduced the LOE cost of the acquired assets, but realized cost savings with our existing assets in the Shafter Lake operating area as well.

這方面有幾點亮點值得指出。首先是將 Lime Rock 資產快速且有效率地整合到我們的營運中，我們不僅降低了所收購資產的 LOE 成本，而且還利用我們在 Shafter Lake 營運區域的現有資產實現了成本節約。

These cost reductions were due to the reduction of field -- of the required field staff by approximately 50% due to the proximity of our existing assets and the ability of Ring's field management to reorganize operational responsibilities, resulting in the combined operations being more efficient. We have been able to arrest the declining rates by reducing the downtime associated with well failures with more responsive repairs and getting the wells back online sooner.

這些成本的降低是由於現場減少了——由於我們現有資產的接近以及 Ring 的現場管理能夠重組營運職責，所需的現場工作人員減少了約 50%，從而使合併後的運營更加高效。我們透過更靈敏的維修減少與油井故障相關的停機時間並更快地讓油井恢復生產，從而能夠遏制產量下降的趨勢。

We are also able to incorporate existing vendor services such as [roundabout] crews, workover rigs, haul trucks, et cetera, that resulted in more efficient use and reduced expenses for these services in our combined operations. Other highlights are related to LOE reductions across other areas of our operating base. Our operations team continues to drive costs out of our operations where we realized about $400,000 in savings per month during the second quarter.

我們也能夠整合現有的供應商服務，例如[迂迴]工作人員、修井機、運輸卡車等，從而提高我們聯合營運中這些服務的使用效率並降低其費用。其他亮點與我們營運基地其他地區的 LOE 減少有關。我們的營運團隊持續降低營運成本，第二季我們每月節省了約 40 萬美元。

We have significantly reduced the number of [routes spout gains] and expenses around supplies and materials due to more efficient management from our field construction group. We are continuing to see reductions in field staffing-related costs from optimizing field responsibilities and lease operator routes.

由於現場施工組的管理更加高效，我們大幅減少了[路線噴口收益]的數量以及供應品和材料方面的費用。透過優化現場職責和租賃營運商路線，我們繼續看到現場人員相關成本的降低。

Our production performance, cost savings and the acquisition of Lime Rock assets had an important impact on our performance in the second quarter, and the benefits to our stockholders are depicted on Slide 10 in our corporate presentation posted this morning. Our production per share increased 13% over the prior quarter because of the Lime Rock acquisition and the strong performance and improved metrics reported this quarter. Our all-in cash operating costs dropped almost $3 per BOE or 12% due to our cost savings initiatives.

我們的生產業績、成本節約以及對 Lime Rock 資產的收購對我們第二季度的業績產生了重要影響，我們今天上午發布的公司簡報的第 10 張幻燈片中描述了這些收益對股東的益處。由於收購 Lime Rock 以及本季報告的強勁業績和改善指標，我們的每股產量比上一季成長了 13%。由於我們採取了成本節約舉措，我們的全現金營運成本下降了近 3 美元/桶油當量，即 12%。

Finally, and because of our strong performance this quarter, our adjusted free cash flow on a dollar per BOE basis is up over 250%, but we are not stopping there. We believe we have additional gains to make reducing our operating costs. One change we are making worth pointing out is that we are currently expanding the scope of operations of one of the chemical vendors used in the South into our Northern assets.

最後，由於我們本季的強勁表現，我們以每桶油當量美元計算的調整後自由現金流成長了 250% 以上，但我們不會就此止步。我們相信，降低營運成本可以帶來更多收益。我們正在進行的一項值得指出的改變是，我們目前正在將南方化學品供應商的營運範圍擴大到我們的北方資產。

We expect this important change to drive future incremental savings already seen in our Southern operations by reducing direct chemical treating costs by eliminating hot oil treatments by lowering well failure frequencies and reducing associated workover costs. This transition should be completed in the third quarter of this year.

我們預計，這項重要變化將推動未來南部業務中已經出現的增量成本節約，透過消除熱油處理來降低直接化學處理成本，降低油井故障頻率並減少相關的修井成本。這項過渡預計將於今年第三季完成。

So let's review some of the specific results of the second quarter. We sold 14,511 barrels of oil per day, which was near the high end of guidance and 21,295 barrels of oil equivalent per day, which was just below the midpoint of guidance. When combining our record- setting quarterly production with below the low end of guidance lease operating expenses of $10.45 per BOE and a 48% reduction in capital spending over the prior quarter, we achieved record free cash flow of $24.8 million, marking the 23rd consecutive quarter of generating free cash flow.

那麼讓我們回顧一下第二季度的一些具體結果。我們每天銷售 14,511 桶石油，接近指引值的高端，每天銷售 21,295 桶石油當量，略低於指引值的中點。當我們創紀錄的季度產量與低於指導低端的每桶油當量 10.45 美元的租賃運營費用以及比上一季度減少 48% 的資本支出相結合時，我們實現了創紀錄的 2480 萬美元的自由現金流，這是連續第 23 個季度產生自由現金流。

With respect to our drilling and completion activities during the quarter, we drilled, completed and placed on production two wells in the Central Basin Platform. This included one 1-mile horizontal well in Andrews County and one vertical well in Crane County, both with a working interest of 100%. Like the wells drilled and completed in the first quarter of 2025, both wells are meeting or exceeding our pre-drill expectations associated with initial production results.

就本季的鑽井和完井活動而言，我們在中央盆地平台鑽探、完井並投入生產了兩口井。其中包括安德魯斯縣的一口 1 英里水平井和克蘭縣的一口垂直井，兩口井的權益均為 100%。就像 2025 年第一季鑽探和完井的油井一樣，這兩口油井都達到或超過了我們對初步生產結果的鑽探前預期。

Regarding our financial success for the second quarter, it was largely due to our quick response to the drop in oil prices experienced early in the quarter and the operational outperformance we've just described.

關於我們第二季度的財務成功，很大程度上歸功於我們對本季初油價下跌的快速反應以及我們剛剛描述的營運優異表現。

I will now turn this call over to Travis to share the highlights and details of our second quarter financial position. Travis?

現在，我將把電話轉給特拉維斯，讓他分享我們第二季財務狀況的亮點和細節。崔維斯？

Thanks, Paul, and good morning, everyone. We began the quarter energized by the integration of the new assets into the Ring family. But on day two, the tariff turmoil instilled uncertainty into the market, driving prices down by 17% over the next week. We quickly adapted to a lower price environment, and we were able to finish the quarter with record production, LOE below the guidance range, reduced sequential G&A and a pullback in capital spending.

謝謝，保羅，大家早安。隨著新資產融入 Ring 家族，我們在本季開始充滿活力。但第二天，關稅風波為市場帶來了不確定性，導致價格在接下來的一周下跌了 17%。我們迅速適應了較低的價格環境，並在本季度實現了創紀錄的產量、低於指導範圍的 LOE、連續的 G&A 減少以及資本支出的回落。

The combination of these resulted in adjusted free cash flow of $24.8 million, a new record high, enabling us to pay down $12 million in debt. As I say every time, balance sheet improvement has been and will remain a top priority for the company.

這些因素的綜合作用使得調整後的自由現金流達到 2,480 萬美元，創下新高，使我們能夠償還 1,200 萬美元的債務。正如我每次所說的那樣，改善資產負債表一直是並將繼續是公司的首要任務。

Another highlight is that we entered into the amended and restated credit agreement with a $585 million borrowing base in June.

另一個亮點是，我們在 6 月簽訂了經修訂和重述的信貸協議，借款金額為 5.85 億美元。

It was a challenging time with prices ranging between $57 to almost $73, but in the end, we are encouraged by the improved terms of the facility. One of the most impactful was a 25 basis point reduction in the pricing grid leading to interest expense savings on day one. For context, that is $250,000 in annual savings on each $100 million outstanding.

這是一個充滿挑戰的時期，價格從 57 美元到近 73 美元不等，但最終，我們對設施條件的改善感到鼓舞。其中最有影響力的措施之一是將定價表降低了 25 個基點，從而在第一天就節省了利息支出。具體來說，每 1 億美元未償還貸款每年可節省 25 萬美元。

This amended facility provides Ring with a 34-month extension of the facility's tenure expiring in June of 2029. We are excited to welcome Bank of America as our new administrative agent and to add Citibank to the banking syndicate. Of course, we are grateful to all of our banks for the ongoing support, and we believe our strong partnerships will be a catalyst for future growth.

修改後的貸款協議將 Ring 的貸款期限延長 34 個月，至 2029 年 6 月到期。我們很高興歡迎美國銀行成為我們的新行政代理，並將花旗銀行加入銀行集團。當然，我們感謝所有銀行的持續支持，我們相信我們強大的合作夥伴關係將成為未來成長的催化劑。

Turning now to the metrics for the quarter. It is evident that our team is executing on the operational plan. Starting with sales volumes. We sold a record 14,511 barrels of oil per day, exceeding the midpoint of our guidance and a record 21,295 BOE per day, slightly below the midpoint.

現在來看看本季的指標。顯然，我們的團隊正在執行營運計劃。從銷售量開始。我們每天銷售的石油量達到了創紀錄的 14,511 桶，超過了我們指導的中點，並且每天銷售的石油量達到了創紀錄的 21,295 桶油當量，略低於中點。

As for the second quarter 2025 pricing, our overall realized price decreased 11% to $42.63 per BOE from $47.78 in the first quarter. Driving the overall decrease was an 11% lower realized oil price of $62.69, which is the lowest realized price since the first quarter of 2021.

至於 2025 年第二季的定價，我們的整體實現價格從第一季的 47.78 美元下降 11% 至每桶油當量 42.63 美元。推動整體下跌的原因是實際油價下跌 11%，至 62.69 美元，這是自 2021 年第一季以來的最低實際油價。

Realized gas price, which includes the majority of our GTP cost was a negative $1.31, down from negative $0.19 in the first quarter. NGL prices decreased 36% in the quarter to $6.19. Our second quarter average crude oil differential from NYMEX WTI futures pricing was a negative $0.99 per barrel versus a negative $0.89 for the first quarter.

實際天然氣價格（包括我們大部分的 GTP 成本）為負 1.31 美元，低於第一季的負 0.19 美元。本季，NGL價格下跌36%，至6.19美元。第二季度，我們與紐約商品交易所WTI期貨的平均原油價格差為每桶負0.99美元，而第一季為每桶負0.89美元。

Our average natural gas price differential from NYMEX futures pricing for the second quarter was a negative $4.67 per Mcf compared to a negative $3.81 per Mcf for the first quarter. Our realized NGL price averaged 10% of WTI compared to 15% for the first quarter. The result was revenue for the second quarter of $82.6 million despite the weakening prices.

我們第二季與 NYMEX 期貨定價的平均天然氣價格差異為每千立方英尺負 4.67 美元，而第一季為每千立方英尺負 3.81 美元。我們實現的 NGL 價格平均為 WTI 的 10%，而第一季為 15%。儘管價格走弱，但第二季的營收仍達到 8,260 萬美元。

We continue to target higher oil mix opportunities as oil accounted for 100% of total revenue, while it was only 68% of total production. Overall, our sequential revenue had a 4% increase from the first quarter, which was driven by a positive $16.8 million volume variance, offset by a negative $13.3 million price variance.

我們繼續瞄準更高的石油組合機會，因為石油佔總收入的 100%，而它僅佔總產量的 68%。總體而言，我們的連續收入較第一季增長了 4%，這是由 1,680 萬美元的正銷量差異推動的，但被 1,330 萬美元的負價格差異所抵消。

Moving to expenses. LOE was $20.2 million or $10.45 per BOE versus $19.7 million or $11.89 per BOE in the first quarter. We were pleased to see LOE lower on a BOE basis quarter-to-quarter and well below our guidance of $11.50 to $12.50 per BOE.

轉向開支。LOE 為 2,020 萬美元或每桶油當量 10.45 美元，而第一季為 1,970 萬美元或每桶油當量 11.89 美元。我們很高興看到，以桶油當量計算，LOE 環比下降，遠低於我們預測的每桶油當量 11.50 美元至 12.50 美元。

Cash G&A, which excludes share-based compensation, was $5.8 million compared to $6.9 million in the first quarter. The decrease was partially driven by annual costs incurred in the first quarter associated with the audit, 10-K and proxy. The second quarter also saw lower salaries and bonus accrual.

不包括股權激勵費用的現金一般及行政費用為 580 萬美元，而第一季為 690 萬美元。下降的部分原因是第一季與審計、10-K 和代理商相關的年度成本。第二季度的薪資和獎金總額也有所下降。

Our second quarter results included a gain on derivative contracts of $14.6 million versus a loss of $900,000 for the first quarter. The second quarter gain included a $14 million unrealized gain and a $600,000 realized gain. As a reminder, the unrealized gain and loss is just the difference between the mark-to-market values period-to-period.

我們第二季的業績包括衍生性合約收益 1,460 萬美元，而第一季則虧損 90 萬美元。第二季的收益包括 1,400 萬美元的未實現收益和 60 萬美元的已實現收益。提醒一下，未實現損益只是不同期間以市價計算的價值之間的差額。

Finally, for Q2, we reported net income of $20.6 million or $0.10 per diluted share compared to the first quarter net income of $9.1 million or $0.05 per diluted share. Excluding the after-tax impact of pretax items, including noncash unrealized gains and losses on hedges and share-based compensation expense, our second quarter 2025 adjusted net income was $11 million or $0.05 per diluted share, while the first quarter 2025 adjusted net income was $10.7 million or $0.05 per diluted share.

最後，對於第二季度，我們報告的淨收入為 2,060 萬美元，即每股攤薄收益 0.10 美元，而第一季的淨收入為 910 萬美元，即每股攤薄收益 0.05 美元。不包括稅前項目的稅後影響，包括對沖的非現金未實現損益和股權激勵費用，我們 2025 年第二季度的調整後淨收入為 1100 萬美元或每股攤薄收益 0.05 美元，而 2025 年第一季的調整後淨收入為 1070 萬美元或每股攤薄收益 0.055 美元。

We posted second quarter 2025 adjusted EBITDA of $51.5 million versus $46.4 million for the first quarter, with most of the difference attributed to higher oil revenue, higher realized hedges and lower G&A. During the second quarter, we invested $16.8 million in capital expenditures, which was 48% lower than the first quarter and below the $18 million midpoint of guidance.

我們公佈的 2025 年第二季調整後 EBITDA 為 5,150 萬美元，而第一季為 4,640 萬美元，其中大部分差額歸因於石油收入增加、已實現對沖增加以及 G&A 減少。第二季度，我們的資本支出為 1,680 萬美元，比第一季下降 48%，低於 1,800 萬美元的指導中位數。

Adjusted free cash flow was $24.8 million versus $5.8 million for the first quarter, with the net increase primarily associated with approximately $15.6 million in lower capital spending, combined with $5 million higher EBITDA compared to the first quarter.

調整後的自由現金流為 2,480 萬美元，而第一季為 580 萬美元，淨增加主要與資本支出減少約 1,560 萬美元以及 EBITDA 與第一季相比增加 500 萬美元有關。

We ended the period with $448 million drawn on our credit facility after a $12 million paydown. With a current borrowing base of $585 million, we ended the quarter with availability of $137 million and a leverage ratio of 2.05 times, which includes the $10 million deferred payment due in December of 2025.

在償還了 1,200 萬美元後，我們在本期末從信貸額度中提取了 4.48 億美元。目前借款基數為 5.85 億美元，本季末可用借款額為 1.37 億美元，槓桿率為 2.05 倍，其中包括 2025 年 12 月到期的 1,000 萬美元延期付款。

Moving to our hedge positions. For the last six months of 2025, we currently have approximately 1.3 million barrels of oil hedged with an average downside protection price of $64.87. This covers approximately 55% of our oil sales guidance at midpoint.

轉向我們的對沖頭寸。2025年下半年，我們目前約有130萬桶石油對沖，平均下檔保護價格為64.87美元。這相當於我們中期石油銷售指導價的約55%。

We also have 1.5 Bcf of natural gas hedge with an average downside protection price of $3.37, covering approximately 42% of our estimated natural gas sales based on the midpoint. For a detailed breakout of our hedge position, please see our earnings release and presentation, which include the average price for each contract type.

我們還擁有 15 億立方英尺的天然氣對沖，平均下行保護價格為 3.37 美元，根據中間值計算，可涵蓋我們估計的天然氣銷售額的約 42%。有關我們對沖頭寸的詳細分類，請參閱我們的收益報告和演示文稿，其中包括每種合約類型的平均價格。

We are reaffirming our updated full year 2025 production guidance of 12,700 to 13,700 barrels of oil per day and 19,200 to 20,700 BOE per day. Yesterday, we presented our guidance for the third quarter total sales volumes of 19,200 to 21,200 BOEs per day and oil production to range between 12,850 and 13,850 barrels of oil per day, resulting in a 66% oil mix.

我們重申最新的 2025 年全年產量指導，即每天 12,700 至 13,700 桶石油和每天 19,200 至 20,700 桶油當量。昨天，我們公佈了第三季總銷售量預期，即每天 19,200 至 21,200 桶油當量，石油產量預期為每天 12,850 至 13,850 桶油之間，石油組合佔比為 66%。

For second half 2025, we are continuing to guide to total sales volumes of 19,000 to 21,000 BOE per day and oil production in the range of 12,500 to 14,000 barrels of oil per day, also a 66% oil mix.

到 2025 年下半年，我們將繼續指導總銷售量達到每天 19,000 至 21,000 桶油當量，石油產量在每天 12,500 至 14,000 桶油之間，石油組合佔比也為 66%。

On the cost side, we are updating guidance to $11 to $12 per BOE for the remaining quarters of 2025. Please refer to our second quarter earnings release and company presentation for full details by period. I would note that of the four to six wells included in our drilling program for the third quarter, we have drilled, completed and placed on production three horizontal wells to date.

在成本方面，我們將 2025 年剩餘季度的指導價格更新為每桶油當量 11 至 12 美元。請參閱我們的第二季財報和公司介紹，以了解各期間的完整詳情。我想指出的是，在我們第三季鑽井計劃中的四到六口井中，迄今為止我們已經鑽探、完井並投入生產了三口水平井。

As in the past, we retain the flexibility to react to changing commodity prices and market conditions as well as manage our quarterly cash flow.

與過去一樣，我們保留了對不斷變化的商品價格和市場條件做出反應以及管理季度現金流的靈活性。

So with that, I will turn it back to Paul for his closing comments. Paul?

因此，我將把話題交還給保羅，請他發表最後評論。保羅？

Thank you, Travis. As you know, we enjoyed a strong quarter despite the backdrop of lower energy prices. We are proud of the team's operational performance this quarter, delivering strong production, significant reductions in LOE costs and robust performance from the new wells drilled this year.

謝謝你，崔維斯。如您所知，儘管能源價格較低，但我們本季仍表現強勁。我們為團隊本季的營運表現感到自豪，實現了強勁的產量、顯著降低了 LOE 成本，今年鑽探的新井表現強勁。

We also demonstrated this quarter that we can successfully manage the aspects of our business that are within our control to help achieve the results we need despite the adverse conditions beyond our control. In high-priced markets, we balanced growth with improving the balance sheet. In today's lower price landscape, we are prioritizing debt reduction.

本季我們也證明，儘管面臨我們無法控制的不利條件，我們仍可以成功管理我們可控制的業務方面，以幫助實現我們需要的結果。在高價市場中，我們平衡了成長與改善資產負債表。在當今價格較低的情況下，我們優先考慮減少債務。

I say this to reassure our stockholders that Ring's management team and Board of Directors are unwavering in this regard. Even if oil prices rise to higher-than-anticipated levels later this year, we will not significantly change our capital spending plans and will retain our capital discipline. If we are fortunate to experience higher oil prices later this year, we will capture the windfalls and apply them to reducing debt.

我這樣說是為了向我們的股東保證，Ring 的管理團隊和董事會在這方面是堅定不移的。即使今年稍後油價上漲至高於預期的水平，我們也不會大幅改變我們的資本支出計劃，並將保持我們的資本紀律。如果我們有幸在今年稍後經歷油價上漲，我們將獲得意外之財並將其用於減少債務。

With that, we will turn this call over to the operator for questions. Operator?

有了這些，我們將把這個電話轉給接線生來回答問題。操作員？

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Jeff Robertson, Water Tower Research.

傑夫·羅伯遜，水塔研究公司。

Thank you. Good morning. Paul, good morning. Let's start -- starting with the stock price. You've reported good results on the assets and underlying production and favorable cost trends, including the Lime Rock assets that were closed at the end of the first quarter. The stock has underperformed some of your peers. Can you just share your thoughts on how the stock has performed and what you think might be causing the performance?

謝謝。早安.保羅，早安。讓我們開始吧——從股票價格開始。您報告了資產和基礎生產的良好結果以及有利的成本趨勢，包括第一季末關閉的 Lime Rock 資產。該股票的表現不如一些同業。您能否分享一下您對該股票表現的看法以及您認為可能造成這種表現的原因？

Yeah, very good question, Jeff. I don't think I was ready to be hit right off the bat with that one. But yes, that's a difficult question to answer. Primarily from the standpoint, there's a lot of uncertainty associated with what affects stock prices.

是的，非常好的問題，傑夫。我覺得我還沒準備好接受這樣的打擊。但確實，這是一個很難回答的問題。主要從這個角度來看，影響股票價格的因素有許多不確定性。

As you know, there's a lot of things that impact a public oil and gas company's stock price. A lot of those are within our control. A lot of those are not within our control. The things that are not within our control are oil price, but those -- the impact of oil price typically apply to Ring very similarly as they apply to others.

如您所知，有許多因素會影響上市公司的股價。其中很多都在我們的控制範圍內。其中很多都不在我們的控制範圍內。我們無法控制的事情是油價，但油價的影響對 Ring 的影響通常與對其他公司的影響非常相似。

So that's not really a distinguishing issue. But in my opinion, typically, the greatest differentiator between any one company's stock price performance and their peer group really goes down to those things that are within the company's control. And so I think one of the easiest issues to point out and something that we've heard from our shareholders is our debt and our leverage ratio.

所以這並不是一個真正有差別的問題。但在我看來，通常情況下，任何一家公司的股價表現與同業之間的最大差異實際上都在於公司可以控制的因素。因此，我認為最容易指出的問題之一以及我們從股東那裡聽到的問題是我們的債務和槓桿率。

Ring, as you know, is at the higher end of our peer group. Companies at the lower end of that peer group tend to trade at a slightly higher premium based on our interpretation of the available data. Other things you can point to is our size and scale.

如您所知，Ring 在我們的同類產品中處於較高水平。根據我們對現有數據的解讀，同類公司中處於較低水準的公司往往以略高的溢價進行交易。您可以指出的其他事情是我們的規模和範圍。

Again, Ring is at the lower end of that peer group. And based on our observation of the data, companies at the higher end tend to trade at a slightly higher premium. However, there are several other attributes that Ring has, and I call these distinguishing attributes that really set us apart.

再次，Ring 處於同類產品中的較低水平。根據我們對數據的觀察，高端公司的交易溢價往往略高。然而，Ring 還具有其他一些屬性，我稱這些屬性為真正讓我們與眾不同的顯著屬性。

And if you look back historically, we have performed very handsomely operationally and also financially. And so some of these distinguishing attributes, and let's just talk about some of our reserve life. If you go to our corporate presentation on page 8, Ring has the longest reserve life of our peer group. The median is 11.1 years, and ours is 18.7 years.

如果回顧歷史，我們會發現我們在營運和財務方面都表現得非常出色。因此，讓我們來談談這些顯著特徵以及我們的一些儲備生活。如果您查看第 8 頁的公司介紹，您會發現 Ring 的儲備壽命是同類產品中最長的。中位數是 11.1 年，我們的是 18.7 年。

Long-life reserves, they help improve our sustainability and manage the risk of changing oil and gas prices over the long term. Another attribute, our PDP base production decline rate. Ring has the second lowest in a 10 company peer comparison. It's an important metric that helps reduce the capital intensity required to maintain our production levels and the liquidity with our banks. So that's a real important issue.

長壽命儲備有助於提高我們的永續性並管理長期石油和天然氣價格變化的風險。另一個屬性是我們的PDP基地生產下降率。在 10 家同業公司的比較中，Ring 的評級排名第二低。這是一項重要指標，有助於降低維持生產水準和銀行流動性所需的資本密集度。所以這是一個非常重要的問題。

Other things, a higher operational ownership allows us to control our portfolio. The higher net revenue interest lead to higher margins and profitability, higher percentage oil mix in the product -- higher oil percentage in our product mix is important just simply because Permian Basin companies are challenged getting the natural gas out of the basin and sold at a profit.

另外，更高的營運所有權使我們能夠控制我們的投資組合。更高的淨收入權益帶來更高的利潤率和盈利能力，產品中石油比例更高——我們產品組合中更高的石油比例很重要，因為二疊紀盆地公司面臨的挑戰是將天然氣從盆地中開採出來並以盈利的方式出售。

And so all of this leads to many of these things lead to something else that's pointed out on page 9 of our corporate deck, basically our higher operating margins. The higher operating margins leads to higher profitability per BOE and allows the company to better withstand the risk of lower oil prices.

因此，所有這些因素都導致了我們公司文件第 9 頁中指出的其他因素，基本上就是我們的更高營業利潤率。更高的營業利潤率帶來更高的每桶油當量獲利能力，使公司能夠更好地抵禦油價下跌的風險。

So all of these things would suggest that Ring should actually be at a minimum trading in the middle of our peer, if not at the higher end of our peer group. And so what's different? I know the point you're getting to, if you -- if many of our shareholders may recall that not very long ago in June, Seeking Alpha article actually came out and pointed out what I believe is a significant issue, and that is the selling pressure that our company has had over the last few years. If you go back to our corporate presentation, go into the appendix on page 30, we have a chart in there that shows Ring Energy's historical price performance since January of 2022 to the present.

因此，所有這些因素都表明，Ring 的交易價格至少應處於同行的中​​間水平，甚至應處於同行的高端水平。那麼有什麼不同呢？我知道你想表達的意思，如果你——如果我們的許多股東可能還記得不久前的六月份，Seeking Alpha 文章實際上已經發表並指出了我認為的一個重大問題，那就是我們公司在過去幾年中面臨的拋售壓力。如果您回顧我們的公司介紹，進入第 30 頁的附錄，其中有一張圖表，顯示了 Ring Energy 自 2022 年 1 月至今的歷史價格表現。

And we also put on that plot oil prices. If you look at that chart and the annotations, what we have done is we've annotated all of the things that I believe has had a significant impact on our stock price. And all those things are basically associated with adverse or high levels of selling pressure against our stock.

我們還在該圖上標註了油價。如果您查看該圖表和註釋，您會發現我們所做的就是註釋了我認為對我們的股價產生重大影響的所有因素。所有這些因素基本上都與我們的股票面臨的不利或高水平的拋售壓力有關。

So if you go back to the second quarter of 2022 on that chart, you can see that right when we hit about $5 or just close to $5 a share, our largest warrant holders started selling or converting their warrants into common shares, and they started selling those shares in the marketplace. As you can see, the oil price continued to peak.

因此，如果您回到 2022 年第二季度的圖表，您就會發現，就在我們達到每股 5 美元或接近 5 美元時，我們最大的認股權證持有人開始出售或將其認股權證轉換為普通股，並且他們開始在市場上出售這些股票。正如你所看到的，油價持續高位。

But when the oil prices in 2022 began to fall, our stock price fell precipitously compared to that. That was just due to the selling pressure. If you just march along, you can see they continue that pressure against our stock. And then we got tired of the effect on our stock during those times. And so if you go back to the second quarter of 2023, we negotiated with the remaining warrant holders and got them to convert those shares. And so about the time when those shares were sold into the marketplace, and we were done with the warrant -- the effect of the warrants, we announced the Founders deal.

但當2022年油價開始下跌的時候，我們的股價就相對大幅下跌。這只是由於拋售壓力造成的。如果你繼續前進，你會發現他們繼續對我們的股票施加壓力。然後我們就厭倦了那段時間對我們股票的影響。因此，如果回顧 2023 年第二季度，我們與剩餘的認股權證持有人進行了談判，並讓他們轉換這些股票。因此，當這些股票在市場上出售時，我們就完成了認股權證——認股權證的效果，我們宣布了創始人交易。

And so if you look there in July of 2023, where we announced the Founders transaction, you can see that the market responded very handsomely to that. There wasn't the selling pressure. And then what happened, the largest shareholder that came into Ring's position as a result of the Stronghold deal began exiting their position. And so if you follow along that chart, you can see where our large shareholder began selling or continue to sell and that selling pressure continues to this day.

因此，如果你看看 2023 年 7 月我們宣布創辦人交易的情況，你會發現市場對此反應非常熱烈。沒有拋售壓力。然後發生的事情是，由於 Stronghold 交易而接任 Ring 職位的最大股東開始退出其職位。因此，如果您按照該圖表操作，您將看到我們的大股東在哪裡開始拋售或繼續拋售，並且拋售壓力一直持續到今天。

And so we know that the selling pressure has continued all the way up until the most recent filing. That filing occurred in June, June 13, basically, where our partner, our previous partner and largest shareholder fell below the 10% threshold. And so now they're no longer required to disclose.

因此我們知道，拋售壓力一直持續到最近一次提交申請為止。該文件提交於 6 月，即 6 月 13 日，當時我們的合夥人、我們之前的合夥人和最大股東的持股比例均低於 10% 的門檻。所以現在他們不再需要披露。

So we don't know exactly where they are now, but we believe, and this just kind of goes back to what I believe. I believe that they intend to exit their position. And I believe if you look at the history prior to their last filing that they were active in the marketplace. And so I don't believe it will be very long before they're completely out.

所以我們不知道他們現在到底在哪裡，但我們相信，這回到了我所相信的。我相信他們有意辭去職務。我相信，如果你看看他們上次提交文件之前的歷史，你會發現他們在市場上很活躍。因此，我相信用不了多久他們就會完全退出市場。

They could potentially be out now or they could be out very soon. We just don't know. But I believe that right now, if you look at our stock price in the last several months, we've bottomed out. I think after liberation day when oil prices took their large drop, and that pushed our stock price down below $1.

他們可能現在就出局，或者很快就會出局。我們只是不知道。但我相信，如果你看看我們過去幾個月的股價，我們現在已經觸底。我想解放日之後油價大幅下跌，導致我們的股價跌至 1 美元以下。

And many of you know that the Russell 3000 Index requires that oil companies or a company have a stock price above $1. When we fell below $1, there was also additional selling pressure from the indexes that -- and by selling our stock, we ended up sustain additional selling pressure there. And so I believe you've seen that our stock price has fallen to probably the lowest level in some unforeseen event occurs and that right now is a great time to invest.

你們很多人都知道，羅素 3000 指數要求石油公司或某家公司的股價高於 1 美元。當我們跌破 1 美元時，指數也帶來了額外的拋售壓力——透過出售我們的股票，我們最終承受了額外的拋售壓力。所以我相信你已經看到，我們的股價可能已經跌至某些不可預見事件發生的最低水平，現在是投資的好時機。

And I think that is kind of a long answer to your question, Jeff. But I believe that we have been under additional and strong selling pressure against our stock now for -- since 2022, so close to three years. But I think we're close to the end of that, and we're about to enter a time period where we'll be free of that selling pressure, and we'll go back to the way things were in 2021 and the first half of 2022, where we traded very close to and very commensurate with our operational performance and our financial performance. And so the company is very healthy.

傑夫，我認為這對你的問題來說是一個很長的答案。但我認為，自 2022 年以來，我們的股票一直面臨著額外的強勁拋售壓力，差不多三年了。但我認為我們已經接近尾聲，我們即將進入一個擺脫拋售壓力的時期，我們將回到 2021 年和 2022 年上半年的狀態，那時我們的交易非常接近並且與我們的運營業績和財務業績非常相稱。所以公司非常健康。

The company is very strong. We've demonstrated that our strategy allows us to weather the issues that we've seen post Liberation day. And that's really the answer to my -- to your question, Jeff, do you have any other questions?

這家公司非常強大。我們已經證明，我們的策略使我們能夠渡過解放後遇到的問題。這確實是對我的問題的回答——傑夫，你還有其他問題嗎？

I do. You talked about the natural decline in Ring's asset base. And when you take on an acquisition like Lime Rock, which I think also had a shallower decline production base than your then existing production base.

我願意。您談到了 Ring 資產基礎的自然下降。當你收購像 Lime Rock 這樣的公司時，我認為它的生產基礎的下降幅度比你當時現有的生產基礎要淺。

Can you talk about how you think about allocating or taking the free cash flow that's generated from an asset like that and using it to reduce leverage and at the end of the time when you've reduced the leverage associated with that acquisition, you still have the barrels of production to help further deleverage the balance sheet?

您能否談談您如何考慮分配或獲取此類資產產生的自由現金流，並利用它來降低槓桿率，以及在降低與該收購相關的槓桿率後，您仍然擁有生產能力來幫助進一步降低資產負債表的槓桿率？

Yeah, a great example. Of course, we're very new into the Lime Rock assets, but a very good example of what we're intending to do with the Lime Rock assets. And so far, we're on track to achieve these same type of results.

是的，這是一個很好的例子。當然，我們對 Lime Rock 資產還很陌生，但這是一個很好的例子，說明了我們打算如何使用 Lime Rock 資產。到目前為止，我們正朝著實現同樣成果的方向前進。

But a good example of that is the Founders acquisition. If you go back to our corporate presentation, we also have a chart there that kind of summarizes what we did there. But the bottom line is we paid off the debt as a pro forma company. We paid off the debt associated with the acquisition of Founders in less than five quarters, actually in four quarters.

但 Founders 收購就是一個很好的例子。如果您回顧我們的公司介紹，我們還有一張圖表，總結了我們在那裡所做的事情。但最重要的是，我們作為一家形式上的公司已經還清了債務。我們在不到五個季度的時間內，實際上是四個季度內，就償還了收購 Founders 相關的債務。

And at the end of that time period, we were at -- we had an additional 2,800 barrels a day of production, which accelerates and allows us to pay down debt at a faster rate. We're going to do something very similar here with Lime Rock. Going back to part of the question associated with decline rates, one of the key aspects of shallow decline rates is that it reduces the maintenance capital necessary to maintain your production and allows you to grow more capital efficiently.

在那段時間結束時，我們每天的產量增加了 2,800 桶，這加速了我們以更快的速度償還債務。我們將與 Lime Rock 一起做一些非常相似的事情。回到與下降率相關的部分問題，淺下降率的一個關鍵方面是，它減少了維持生產所需的維護資本，並允許您有效地增加更多資本。

And so overall, there's a lot of similarities between Founders and Lime Rock. Some of the attributes that actually makes Lime Rock a little bit more attractive is the fact that there -- the proximity of those assets to our existing operations there in the Shafter Lake area really, really allowed us to capture some sincere synergies.

總體而言，Founders 和 Lime Rock 有很多相似之處。萊姆羅克 (Lime Rock) 的一些真正吸引人的特點是，這些資產與我們在沙夫特湖 (Shafter Lake) 地區現有的業務距離很近，這確實讓我們能夠獲得一些真正的協同效應。

Many of those synergies are reflected in this quarter's lower-than-expected lease operating expenses. And I got to tell you, hats off to the operating team for all of that. Shawn Young and the team did a great job of integrating those assets and finding ways to reduce costs that not only affected those assets, but affected all of our operations in that area. And so I hope I've answered your question there, Jeff.

許多協同效應都反映在本季低於預期的租賃營運費用中。我必須告訴你們，我向所有為此做出貢獻的營運團隊致敬。楊恩 (Shawn Young) 和他的團隊在整合這些資產和尋找降低成本的方法方面做得非常出色，這不僅影響了這些資產，而且影響了我們在該地區的所有業務。所以我希望我已經回答了你的問題，傑夫。

Yeah, Just lastly, on cost, Paul, the cost synergies you're talking about, they're very sticky, right? So you'd be able to maintain those if things get more active out there. Yes. I mean, when you talk about reducing the operating staff by 50%, you're talking about a significant reduction in LOE.

是的，最後，關於成本，保羅，你所說的成本綜效非常牢固，對吧？因此，如果事情變得更加活躍，你就能維持這些。是的。我的意思是，當您談到將營運人員減少 50% 時，您指的是大幅減少 LOE。

And the field staff salaries generally is at the top of the ledger in terms of the most costly operating expenses for your wells. And so when you can do that type of a thing, it's huge and it's also sticky because that stays with you.

而現場工作人員的薪水通常是油井最昂貴的營運費用中最高的。所以，當你能做這種事時，它會產生巨大的影響，而且也會很持久，因為它會一直伴隨著你。

As a matter of fact, and I could ask Shawn to kind of elaborate a little bit more on that, but we're -- as a result of changing the technologies as a result of the integration of assets and then challenge ourselves on new ways to operate and more efficient ways to operate, we're applying some of the learnings that we had there, integrating Lime Rock into those -- that area to our other areas in terms of improving the efficiencies. I don't know if there's something you want to say there, Shawn.

事實上，我可以請肖恩更詳細地闡述這一點，但是，由於資產整合而改變了技術，然後挑戰自己採用新的運營方式和更有效的運營方式，我們正在應用在那裡學到的一些知識，將 Lime Rock 整合到這些領域，並將其應用到我們的其他領域，以提高效率。我不知道你是否想說些什麼，肖恩。

Yeah, No, to your point, as Paul pointed out, by reducing the operating staff, I mean, obviously, going forward, that's going to be a continued savings. But we're also looking at some other opportunities there and have identified a number of things that we're not quite realizing yet. So hope to be able to share those in the future as we actually realize those cost savings going forward.

是的，不，正如保羅指出的那樣，透過減少營運人員，顯然，從長遠來看，這將是一項持續的節省。但我們也在尋找其他機會，並發現了一些我們尚未完全意識到的事情。因此，希望將來能夠分享這些，因為我們實際上實現了未來的成本節約。

And a lot of it has to do with just the synergies of having an operation right next door where we're already able to take advantage of some size and scale there that we can just bleed over into the Lime Rock assets and take advantage of those savings. So again, more to come on that.

這在很大程度上與隔壁業務的協同效應有關，我們已經能夠利用那裡的一些規模和規模，我們可以將其滲透到 Lime Rock 資產中並利用這些節省。再次強調，關於這一點，我們還會做更多。

Super.

極好的。

Poe Fratt, Alliance Global Partners.

Poe Fratt，Alliance Global Partners。

Travis, could you walk me through the difference between your adjusted cash flow of, call it, $25 million and the debt paydown of $12 million?

崔維斯，你能告訴我你的調整後現金流（2500 萬美元）和債務償還（1200 萬美元）之間的差額嗎？

Sure, good morning, that's a great question. The biggest part of that -- well, all of it was changes in working capital. The biggest part was the investment we made in the credit facility for the next four years. So our deferred financing costs, if you guys look at page 9 of our earnings release, you can kind of see the changes in working capital there and other things. But that was about $5.4 million of the difference.

當然，早上好，這是一個很好的問題。其中最大的部分——嗯，全部都是營運資本的變動。其中最大的部分是我們對未來四年信貸安排的投資。因此，我們的遞延融資成本，如果你們看一下我們的收益報告第 9 頁，你們就可以看到那裡營運資本的變化和其他方面。但差額約 540 萬美元。

And when we closed the old deal and moved to the new one, we also brought forward about $3 million in interest that would have otherwise been due next quarter. We also had an increase in inventory of about $2 million.

當我們結束舊交易並轉向新交易時，我們還提前支付了原本應在下個季度到期的約 300 萬美元的利息。我們的庫存也增加了約200萬美元。

And that was partially due to the pullback that we had. We already had that pipe on the way. So the good news is with that, we're going to have less cash interest paid next quarter and less money spent on our inventory since we've already paid that amount.

這部分是由於我們的撤退。我們已經把那根管子運走了。因此，好消息是，由於我們已經支付了這筆款項，下個季度我們支付的現金利息將會減少，庫存支出也會減少。

There's also about a $2 million increase in accounts receivable, which is also cash we'll realize next quarter. So all that being said, even though there was a difference between the two, that should reverse. We should see the benefits of those going into Q3.

應收帳款也增加了約 200 萬美元，這也是我們下個季度將實現的現金。所以，儘管兩者之間存在差異，但情況應該會逆轉。我們應該看到進入第三季的這些好處。

And that sort of leads into the next question. Just do you -- looking at the second half adjusted free cash flow, it looks like you could come into the range of call it, $20 million to $45 million. In the context of your targeted debt reduction for the year or even for the second half, can you just sort of give us a flavor for how much debt you might be able to pay off over the second half of the year or whether you have a targeted year-end debt level?

這引出了下一個問題。看看下半年調整後的自由現金流，看起來你可以將其控制在 2000 萬美元到 4500 萬美元的範圍內。在您今年甚至下半年的債務削減目標背景下，您能否告訴我們您今年下半年能夠償還多少債務，或者您是否有年底債務水平的目標？

I'll do the first stab at that, and I'll turn it over to Travis. We don't have internal debt reduction targets yet. However, -- and so one of the more disappointing things I think about this earnings release is that I believe there are some out there that would like to see us pay down more debt. But we incurred those special circumstances we talked about.

我會先嘗試一下，然後將其交給特拉維斯。我們還沒有內部債務削減目標。然而，我認為這份收益報告中最令人失望的事情之一是，我相信有些人希望看到我們償還更多債務。但我們遇到了我們談到的那些特殊情況。

But many of those circumstances will not be there in the third quarter. And product prices have continued to hang in at the higher end of the $60 range so far this quarter. And so I say this with a little bit of trepidation and caution. I believe that we can exceed what we paid down this quarter, next quarter. But to what degree I'd hate to stand out.

但很多這樣的情況在第三季將不會再出現。本季至今，產品價格一直徘徊在 60 美元左右的較高水準。因此，我帶著一絲忐忑和謹慎說這句話。我相信我們本季、下個季度的還款額可以超過我們所支付的金額。但我並不想引人注目。

And Travis, I know we work the models quite often. I don't know if there's a range or any kind of additional information you want to throw in there.

特拉維斯，我知道我們經常使用模型。我不知道您是否想在其中添加範圍或任何類型的附加資訊。

Well, if we go to $50 million, that's one story. If we go to $75 million, that's another. So we'll call that between $20 million and $45 million maybe that we could potentially pay down. So we're hoping for $75 to get that lower. It's hard. We don't have a hard target that we've come out with yet for debt reduction goal by the end of the year.

好吧，如果我們達到 5000 萬美元，那就是一個故事了。如果我們達到 7500 萬美元，那就又是一個了。因此，我們估計我們可能可以償還的金額在 2000 萬至 4500 萬美元之間。所以我們希望 75 美元能夠降低這個價格。這很難。對於年底前的減債目標，我們還沒有訂定出一個硬性目標。

I do believe it's safe to say though that we can exceed the debt paydown next quarter that we paid this quarter.

我確實相信，可以肯定地說，下個季度我們償還的債務可以超過本季償還的債務。

Yes, and as Travis pointed out, working capital is going to be favorable this coming quarter or two relative to the second quarter. And then Paul, you talked about Warburg selling. You don't really know where you are right now. But I think one of the good things, maybe it's obvious to everyone, but they're under 10% now, so they won't be constantly filing Form 4 showing the relentless sales that you saw sort of from the middle of May until the middle of June. So that potentially is a positive from the standpoint of seeing less headlines as far as the Form 4 filings, correct?

是的，正如特拉維斯指出的那樣，相對於第二季度，未來一兩個季度的營運資金將會更加充足。然後保羅，你談到了沃伯格的出售。你真的不知道你現在在哪裡。但我認為其中一件好事，也許每個人都知道，但他們現在的銷售額低於 10%，所以他們不會不斷提交表格 4 來顯示從 5 月中旬到 6 月中旬的持續銷售。因此，從減少有關 Form 4 申報的頭條新聞的角度來看，這可能是一件好事，對嗎？

That is correct. They will be required to make a quarterly summary, I guess, of their stock position. So that will be due sometime this month for the prior quarter. And so it will be interesting to see, but that will be basically reflective of how they exited June.

沒錯。我猜，他們需要對其股票狀況進行季度總結。因此，上一季的結算將於本月某個時候完成。這將會很有趣，但這基本上反映了他們六月的表現。

And so there's been a lot of time since then. Having been at one time, our largest shareholder and had two members on our Board, they're a great partner. We learned quite a bit from them. They contributed quite a bit to our company, and they're a great partner. I don't know why they exited our -- or in the process of exiting our position.

從那時起已經過去了很長時間。他們曾經是我們最大的股東，並且在我們的董事會中擁有兩名成員，他們是我們很棒的合作夥伴。我們從他們身上學到了很多。他們為我們公司做出了很大貢獻，他們是一位很棒的合作夥伴。我不知道他們為什麼退出我們的立場——或者正在退出我們的立場。

But it's interesting to note that they also exited quite a few other energy firms. So it was nothing to do with us. I think it was more to do with something internally that we're not aware of and I can't speak for. But I do personally believe that they intend to completely exit our position, and I believe we're very close to a point in time where that selling pressure will go away.

但有趣的是，他們還退出了不少其他能源公司。所以這與我們無關。我認為這與我們不知道的內部事情有關，而且我也無法代表他們發言。但我個人確實相信他們打算完全退出我們的部位，而且我相信我們非常接近拋售壓力消失的時間點。

And then no more excuses from our standpoint, we'll be -- we'll trade, I hope, more commensurately with our operating performance and our financial performance.

從我們的角度來看，我們不會再找藉口，我希望我們的交易能與我們的經營業績和財務表現更加相稱。

And if you go back and look at our performance over the last 4.5 years, ever since COVID, generally, we've met expectations. I've got a great management team that's a real blessing from my standpoint. I also have an incredible Board with diverse opinions but great counsel and great advice. And I believe we have a winning strategy.

如果你回顧我們過去 4.5 年的表現，自 COVID 以來，總體而言，我們已經達到了預期。我擁有一支出色的管理團隊，從我的角度來看，這真是一件幸事。我還有一個非常棒的董事會，雖然意見不一，但都有很好的建議和建議。我相信我們有一個制勝策略。

It's not a sexy strategy. It's basically a strategy that was here with the prior management team. We refined it some, but it's a tried-and-true strategy that doesn't get rich overnight. It's not against a grindstone and you continue to build value over the long term.

這不是一個有吸引力的策略。這基本上是前任管理團隊所製定的策略。我們對它進行了一些改進，但它是一種久經考驗的策略，不會一夜致富。這並不是一件難事，你可以長期持續創造價值。

And that's what we're doing here at Ring. And we believe that we have a lot of growth to pursue in the future.

這就是我們在 Ring 所做的事情。我們相信，未來我們還有很大的發展空間。

At current prices, it makes growth challenging. But I think we've successfully managed that in the past when oil prices were higher. So we'll see how things go. But a great question, Poe.

按照目前的價格，成長將面臨挑戰。但我認為，過去在油價較高的時候，我們已經成功地做到了這一點。所以我們會看看事情進展如何。但這是一個非常好的問題，Poe。

Do you have another question?

您還有其他問題嗎？

No, that's it for me. Maybe I'll come back if there's another question, come back in the queue, but I'll leave it at that for now, Paul. Thank you so much.

不，對我來說就是這樣。如果還有其他問題，我可能會回來，回到隊列中，但我現在就到此為止，保羅。太感謝了。

Noel Parks, Tuohy Brothers.

諾埃爾·帕克斯 (Noel Parks)、圖伊兄弟 (Tuohy Brothers)。

Hi, good morning.

嗨，早安。

Hey, good morning, all.

嘿，大家早安。

I apologize if you maybe touched on this earlier, but any updated thoughts, especially I'm thinking about with the Lime Rock assets in the portfolio now on pursuing alternate horizons beyond the San Andres, just given, of course, everything that's happened with geosteering and so forth in recent years.

如果您之前提到過這一點，我深感抱歉，但您有什麼新的想法嗎？特別是我正在考慮將 Lime Rock 資產納入投資組合，以尋求聖安德烈斯以外的替代視野，當然，考慮到近年來地質導向等方面發生的一切。

Yeah, that's a really good question. And as we pointed out when we made the Lime Rock acquisition, that acquisition included lands that expose us to other emerging plays that we're watching very carefully. One of those would be the Barnett, and that would be in the Midland Farms area of the acquisition we just closed last quarter.

是的，這是一個非常好的問題。正如我們在收購 Lime Rock 時指出的那樣，此次收購包括一些土地，這些土地可以讓我們接觸到我們正在密切關注的其他新興油田。其中之一就是巴內特 (Barnett)，它位於我們上個季度剛完成收購的米德蘭農場 (Midland Farms) 地區。

And so other operators are active. It is our opinion based on our analysis that those wells don't carry the same economic return as do the wells that we are focused on, such as the San Andres horizontal wells in both [Yochum] and Andrews County and also many of the vertical wells that we're pursuing in Nectar and Crane County. But they are very interesting. They contain large amounts of resource.

其他業者也同樣活躍。根據我們的分析，我們認為這些油井並不像我們關注的油井那樣帶來同樣的經濟回報，例如位於 [Yochum] 和 Andrews 縣的聖安德烈斯水平井，以及我們在 Nectar 和 Crane 縣探尋的許多垂直井。但它們非常有趣。它們蘊藏著大量的資源。

As I shared last quarter, after we made that acquisition, we had several parties inquire -- we don't know what we'll do now at higher prices, they become very economic, and so we could potentially drill them or those assets could find themselves in the hands of somebody else who values them higher than we do. We haven't made that decision yet, but we are studying that.

正如我上個季度分享的那樣，在我們完成收購後，有幾方向我們詢問——我們不知道在更高的價格下我們會做什麼，它們變得非常經濟，因此我們可能會對其進行鑽探，或者這些資產可能會落入其他人的手中，他們的估價高於我們。我們尚未做出決定，但我們正在研究。

Now that's just one interval. I believe that as technology continues to march down the road, we believe many of the areas in our southern operations that have historically been dominated with vertical wells may be exposed to horizontal drilling.

現在這只是一個間隔。我相信，隨著技術的不斷進步，我們南部作業區中許多歷史上以垂直井為主的地區可能會轉向水平鑽井。

As a matter of fact, this quarter, we're actually testing an interval horizontally in the South. We'll talk more about that as we get results.

事實上，本季我們實際上正在南部進行水平區間測試。當我們獲得結果後，我們會進一步討論這個問題。

And we have other operators in the South that operate very close to us and have had a very handsome success converting over from verticals to horizontals. And so we'll see where technology goes. One of the things that we've done is we've done an inventory of all of these other different horizons that you mentioned. There are several that have significant potential.

我們在南方還有其他運營商，他們的業務與我們非常接近，並且在從垂直到水平的轉變中取得了非常可觀的成功。我們將會看到科技將走向何方。我們所做的事情之一是對您提到的所有其他不同領域進行了盤點。其中有幾個具有巨大的潛力。

That potential comes to us for virtually no cost other than the cost to test it and drill it and put it online because we already own the acreage. And so we're really excited about the potential of some of these other zones.

由於我們已經擁有了這片油田，因此除了測試、鑽探和投產的成本外，我們幾乎不需要花費任何成本就能獲得這種潛力。因此，我們對其他一些區域的潛力感到非常興奮。

And I'm looking at Alex Dyes. Alex, do you have any more to add there?

我正在看著亞歷克斯·戴斯。亞歷克斯，你還有什麼要補充的嗎？

No. I guess just in general, we've been testing some of these zones now for probably a year or so. We've been trying to test.

不。我想總的來說，我們可能已經對其中一些區域進行了一年左右的測試。我們一直在嘗試測試。

Through recompletions, right?

透過重新完成，對嗎？

Exactly vertically. And then we're also trying to learn from our offset operators. And we'll also probably participate on a non-op basis, too. So we're trying to learn as much as possible and trying to -- once we get back to deploying more capital, we'll try.

完全垂直。然後我們也嘗試從偏移運算子中學習。我們可能也會以非操作方式參與。因此，我們正在嘗試盡可能多地學習，並嘗試——一旦我們重新部署更多資本，我們就會嘗試。

Yeah, And so Noel, what you're touching on is part of the future for Ring Energy. And you're going to see more about that. I mean if prices were higher, we would be able to allocate a little bit more of our cash flow to testing some of these ideas. So the rate of testing has slowed down because of where oil prices are because we're prioritizing debt reduction.

是的，諾埃爾，你談到的是 Ring Energy 未來的一部分。您會看到更多相關內容。我的意思是，如果價格更高，我們就能分配更多的現金流來測試其中的一些想法。由於我們優先考慮減少債務，因此測試速度已經放緩，因為油價正在上漲。

But I believe -- and when we get beyond this price environment because I really do believe that long term, we'll be back into that $75 price range. And at that price range, we can afford to test some of these intervals more frequently. And -- but it is a part of the future for Ring Energy. Great question.

但我相信——當我們擺脫這種價格環境時，因為我確實相信從長遠來看，我們將回到 75 美元的價格範圍。在這個價格範圍內，我們可以更頻繁地測試其中一些間隔。而且——但它是 Ring Energy 未來的一部分。好問題。

Great, thanks a lot.

太好了，非常感謝。

Jeff Robertson, Water Tower Research.

傑夫·羅伯遜，水塔研究公司。

Paul or Travis, I'm just curious, is there anything going on in the midstream world that could have any impact on your gas price realizations and NGL realizations next year or two?

保羅或崔維斯，我只是好奇，中游世界是否發生了什麼事情，會對你們明年或兩年的天然氣價格實現和 NGL 實現產生影響？

Well, yes, there are. I think though the Permian Basin is demonstrating something very clearly, at least to me anyway, the takeaway capacity servicing the Permian Basin tends to get filled up pretty quickly, whatever it is.

嗯，是的，有。我認為，儘管二疊紀盆地非常清楚地表明了一些事情，至少對我來說是這樣，但為二疊紀盆地提供服務的外賣能力往往很快就會被填滿，無論是什麼。

The most recent one was the Matterhorn Express. It's my understanding that there's still more capacity to be made available in the Matterhorn Express. And I believe that that will help with price differentials. There are also several other pipelines that are not imminent that are on the books that are being considered. And so all of this will help but in the foreseeable future, the infrastructure is still going to be limited and the operators like Ring Energy will have to fight for that space. And so, the discount to Henry Hub is going to continue to be larger than we'd like.

最近一次是馬特洪峰快車。據我了解，馬特洪峰快車仍有更多運力可供利用。我相信這將有助於縮小價格差異。此外，還有幾條尚未開工但正在考慮中的管道。所有這些都會有所幫助，但在可預見的未來，基礎設施仍然有限，像 Ring Energy 這樣的營運商將不得不爭奪這一空間。因此，亨利港的折扣將繼續比我們預期的更大。

I think you've seen from other operators and just views out there that people are pulling back on CapEx. So if there's less drilling in our area, that's less associated gas going through that pipe. So that really could help with our differentials as well. Obviously, it's not something we hope for because we'd rather have higher oil prices. But if we can get a more meaningful revenue stream from those -- the gas and NGL, it would obviously be very impactful to the company.

我想您已經從其他運營商那裡看到人們正在削減資本支出的觀點。因此，如果我們地區的鑽探減少，透過該管道輸送的伴生氣就會減少。所以這確實也能幫助我們解決差異問題。顯然，這不是我們所希望的，因為我們寧願油價更高。但如果我們能從天然氣和液化天然氣中獲得更有意義的收入來源，這顯然會對公司產生很大的影響。

Sure would.

當然可以。

Thanks, Travis.

謝謝，崔維斯。

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Paul McKinney, Chairman and CEO, for any closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議交還給董事長兼執行長保羅‧麥金尼 (Paul McKinney)，請他致閉幕詞。

Thank you, Michael. And on behalf of the entire team and Board of Directors, I want to once again thank everyone for listening and participating in today's call, and I hope you have a great rest of your day. Thank you very much.

謝謝你，麥可。我謹代表整個團隊和董事會再次感謝大家聆聽和參與今天的電話會議，並祝福大家今天過得愉快。非常感謝。

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

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開連線。