山脈資源 (RRC) 2023 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Welcome to the Range Resources First Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) At this time, I would like to turn the call over to Mr. Laith Sando, Sando, Vice President, Investor Relations at Range Resources. Please go ahead, sir.

歡迎參加 Range Resources 2023 年第一季度收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）此時，我想將電話轉給 Range Resources 投資者關係副總裁 Laith Sando 先生。請繼續，先生。

Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining Range's First Quarter Earnings Call. The speakers on today's call are Jeff Ventura, Chief Executive Officer; Dennis Degner, Chief Operating Officer; and Mark Scucchi, Chief Financial Officer. Hopefully, you've had a chance to review the press release and updated investor presentation that we've posted on our website. We may reference certain slides on the call this morning. You will also find our 10-Q on Range's website under the Investors tab or you can access it using the SEC's EDGAR system.

謝謝你，運營商。大家早上好，感謝您參加 Range 的第一季度財報電話會議。今天電話會議的發言人是首席執行官 Jeff Ventura；丹尼斯·德格納，首席運營官；和首席財務官 Mark Scucchi。希望您有機會閱讀我們在網站上發布的新聞稿和更新的投資者介紹。我們可能會在今天早上的電話會議上參考某些幻燈片。您還可以在 Range 網站的“投資者”選項卡下找到我們的 10-Q，或者您可以使用 SEC 的 EDGAR 系統訪問它。

Please note, we'll be referencing certain non-GAAP measures on today's call. Our press release provides reconciliations of these to the most comparable GAAP figures. We've also posted supplemental tables on our website that include realized pricing details by product along with calculations of EBITDAX, cash margins and other non-GAAP measures. With that, let me turn the call over to Jeff.

請注意，我們將在今天的電話會議上參考某些非 GAAP 指標。我們的新聞稿提供了這些與最具可比性的 GAAP 數據的調節。我們還在我們的網站上發布了補充表格，其中包括按產品分類的已實現定價詳細信息以及 EBITDAX、現金利潤率和其他非 GAAP 指標的計算。有了這個，讓我把電話轉給傑夫。

Thanks, Laith, and thanks, everyone, for joining us on this morning's call. Range continued to deliver on our key strategic objectives in the first quarter, operating safely and efficiently to deliver a production plan that consistently generates free cash flow. Dennis and Mark will walk through the quarter in a moment further demonstrating the resilience of Range's program and assets even in today's commodity price environment. As was announced last month, after 20 years with Range, I'm retiring, and this will be my last earnings call. I have to say I couldn't be more proud of the work the Range team has done to position the company where it is today. Range is in the best operational and financial shape in company history and is poised to generate substantial free cash flow and competitive returns long term, given our multi-decade inventory, efficient operations and access to diversified markets. For the Marcellus, the future is bright as we sit at the very low end of the global cost curve with one of the lowest emissions intensities of any play. Given the size and potential of the Marcellus, it has the ability to help supply the U.S. and our allies for decades. I strongly believe the products we produce are going to remain in high demand as natural gas and natural gas liquids provide products needed for our everyday lives. Natural gas has many important uses from generating electricity to making plastics. It's a key ingredient in the manufacture of fertilizer for agriculture. It's a key source of industrial heat for making steel and cement and it's used for heating and cooking, just to name a few. Given the importance of the Marcellus and Range's sizable core position, I believe Range is in a desirable position to continue delivering competitive returns and creating sustainable long-term value for shareholders. Before turning it over, I'd just like to say that I'll be forever grateful to the Range team for their dedication, creativity and hard work. We pioneered what I believe is the best and largest producing natural gas field in the world and have developed it in a way that we can all be proud of as good citizens of the communities with industry-leading environmental practices. The discovery of the Marcellus in 2004 was a game changer for energy markets. This resulted in Range becoming one of the largest natural gas and natural gas liquids producers in our country, in the U.S., becoming by far the largest natural gas producing country in the world. The positive impacts have been many. Natural gas prices in the U.S. are more affordable than Europe and Asia which helps direct the industry back to the U.S., create hundreds of thousands of jobs, helps with national security and improves the trade balance. In addition, the free market substitution of coal with natural gas has been the major driver behind the U.S. leading the world in CO2 in emissions reductions. I thank God for blessing me with an opportunity to be part of the team, but not only unlocked it. but was also innovative on how to successfully produce and market the vast resources over the last two decades. I've said this on past calls, the team and Board we have in place today is the strongest it's ever been. I look forward to seeing Dennis, Mark and the entire Range team continue to move the company forward, generating significant long-term value for shareholders and making Range even stronger and more resilient. Thank you to my colleagues and friends. I'm so proud of what we were able to accomplish as a team. I'll now turn it over to Dennis for his remarks.

謝謝 Laith，也謝謝大家參加今天上午的電話會議。 Range 在第一季度繼續實現我們的關鍵戰略目標，安全高效地運營以交付持續產生自由現金流的生產計劃。丹尼斯和馬克稍後將介紹本季度，進一步展示 Range 的計劃和資產即使在當今的商品價格環境下也具有彈性。正如上個月宣布的那樣，在 Range 工作了 20 年後，我即將退休，這將是我最後一次財報電話會議。我不得不說，我為 Range 團隊為公司取得今天的成就所做的工作感到無比自豪。 Range 處於公司歷史上最佳的運營和財務狀況，並有望長期產生可觀的自由現金流和有競爭力的回報，因為我們擁有數十年的庫存、高效的運營和進入多元化市場的渠道。對於 Marcellus，未來是光明的，因為我們位於全球成本曲線的極低端，是所有遊戲中排放強度最低的國家之一。鑑於馬塞勒斯號的規模和潛力，它有能力在數十年內為美國和我們的盟友提供補給。我堅信我們生產的產品將保持高需求，因為天然氣和天然氣液體提供了我們日常生活所需的產品。天然氣有許多重要用途，從發電到製造塑料。它是製造農業肥料的關鍵成分。它是製造鋼鐵和水泥的重要工業熱源，用於取暖和烹飪，僅舉幾例。鑑於 Marcellus 和 Range 相當大的核心地位的重要性，我相信 Range 處於一個理想的位置，可以繼續提供有競爭力的回報並為股東創造可持續的長期價值。在翻開它之前，我只想說，我將永遠感謝 Range 團隊的奉獻精神、創造力和辛勤工作。我們開創了我認為是世界上最好和最大的生產天然氣田，並以一種我們都可以為擁有行業領先的環境實踐的社區的好公民而自豪的方式開發它。 2004 年 Marcellus 的發現改變了能源市場的遊戲規則。這導致 Range 成為我國最大的天然氣和天然氣液體生產商之一，在美國成為迄今為止世界上最大的天然氣生產國。積極的影響是多方面的。美國的天然氣價格比歐洲和亞洲更實惠，這有助於將行業引導回美國，創造數十萬個就業機會，有助於國家安全並改善貿易平衡。此外，在自由市場上用天然氣替代煤炭一直是美國在二氧化碳減排方面領先世界的主要推動力。我感謝上帝賜予我成為團隊一員的機會，但不僅是解鎖了它。但在過去二十年中，在如何成功生產和銷售大量資源方面也具有創新性。我在過去的電話會議上說過，我們今天的團隊和董事會是有史以來最強大的。我期待看到丹尼斯、馬克和整個 Range 團隊繼續推動公司向前發展，為股東創造可觀的長期價值，並使 Range 變得更加強大和更有彈性。感謝我的同事和朋友。我為我們作為一個團隊所取得的成就感到非常自豪。我現在將其轉交給丹尼斯發表評論。

Thanks, Jeff. It's an exciting time to be a part of the Range team and I'm humbled by the opportunity to lead the company in the years ahead as we remain focused on translating our world-class resource base in a long-term shareholder value. Like Jeff said, the company is in a great position today. And we aim to continue working to make Range even stronger in the future. In the first quarter, Range continued to successfully deliver on our stated objectives. By completing our operational plans safely and with peer-leading efficiencies, generating free cash flow, further strengthening our financial position and returning capital to shareholders in the form of share buybacks and a base dividend. Looking at operations, I'm pleased to report that our program is off to a solid start and is on track to deliver this year's plan with a continued focus on capital efficient operations, safety and environmental performance. Our front-end loaded drilling activity for the year resulted in utilizing two top hole rigs and three horizontal rigs during most of the first quarter. We will maintain this level of drilling activity through the end of Q2 before tapering off in the second half of the year. Completions activity will remain relatively steady with one frac crew operating through 2023, while a second crew activated later this year. This drill in complete cadence is consistent with previous year's maintenance level programs, which generates turn-in lines and a production profile weighted towards the back half of the year. Capital spend for the first quarter was $152 million, which represents roughly 26% of our 2023 program budget. This is in line with the level of operational activity conducted during the quarter and puts us firmly on track with our capital guidance of $570 million to $650 million for the year. Production for the quarter came in at 2.14 Bcf equivalent per day and was underpinned by consistent field run time and strong well performance. We expect daily production in the second quarter to be approximately $100 million equivalent lower than Q1 as we have moved up planned annual midstream maintenance and turn-in-lines are weighted towards the end of the quarter. Pills pick up in the second half of the year, making the fourth quarter our highest production, putting us on track to deliver a full year production of 2.12 to 2.16 Bcf equivalent per day. And this back half weighted production profile fits well with the current shape of the natural gas curve.

謝謝，傑夫。成為 Range 團隊的一員是一個激動人心的時刻，我很榮幸有機會在未來幾年領導公司，因為我們仍然專注於將我們的世界級資源基礎轉化為長期股東價值。正如傑夫所說，公司今天處於有利地位。我們的目標是繼續努力，使 Range 在未來變得更加強大。在第一季度，Range 繼續成功地實現了我們既定的目標。通過以同行領先的效率安全地完成我們的運營計劃，產生自由現金流，進一步加強我們的財務狀況，並以股票回購和基本股息的形式向股東返還資本。在運營方面，我很高興地向大家報告，我們的計劃有了一個堅實的開端，並有望實現今年的計劃，並繼續關注資本高效運營、安全和環境績效。我們今年的前端裝載鑽井活動導致在第一季度的大部分時間使用了兩台頂孔鑽機和三台水平鑽機。我們將在第二季度末保持這種鑽井活動水平，然後在今年下半年逐漸減少。完井活動將保持相對穩定，一支壓裂機組將運行到 2023 年，而第二支機組將在今年晚些時候啟用。這種完全節奏的演練與去年的維護水平計劃一致，該計劃產生了上交線和對今年下半年加權的生產概況。第一季度的資本支出為 1.52 億美元，約占我們 2023 年計劃預算的 26%。這與本季度開展的運營活動水平一致，使我們堅定地走上了今年 5.7 億至 6.5 億美元的資本指引。本季度的產量達到每天 2.14 Bcf 當量，並得到一致的現場運行時間和強勁的油井性能的支持。我們預計第二季度的日產量將比第一季度低約 1 億美元，因為我們已經提高了計劃的年度中游維護，並且轉向線在本季度末加權。藥丸在今年下半年回升，使第四季度成為我們最高的產量，使我們有望實現每天 2.12 至 2.16 Bcf 的全年產量。這種後半加權生產曲線與天然氣曲線的當前形狀非常吻合。

Shifting to operational highlights. Our drilling team exceeded Range Prior's record for fastest day drilling in the lateral section and then broke their own record two more times during the quarter. During the quarter, 13 wells were drilled that average daily horizontal footages greater than a mile per day. By comparison, only 4 wells achieved this level of efficiency in all of last year. These records along with other strong days drilling in the lateral drove a 42% increase in the average daily horizontal footage drill per rig. The drilling team also successfully added 3 wells to the top 10 longest laterals drilled for range with all three laterals exceeding 18,800 feet. After drilling over 1,500 wells in the Marcellus, this is the type of incremental improvement that has become a cornerstone of our program supporting our peer-leading capital efficiency. Completions placed just over 600 frac stages on three pads located across our dry, wet and super-rich areas while utilizing our contracted electric frac fleet.

轉向運營亮點。我們的鑽井團隊超越了 Range Prior 的水平井段最快日間鑽井記錄，然後在本季度又兩次打破了他們自己的記錄。本季度，共鑽探了 13 口平均日水平進尺超過 1 英里的油井。相比之下，去年全年只有 4 口井達到了這一效率水平。這些記錄連同其他水平井鑽進的強勁天數使每台鑽機的平均每日水平鑽進尺增加了 42%。鑽井團隊還成功地將 3 口井添加到前 10 個最長的分支井中，所有三個分支井都超過 18,800 英尺。在 Marcellus 鑽探了 1,500 多口井後，這種漸進式改進已成為我們支持同行領先資本效率計劃的基石。在利用我們承包的電動壓裂車隊的同時，完成了位於我們乾燥、潮濕和超級富集區域的三個平台上的 600 多個壓裂階段。

Efficiencies remained in line with prior quarters with the team averaging eight stages per day while varying completion designs based on well mix. Completion efficiencies continued to improve in late Q1 and into Q2 by averaging in excess of nine stages per day. As a byproduct, a pad currently being completed is setting a new standard for our overall operational efficiencies and is projected to be one of our most efficient pads in Range's history. We look forward to providing more details on a future call.

效率與前幾個季度保持一致，團隊平均每天八個階段，同時根據油井組合改變完井設計。完成效率在第一季度末和第二季度繼續提高，平均每天超過九個階段。作為副產品，目前正在完成的一個墊子為我們的整體運營效率設定了新標準，預計將成為我們 Range 歷史上最高效的墊子之一。我們期待在未來的通話中提供更多詳細信息。

On the last call, we provided some context on inflation and how Range's low base decline and peer-leading well costs serve as a hedge against service cost inflation. Year-to-date in 2023, we have seen the price of rigs and pumping crews start to show signs of receding slightly. Next-generation pumping crews continue to be in high demand, but the availability of traditional spot crews and drilling rigs has increased. Additionally, commodities and raw materials like tubular goods and sand are also starting to show signs of increased availability. It is possible this could translate into slight one-off savings later this year. With broader savings more likely to occur in 2024. Range remains in a leadership position on capital intensity, given our low base decline strong well productivity and our blocky acreage position, which lends itself to efficient operations and peer-leading well costs.

在上次電話會議上，我們提供了一些有關通貨膨脹的背景信息，以及 Range 的低基數下降和同行領先的井成本如何對沖服務成本通貨膨脹。 2023 年初至今，我們已經看到鑽機和抽油機的價格開始出現小幅回落的跡象。對下一代泵送人員的需求仍然很高，但傳統現場工作人員和鑽井平台的可用性有所增加。此外，管材和沙子等大宗商品和原材料也開始顯示出供應量增加的跡象。這有可能在今年晚些時候轉化為少量的一次性節省。 2024 年更有可能實現更廣泛的節省。Range 在資本密集度方面仍然處於領先地位，因為我們的低基數下降強勁的油井生產率和我們塊狀的種植面積位置，這有助於高效運營和同行領先的油井成本。

Shifting over to marketing and looking at the NGL macro. U.S. LPG exports set an all-time monthly record of 2.1 million barrels per day in March, driving a quarterly record of over 1.9 million barrels per day. This level of export activity represents an increase of approximately 19% above the same time period last year, keeping domestic propane stocks within the 5-year range despite the unusually warm winter. Looking ahead to the balance of 2023, Range expects continued growth in the demand for U.S. LPG exports in order to satisfy ongoing strong demand in European and Mediterranean markets. As well as PDH demand in China that continues to recover with the addition of new capacity and due to the loosening of zero-COVID policies.

轉向市場營銷並研究 NGL 宏。美國液化石油氣出口量在 3 月份創下了 210 萬桶/日的歷史月度記錄，推動了超過 190 萬桶/日的季度記錄。這一出口活動水平比去年同期增長約 19%，儘管冬季異常溫暖，但國內丙烷庫存仍保持在 5 年範圍內。展望 2023 年，Range 預計美國液化石油氣出口需求將持續增長，以滿足歐洲和地中海市場持續強勁的需求。以及中國的 PDH 需求隨著新產能的增加和零 COVID 政策的放鬆而持續復甦。

Range's diverse NGL marketing agreements drove $1.63 per barrel premium to Mont Belvieu for the quarter, with an absolute NGL price of $27.60 per barrel. And our NGL pricing equated to $4.60 per Mcf equivalent, which was $1.14 premium to the average Henry Hub natural gas price. Liquids optionality is a key differentiator in our resilient free cash flow versus other natural gas producers. This becomes more evident when natural gas prices are challenged like they have been to start 2023. The ongoing strength in the NGL outlook and price realizations support our 2023 NGL guidance range of $1 per barrel discount to $1 per barrel premium relative to the Mont Belvieu index.

Range 多樣化的 NGL 營銷協議推動本季度比 Mont Belvieu 每桶溢價 1.63 美元，NGL 絕對價格為每桶 27.60 美元。我們的 NGL 定價相當於每千立方英尺 4.60 美元，比 Henry Hub 天然氣平均價格高出 1.14 美元。液體的選擇性是我們彈性自由現金流與其他天然氣生產商的一個關鍵區別。當天然氣價格像 2023 年初那樣受到挑戰時，這一點變得更加明顯。NGL 前景和價格實現的持續強勁支持我們 2023 年 NGL 指導範圍，即相對於 Mont Belvieu 指數每桶折扣 1 美元至每桶溢價 1 美元.

For our natural gas, in Q1, Range reported a natural gas differential of $0.14 below NYMEX, including basis hedging. With our realized natural gas price closing out at $3.58 per Mcf. Freeport LNG returning to full service and early signals of rig activity reductions should help storage levels normalize as we work through injection season and look towards next winter. And lastly, our team's strong safety and environmental culture was on display as we look back on both last year and Q1's performance. Starting from an already low level, we continue to see further improvements in our safety performance in the field while capturing emissions reduction as a result of initiatives discussed on prior calls.

對於我們的天然氣，在第一季度，Range 報告的天然氣價差比 NYMEX 低 0.14 美元，包括基差套期保值。我們實現的天然氣價格收於每千立方英尺 3.58 美元。自由港液化天然氣恢復全面服務和鑽機活動減少的早期信號應有助於儲存水平正常化，因為我們正在度過注入季節並展望下一個冬天。最後，當我們回顧去年和第一季度的業績時，我們團隊強大的安全和環境文化得到了體現。從已經很低的水平開始，我們繼續看到我們在現場的安全性能得到進一步改善，同時由於先前電話會議上討論的舉措而實現減排。

We look forward to sharing more details on these accomplishments in our upcoming corporate sustainability report slated for release this summer.

我們期待在定於今年夏天發布的即將發布的企業可持續發展報告中分享有關這些成就的更多詳細信息。

In summary, this year's program is off to a solid start and this is an exciting time to be a part of Range and our industry. Our low capital intensity, liquids optionality and our leading hedge program all come together to provide range, one of the lowest break-evens amongst natural gas producers. I believe the resilience of Range's business is being demonstrated in today's challenging price environment. As we're still delivering on stated objectives and generating free cash flow. I look forward to our future calls together as we continue to demonstrate our dedication to safe, efficient operations and consistently generating competitive returns to shareholders.

總而言之，今年的計劃有了一個堅實的開端，這是成為 Range 和我們行業的一員的激動人心的時刻。我們的低資本密集度、液體選擇性和我們領先的對沖計劃共同提供了範圍，這是天然氣生產商中盈虧平衡點最低的公司之一。我相信 Range 業務的彈性正在當今充滿挑戰的價格環境中得到體現。由於我們仍在實現既定目標並產生自由現金流。我期待著我們未來的通話，因為我們將繼續展示我們對安全、高效運營和持續為股東創造有競爭力的回報的奉獻精神。

I'll now turn it over to Mark to discuss the financials.

我現在將其轉交給馬克討論財務狀況。

Thanks, Dennis. The first quarter was successful operationally and financially, with solid execution across the business. Cash flow from operations totaled $475 million, funding net debt reduction of approximately $250 million. Capital expenditures of roughly $152 million, the first quarter dividend as well as 400,000 shares repurchased. Two objectives helping drive value are a durable balance sheet and competitive shareholder returns. These are not mutually exclusive. They are integral parts of our overall capital allocation strategy. We've consistently described a waterfall of our cash flow reinvestment.

謝謝，丹尼斯。第一季度在運營和財務上都取得了成功，整個業務的執行力都很強。運營產生的現金流量總計 4.75 億美元，為減少約 2.5 億美元的淨債務提供資金。資本支出約為 1.52 億美元，第一季度派息以及回購 400,000 股股票。有助於推動價值的兩個目標是持久的資產負債表和有競爭力的股東回報。這些並不相互排斥。它們是我們整體資本配置策略的組成部分。我們一直在描述現金流再投資的瀑布。

First, maintenance CapEx in order to utilize infrastructure and maximize margins; second, debt reduction towards target debt [models]; third, return of capital to shareholders; and fourth, growth CapEx when appropriate. It's important to note that this waterfall entails flexibility to allocate based on highest overall returns to the company and its shareholders. With Range's leading full cycle costs, margins are resilient, generating free cash flow even at reduced commodity prices that support risk-adjusted returns-driven capital allocation. We've been focused on absolute debt reduction for several years. And as of quarter end, we have reduced debt net of cash by nearly $2.5 billion since it peaked in 2018. The Debt reduction achieved to date places us close to entering our target range of $1 billion to $1.5 billion net debt. With current leverage of 0.8x debt to EBITDAX and close proximity to our debt targets, we believe the company is in great shape to continue value creation on a stable financial base throughout business cycles.

首先，維持資本支出以利用基礎設施和最大化利潤；第二，減少目標債務[模型]；第三，向股東返還資金；第四，在適當的時候增加資本支出。重要的是要注意，這個瀑布需要根據對公司及其股東的最高總體回報進行分配的靈活性。憑藉 Range 領先的全週期成本，利潤率具有彈性，即使在支持風險調整回報驅動的資本配置的商品價格下降的情況下也能產生自由現金流。多年來，我們一直專注於絕對債務削減。截至季度末，自 2018 年達到頂峰以來，我們已將扣除現金的債務淨額減少了近 25 億美元。迄今為止實現的債務減少使我們接近 10 億至 15 億美元淨債務的目標範圍。鑑於目前債務對 EBITDAX 的槓桿率為 0.8 倍，並且接近我們的債務目標，我們相信公司處於良好狀態，可以在整個商業周期中在穩定的財務基礎上繼續創造價值。

Taking a closer look at first quarter results. Cash flow from operations of $475 million was driven by planned production levels, achieving strong pre-hedge realized prices of $3.82 per Mcfe. This realized unit price is $0.36 above NYMEX Henry Hub, driven by Range's diverse sales outlets for natural gas, combined with the pricing uplift from natural gas liquids and condensate. During the first quarter, Range's NGL price realized was approximately $28 per barrel or $4.60 on an Mcfe basis. Range's diversified portfolio of transportation capacity and customer contracts, supported differentials such as the total per unit price received by range remains a premium to Henry Hub Natural Gas. Hedged cash margins per unit of production remained strong at $2.06. Range's margins benefit from thoughtful hedging and continued focus on cost and efficiency. Total cash unit costs improved by $0.16 versus the prior year. The change compared to the prior year primarily relates to savings in processing costs, which are linked to NGL prices. With variations in other line items related to labor cost inflation or the timing of planned workover projects. Cash interest expense declined by $14 million for the quarter compared to Q1 last year, on reduced debt balances equating to $0.08 per Mcfe savings. These improvements more than offset slightly higher LOE as mild weather allowed the team to pull some workover activity into the first quarter that would typically have been completed in Q2 and Q3.

仔細看看第一季度的結果。 4.75 億美元的運營現金流受到計劃生產水平的推動，實現了強勁的對沖前實現價格 3.82 美元/Mcfe。這一實現的單價比 NYMEX Henry Hub 高出 0.36 美元，這是受 Range 多樣化的天然氣銷售網點以及天然氣液體和凝析油價格上漲的推動。第一季度，Range 的 NGL 實現價格約為每桶 28 美元或按 Mcfe 計算為 4.60 美元。 Range 的多元化運輸能力和客戶合同組合、支持的差異（例如 Range 收到的總單價）仍然高於 Henry Hub Natural Gas。每單位產量的對沖現金利潤率保持強勁，為 2.06 美元。 Range 的利潤率得益於深思熟慮的套期保值以及對成本和效率的持續關注。與上一年相比，現金單位總成本降低了 0.16 美元。與上一年相比的變化主要與加工成本的節省有關，這與 NGL 價格相關。隨著與勞動力成本通脹或計劃修井項目時間安排相關的其他項目的變化。與去年第一季度相比，本季度現金利息支出減少了 1400 萬美元，原因是債務餘額減少相當於每 Mcfe 儲蓄 0.08 美元。這些改進足以抵消略高的 LOE，因為溫和的天氣使團隊能夠將一些通常在第二季度和第三季度完成的修井活動拖到第一季度。

Range's rightsized hedging program supported realized prices for the first quarter with $32 million in realized NYMEX hedging gains. Looking forward, Range's natural gas is approximately 55% hedged at $3.50 for the balance of 2023, providing further support to Range's free cash flow profile. Cash balances of $228 million at quarter end, combined with future free cash flow and an undrawn revolving credit facility, provide ample liquidity to efficiently operate our business and execute efficient debt retirement. Successful first quarter results, combined with a positive industry backdrop for Range going forward, support our confidence in the return of capital program discussed on previous calls.

Range 的 rightsized 對沖計劃為第一季度實現的價格提供了 3200 萬美元的已實現 NYMEX 對沖收益。展望未來，Range 的天然氣在 2023 年剩餘時間內約有 55% 的對沖價格為 3.50 美元，為 Range 的自由現金流狀況提供進一步支持。季度末現金餘額為 2.28 億美元，加上未來的自由現金流和未提取的循環信貸額度，提供充足的流動性以有效運營我們的業務並執行有效的債務清償。第一季度的成功業績，加上 Range 未來的積極行業背景，支持了我們對之前電話會議上討論的資本回報計劃的信心。

We believe a stable, reliable fixed cash dividend is appropriate at this time and in this market, while remaining opportunistic in our share repurchases and with capacity available totaling $1.1 billion, alongside our primary objective of reaching target debt levels. We will remain flexible and adapt to market conditions, project returns, and prudent reinvestment. Range's story for a long time has been about innovation, translated into reality through dedicated teamwork, hard work, focus and swift but precise adjustments to our business plan without bearing from our core objectives or demonstrating the value of Range's portfolio and business. This focus and dedication will continue as Range's business is in the best shape in company history and primed for impending demand growth domestically and internationally for natural gas and natural gas liquids. With a strong financial foundation and the largest portfolio of quality inventory in Appalachia, we seek to continue this trend of disciplined value creation for our shareholders. Jeff, back to you.

我們認為，在這個時候和這個市場上，穩定、可靠的固定現金股息是合適的，同時在我們的股票回購中保持機會主義，可用容量總計 11 億美元，同時我們的主要目標是達到目標債務水平。我們將保持靈活性並適應市場條件、項目回報和審慎的再投資。長期以來，Range 的故事一直是關於創新，通過專注的團隊合作、辛勤工作、專注以及對我們的業務計劃進行迅速而精確的調整，在不影響我們的核心目標或展示 Range 的投資組合和業務價值的情況下，將其轉化為現實。隨著 Range 的業務處於公司歷史上最好的狀態，並為即將到來的國內外對天然氣和天然氣液體的需求增長做好準備，這種專注和奉獻將繼續下去。憑藉強大的財務基礎和阿巴拉契亞最大的優質庫存組合，我們力求繼續為股東創造有紀律的價值。傑夫，回到你身邊。

Operator, we'll be happy to take questions.

接線員，我們很樂意回答問題。

(Operator Instructions) And our first question will come from Michael Scialla of Stephens.com. Your line is open.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題將來自 Stephens.com 的 Michael Scialla。你的線路是開放的。

One Jeff and offer my congratulations on a great career. Not too many folks can make claims about taking a big hand and a huge discovery like Marcellus so, Congrats. And Dennis, congrats to you on your promotion will deserve I want to ask first on...

一個傑夫，祝賀他有一個偉大的職業生涯。沒有多少人可以像 Marcellus 這樣聲稱擁有大手和巨大的發現，所以，恭喜。丹尼斯，祝賀你晉升，我想先問...

Thanks for the comments, Kind of you to say that and much appreciated.

感謝您的評論，非常感謝您這麼說。

Absolutely. I wanted to ask on the decision to put the cash on the balance sheet. Mark, you talked about the priorities for the use of cash. You said there's some flexibility around those. Maybe just your thoughts there on -- obviously, you had gas prices collapsed this winter. But you did buy back a lot of shares, $400 million worth last year. Just any commentary on the decision to put the cash on the balance sheet for now?

絕對地。我想問一下將現金放在資產負債表上的決定。馬克，你談到了使用現金的優先順序。你說這些有一些靈活性。也許只是你的想法——顯然，今年冬天油價暴跌。但你確實回購了很多股票，去年價值 4 億美元。對暫時將現金放在資產負債表上的決定有何評論？

Sure. Michael, I think there's a couple of factors in play there, as you know. We're always evaluating the risk of returns, and that waterfall capital allocation, simplistic description we use. But since inception, we bought back more than 14 million shares last year, $400 million. This year, obviously, just in the first quarter, you've got the typical blackout period around your earnings preparation season, you had the announcement Jeff's retirement and the succession planning, and you're also in a choppy commodity price environment. So as we work through the first few months of the year and just evaluate the priorities as well as the tremendous opportunities we had, we were comfortable holding that cash and the optionality that creates. So as we sit here looking forward, we're at close proximity to our debt targets. We have a couple of hundred million in cash on the balance sheet. We have net debt approaching our target levels. So we like having that flexibility as we see this year unfolding.

當然。邁克爾，如你所知，我認為有幾個因素在起作用。我們一直在評估回報風險，以及我們使用的瀑布式資本配置，這是一種簡單化的描述。但自成立以來，我們去年回購了超過 1400 萬股股票，價值 4 億美元。今年，很明顯，就在第一季度，您在收益準備季節前後遇到了典型的停電期，您宣布了傑夫的退休和繼任計劃，而且您還處於動蕩的商品價格環境中。因此，當我們在今年的前幾個月工作並評估優先事項以及我們擁有的巨大機會時，我們很樂意持有現金和創造的選擇權。因此，當我們坐在這裡展望未來時，我們非常接近我們的債務目標。我們的資產負債表上有幾億現金。我們的淨債務接近我們的目標水平。因此，我們喜歡在今年看到這種靈活性。

Very good. And Dennis mentioned you see storage moving back to normal this summer. I want to see if you could offer a little bit more detail on that. I know you guys are asked every quarter about your macro views, you've been pretty good on the gas macro, how do you see that playing out? What drives the -- that move back to normal on storage levels? And how does that, I guess, tie into your thoughts on, again, on the priorities for cash?

非常好。丹尼斯提到你看到存儲在今年夏天恢復正常。我想看看你是否可以提供更多的細節。我知道你們每個季度都會被問及你們的宏觀觀點，你們在天然氣宏觀方面做得很好，你們怎麼看結果？是什麼推動了——在存儲水平上恢復正常？我想，這又如何與您對現金優先事項的想法聯繫起來？

Yes, Michael, I think as we take a step back and we think about the gas macro, both kind of near term and in the years that follow, I think what some of our thoughts are, clearly, you're starting to see more and more it's kind of shifted from posturing to actually seeing it translate into the numbers for -- on the supply side, you're starting to see some rig activity start to reduce. I mean, started seeing that over the balance of the last few months. If you look at Appalachia, as an example, we've -- many of us have been under a -- especially Range, we're now on the third year of a maintenance level program. Where we're keeping the gathering system at a high level of utilization and really keeping our cost structure and operations as efficient and as well placed as possible. You start to couple us being at maintenance along with other Appalachia producers, rig activity reductions and then toss in more and more of what you're seeing around well performance degradation year-over-year that's starting to translate into really production profiles as we look back. We see this all kind of translating into maybe less of an oversupplied market potentially. You could make the argument through the data. And part of that comes down to looking at days of supply. If you look at getting it to the end of this injection season, depending upon your outlook, whether it's 3.9 or maybe 4 Tcf. If you start to couple that with many of the points I just laid out, coupled with demand that's been coming online over the past several years, both on the industrial side, LNG now with Freeport being backed up to full capacity, not to mention the additional infrastructure that's going to be coming online in 2024, you start to get to a place of 42 days of supply at the end of injection season. And just for comparison, the 5-year average is 43 days and we were at 41 days in October of 2022 before we entered the winter. So a much different commodity price environment today clearly than it was in October.

是的，邁克爾，我認為當我們退後一步，我們考慮天然氣宏觀，無論是近期還是未來幾年，我認為我們的一些想法，很明顯，你開始看到更多而且它有點從裝腔作勢轉變為實際看到它轉化為數字——在供應方面，你開始看到一些鑽機活動開始減少。我的意思是，在過去幾個月的餘下時間裡開始看到這一點。如果你看看阿巴拉契亞，例如，我們 - 我們中的許多人一直處於 - 特別是范圍內，我們現在處於維護級別計劃的第三年。我們將收集系統保持在高利用率，並真正保持我們的成本結構和運營盡可能高效和合理。你開始將我們與其他阿巴拉契亞生產商一起進行維護，鑽機活動減少，然後你看到越來越多的油井性能逐年下降，這開始轉化為我們所看到的真正的生產概況後退。我們看到這一切都可能轉化為供應過剩的市場。你可以通過數據來論證。其中一部分歸結為查看供應天數。如果您希望在這個注入季節結束時達到它，取決於您的前景，它是 3.9 還是 4 Tcf。如果你開始將其與我剛剛提出的許多要點相結合，再加上過去幾年在工業方面不斷湧現的需求，液化天然氣現在和自由港都已恢復到滿負荷生產，更不用說額外的基礎設施將在 2024 年上線，您將在註入季節結束時開始達到 42 天的供應量。只是為了比較，5 年平均值是 43 天，而我們在進入冬季之前的 2022 年 10 月是 41 天。因此，今天的商品價格環境顯然與 10 月份大不相同。

So you can make the argument, maybe it's not quite as oversupplied as what the market would kind of indicate just from a storage level number alone. Clearly, on the demand side, LNG is its own unique story. And as you look into 2024, there's reason to believe that Golden Pass Train 1 is -- could come online midyear and start to play a significant role as we then roll into injection season for 2024, which we also think sets everything up in a pretty positive light. So for us, we'll stay the course from our maintenance level program. And we think that plays well when you look at our transportation portfolio, what we can get out of the basin and make us resilient through the cycles here.

所以你可以提出論點，也許它並不像市場僅從存儲水平數字所表明的那樣供過於求。顯然，在需求方面，液化天然氣有其獨特之處。當你展望 2024 年時，有理由相信 Golden Pass Train 1 可能會在年中上線並開始發揮重要作用，因為我們隨後將進入 2024 年的注入季節，我們也認為這會讓一切都變得非常美好正光。因此，對我們來說，我們將堅持我們的維護級別計劃。我們認為，當您查看我們的運輸組合時，我們可以從盆地中得到什麼，並使我們在這裡的周期中保持彈性。

And our next question will come from Doug Leggate of Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題將來自美國銀行的 Doug Leggate。

Jeff, let me add my congratulations. You've been around for a very long time making some of us feel pretty old. So I hope you enjoy the next stage of your endeavors. So guys, I got a couple of questions. I guess my first one is for Mark. Mark, obviously, the stock and therefore, the market capitalization moves around quite a bit, we at least see the equity value as what's left from enterprise value minus net debt. So when you see the market failing to recognize a forward curve, which is 50% above a year ago, there's two things you can do. You can buy back shares or you can reduce net debt to force market recognition of value. So my question is, why is $1 billion to $1.5 billion the right number in a volatile commodity environment, why not go tighter than that? You've seen some of your oil peers go to net debt 0. Why not?

傑夫，讓我表示祝賀。你已經存在很長時間了，讓我們中的一些人覺得自己很老了。所以我希望你享受下一階段的努力。伙計們，我有幾個問題。我想我的第一個是給馬克的。顯然，股票和市值波動很大，我們至少將股權價值視為企業價值減去淨債務後剩下的部分。因此，當您看到市場無法識別比一年前高出 50% 的遠期曲線時，您可以做兩件事。您可以回購股票或減少淨債務以迫使市場認可價值。所以我的問題是，為什麼 10 億到 15 億美元在動蕩的大宗商品環境中是正確的數字，為什麼不收緊呢？你已經看到你的一些石油同行的淨債務為 0。為什麼不呢？

That's a fair question, Doug. So as we've laid out our debt targets over the last couple of years, we began with what is the most conversational debt metric and easiest for everyone to understand that debt-to-EBITDAX ratio. Fundamentally, we believe the absolute debt number is what's really important, given commodity price fluctuations and EBITDA fluctuations that naturally occur in the space, either cyclically or seasonally. So starting with a leverage ratio that investors and we believe are prudent levels, we set out some targets and thinking through a commodity price cycle. We said at the depth of the cycle, we want to be out better than 2x in mid-cycle, you might think around 1.5x at a strong market, you want to be better than 1x leverage. Those were not hard and fast. Those were indicative levels we laid out, and actually, it's on a proxy from a year before last.

這是一個公平的問題，道格。因此，當我們在過去幾年制定我們的債務目標時，我們從最具對話性的債務指標開始，並且最容易讓每個人理解債務與 EBITDAX 的比率。從根本上說，考慮到該領域自然發生的商品價格波動和 EBITDA 波動，無論是周期性的還是季節性的，我們認為絕對債務數量才是真正重要的。因此，從投資者和我們認為是審慎水平的槓桿率開始，我們設定了一些目標並考慮了商品價格週期。我們說過，在周期的深度，我們希望在周期中期的收益優於 2 倍，你可能會認為在強勁的市場中約為 1.5 倍，你希望槓桿優於 1 倍。那些不是一成不變的。這些是我們制定的指示性水平，實際上，它是前一年的代理水平。

When you pressure test those levels against a variety of commodity prices, both for natural gas, oil and NGLs, you can get to a $1 billion to $1.5 billion level at our current production levels. So that's the genesis of the framework and those levels. They are indications indicative of what we think creates a solid financial foundation. That's not to say that we can't be opportunistic, strong environments and pay that down. That's also by design to have a strong balance sheet to use that balance sheet appropriately when opportunities arise, whether that's buying back shares, whether that's putting cash on the balance sheet and paying off debt opportunistically. So Again, those are guidelines just intended to make sure that range from a financial standpoint has the wherewithal to capitalize and monetize this huge inventory we have over the long haul.

當您針對各種商品價格（包括天然氣、石油和 NGL）對這些水平進行壓力測試時，您可以在我們當前的生產水平下達到 10 億至 15 億美元的水平。這就是框架和那些級別的起源。它們表明我們認為創造了堅實的財務基礎。這並不是說我們不能成為機會主義的、強大的環境並為此付出代價。這也是為了擁有強大的資產負債表，以便在機會出現時適當地使用該資產負債表，無論是回購股票，還是將現金放在資產負債表上併機會主義地償還債務。因此，再次重申，這些指導方針只是為了確保從財務角度來看，Range 有足夠的資金來長期利用我們擁有的龐大庫存並從中獲利。

Fair. I guess I'll continue to press on it 5% money. I wonder if that influences the decision a little bit, but we will take it offline. My follow-up, if I may, is I also want to offer, obviously, my congratulations to Dennis, but I want to use that as a lead into a two-part question, if I may. And forgive me for this one.

公平的。我想我會繼續向它施壓 5% 的錢。我想知道這是否會對決定產生一點影響，但我們會將其下線。我的後續行動，如果可以的話，顯然我也想向丹尼斯表示祝賀，但如果可以的話，我想以此作為一個由兩部分組成的問題的線索。請原諒我這個。

Dennis, the press release for your announcing your promotion to CEO, had an interesting comment that talked about what is currently the company's sole operational area. So I guess my question is a strategic one. Do you see with the change of -- I don't want say the change of leadership, but the retirement of Jeff and you move into that role. Do we -- should we expect any change of strategy? And I guess my part B is, it's interesting that when something like the run-up to the announcement of just retirement happens, the speculation in that range could have been a target for M&A. So I guess my follow-up is, has there any time in the last several months, I guess, in any consideration that there were other strategic alternatives that should be or could have been explored for a range that might have led to that speculation. I'll leave it there.

丹尼斯，在你宣布晉升為首席執行官的新聞稿中，有一個有趣的評論，談到了目前公司唯一的運營區域。所以我想我的問題是一個戰略問題。你是否看到了變化——我不想說領導層的變化，而是 Jeff 的退休和你進入那個角色。我們——我們應該期待戰略的任何改變嗎？我想我的 B 部分是，有趣的是，當宣布退休之前發生類似的事情時，該範圍內的猜測可能成為併購的目標。所以我想我的後續行動是，在過去幾個月中有沒有任何時間，我想，考慮到是否有其他戰略選擇應該或可能已經探索了可能導致這種猜測的範圍。我會把它留在那裡。

Yes. Thanks for the comments and the questions this morning, Doug. I'll take a step back and really kind of start with the change of strategy piece, and then I'll end up with your second question. I think you heard it from all three of us this morning and you've probably heard it from us on prior calls, but the company is in the best position it's ever been in the history of the organization. When you look across the multi -- the multiple facets that we report on, whether it's financial, operational, safety, environmental, Range continues to really chip away at continuous progress. And so from our position, the company is in a great position today. We're drilling some of our longest laterals, our fastest wells even after 1,500 horizontal wells being drilled in the basin, we're still continuing to make that incremental progress, which we kind of see that generating our highest return wells and being really resilient and durable through the cycles. We've got the best team in the business. I think when you look at some of the early on wells that we drilled with the RINs discovery well in the mid-2000s, there's many of those team members are still with us today. And that is difficult to put a dollar value on it because their commitment level is tremendous.

是的。感謝道格今天早上的評論和提問。我會退後一步，真的從戰略部分的變化開始，然後我會結束你的第二個問題。我想你今天早上從我們三個人那裡都聽到了，你可能在之前的電話中也從我們那裡聽到過，但公司處於組織歷史上最好的位置。當你縱觀我們報告的多個方面時，無論是財務、運營、安全、環境，Range 都在繼續不斷取得進步。因此，從我們的立場來看，公司今天處於有利地位。我們正在鑽探一些最長的橫向井，即使在盆地中鑽了 1,500 口水平井之後，我們仍在鑽探我們最快的井，我們仍在繼續取得這種漸進式進展，我們有點看到產生了我們最高回報的井並且非常有彈性經久耐用。我們擁有業內最好的團隊。我認為，當您查看我們在 2000 年代中期使用 RINs 發現井鑽探的一些早期油井時，其中許多團隊成員至今仍與我們在一起。這很難用美元來衡量，因為他們的承諾水平是巨大的。

So you're in a lot of ways, Doug, you're not going to see a lot of change from Range. It's going to be staying the course, continuing to block and tackle in the aspects that we're really strong and talented at, and that is really continuing to develop our assets, drill our best wells and really generate competitive returns for our shareholders and generating free cash flow through the cycles. We see the world needs our clean burning energy that we supply. And we stand ready to participate in that year in and year out with our program. And as far as your follow-up question about any other considerations, I think ultimately, we're prepared to go it alone. Again, when you look at the asset base we have and the quality of the inventory. Now on our 15th year of a positive reserves revision. We stand poised to continue to, again, just continue to chip away at what we do best, incrementally improving our well performance efficiencies and other aspects of our business. So no other considerations from our end.

所以你在很多方面，道格，你不會看到 Range 有太多變化。它將堅持到底，繼續阻止和解決我們真正強大和有才華的方面，這實際上是繼續開發我們的資產，鑽探我們最好的油井，真正為我們的股東創造有競爭力的回報，並產生週期中的自由現金流。我們看到世界需要我們提供的清潔燃燒能源。我們隨時準備年復一年地參與我們的計劃。至於你關於任何其他考慮因素的後續問題，我認為最終，我們準備好單獨行動。同樣，當您查看我們擁有的資產基礎和庫存質量時。現在是我們進行正儲備修正的第 15 個年頭。我們隨時準備繼續，再次，只是繼續削減我們最擅長的領域，逐步提高我們的油井性能效率和我們業務的其他方面。所以我們沒有其他考慮。

And our next question comes from Bertrand Donnes of Truist.

我們的下一個問題來自 Truist 的 Bertrand Donnes。

Thanks for everything over the years, Jeff, and congratulations, Dennis. Just kind of piggybacking on Doug's question. I know that debt reduction and buybacks are the current focus. But in the future, does the shareholder return program change it seems like you'll have the ability to accelerate production when the market asks for it. Is that what we should expect almost all cash flows to go to? Or if you ramped your spending levels into a strong gas pricing environment, would that be accompanied by a balance of buybacks and dividends?

感謝這些年來所做的一切，傑夫，祝賀你，丹尼斯。只是在道格的問題上搭便車。我知道減債和回購是當前的重點。但在未來，股東回報計劃是否會改變，似乎你有能力在市場需要時加速生產。這是我們應該期望的幾乎所有現金流量嗎？或者，如果您將支出水平提高到一個強勁的天然氣定價環境，那會伴隨著回購和股息的平衡嗎？

Yes, that's a fair question. I think -- two things. Let me point to our activity levels last year. The elements of our capital allocation are executed in tandem and they can be done in different percentages or different weightings just depending on where we are in progress towards our target debt level. What our expectations of cash flow are going forward as well as, frankly, the stock price and what the overall market may be there, what value they're is. So as we think about what the program can be, you've seen us allocate 75% of cash flow on a quarter to debt reduction, and you've seen us allocate the majority to share repurchases in a quarter. So you can see that move backwards and forwards, again, balancing where the balance sheet is, where the stock price is, where cash flow expectations are.

是的，這是一個公平的問題。我認為 - 兩件事。讓我指出我們去年的活動水平。我們的資本配置要素是串聯執行的，它們可以以不同的百分比或不同的權重來完成，這取決於我們在實現目標債務水平方面的進展情況。我們對現金流的預期是什麼，坦率地說，股票價格和整個市場可能存在的情況，它們的價值是什麼。因此，當我們考慮該計劃的內容時，您已經看到我們將一個季度 75% 的現金流分配給債務減少，並且您已經看到我們在一個季度中將大部分現金流分配給股票回購。所以你可以看到它來回移動，再次平衡資產負債表的位置，股票價格的位置，現金流量預期的位置。

So under the assumption that you're within your debt level, your target debt levels and feel solid about that. Then it comes down to the fundamental demand for natural gas. Number 4 on our list is the growth when appropriate. Is there a call on gas? Is there a call for Range's gas? Do we have the deliverability to our end customers, all of which we think is simply a question of when, not if. We have capacity. Half our gas goes down to the Gulf Coast. So the third and Midwest balance further into the Northeast. NGLs are delivered domestically and internationally. Over 90% of our revenue, because of that is effectively outside the basin. So we've got great exposure and because of the depth of our inventory, we will have the ability to grow either through existing capacity that goes underutilized through growth in in-basin demand or expansion of existing or new facilities that come online. So there's a great many ways to win and our capital allocation, we'll simply adapt to that call on Range of the line and the economics of buying back shares for that incremental growth.

因此，假設您的債務水平在您的目標債務水平之內，並且對此感到穩固。然後歸結為對天然氣的基本需求。我們名單上的第四位是適當的增長。有加油的電話嗎？是否需要 Range 的汽油？我們是否有向最終客戶交付的能力，我們認為所有這些都只是時間的問題，而不是是否。我們有能力。我們一半的天然氣流向墨西哥灣沿岸。所以第三和中西部平衡進一步進入東北部。 NGL 在國內和國際上交付。因此，我們 90% 以上的收入實際上都在流域之外。因此，我們有很大的風險敞口，並且由於我們的庫存深度，我們將有能力通過流域內需求增長或現有或新設施的擴展而未充分利用的現有產能來增長。因此，有很多方法可以取勝，而我們的資本配置，我們將簡單地適應對線路範圍的呼籲以及回購股票以實現增量增長的經濟效益。

That's great color. And then on the capital allocation side, I think the strength in your NGL pricing kind of outperformed Street estimates, maybe even internal estimates. Is there -- are there any plans to switch where your activity levels are to maybe focus on the liquids-rich areas versus the dry gas area? And maybe would that be temporary until there's kind of a call on gas when you guys to accelerate and then maybe switch back to dry gas, but just any thoughts there.

那是很棒的顏色。然後在資本配置方面，我認為你的 NGL 定價強度有點超過華爾街的估計，甚至可能超過內部估計。是否有 - 是否有計劃改變您的活動水平，可能將重點放在富含液體的區域而不是乾燥的氣體區域？也許這會是暫時的，直到有人呼籲加油時你們會加速，然後可能會切換回乾氣，但只是有任何想法。

Yes. Thanks for the question. I think when you look at our program kind of year in and year out, I think what you'll find is, on a percentage basis, it's pretty common for us to focus somewhere in the neighborhood of, say, 30% to 40% of our activity in the dry gas portion of our assets with the remaining, we'll say, 60% to 70% being on the liquid side. Both in the wet and the Super Ridge. And this year's program is very consistent with that. We always leave some optionality in the program for us to, we'll just say, optimize the schedule throughout the year, whether it's an operational efficiency type driver, it could be something else that's going on in the market. Our ability to do that really ties back to our ability to move back into pads with existing production, which represents usually year in and year out about 50% plus or minus of our annual activity. So it allows us to be pretty nimble, react fairly quickly and again, put the best program forward in each given year.

是的。謝謝你的問題。我想當你年復一年地看我們的項目時，我想你會發現，在百分比的基礎上，我們很常見地關注某個地方，比如 30% 到 40%我們在我們資產的干氣部分的活動，我們會說，60% 到 70% 是在液體方面。在潮濕和超級山脊中。今年的計劃與此非常一致。我們總是在程序中留下一些可選性，我們只是說，優化全年的時間表，無論是運營效率類型的驅動程序，它可能是市場上正在發生的其他事情。我們這樣做的能力確實與我們搬回現有生產基地的能力有關，這通常代表年復一年我們年度活動的大約 50% 加減。因此，它使我們能夠非常靈活、相當迅速地做出反應，並在每一年推出最佳計劃。

However, what I would tell you is, is we don't tend to overcorrect the steering of the car all that much. And if you look at where pricing has gone just over the past 10 to 12 months from a commodity standpoint, you can quickly see where you could just as have to be more right or more wrong by making those radical adjustments. So for a under a maintenance type scenario, again, we look to keep the gathering system full and utilized as much as possible at a very high level, which provides another unique variable in this multimath problem, verbal math problem, if you will. So we do allow some flexibility. If you look at this year, we're already heavily weighted on the NGL side, which we think that plays really, really well. when you look at the NGL pricing that we reported in the first quarter. And then, of course, lastly, with our program being front-end loaded from an activity standpoint and the production profile being more on the uptick in the second half of the year. We think that also plays well with the commodity curve for the back half of the year and into the winter of '24.

然而，我要告訴你的是，我們不會過度校正汽車的轉向。如果您從大宗商品的角度看一下過去 10 到 12 個月的價格走勢，您可以很快看到通過進行這些激進的調整，您可以在哪些地方做出更正確或更錯誤的決定。因此，對於維護類型的場景，我們再次希望使收集系統保持完整併盡可能地在非常高的水平上得到利用，這在這個多數學問題中提供了另一個獨特的變量，如果你願意的話。所以我們確實允許一些靈活性。如果你看看今年，我們已經很重視 NGL 方面，我們認為這方面的表現非常非常好。當您查看我們在第一季度報告的 NGL 定價時。然後，當然，最後，從活動的角度來看，我們的程序是前端加載的，生產概況在今年下半年呈上升趨勢。我們認為這也與今年下半年和 24 年冬季的商品曲線相得益彰。

And our next question will come from Jacob Roberts of TPH & Company.

我們的下一個問題將來自 TPH & Company 的 Jacob Roberts。

Just to start out with -- sorry to keep harping on this topic. But has there been any discussion internally about the ideal pace of showing through the remaining $1.1 billion on the repurchases, and just is there a ticking clock on that number at all?

剛開始——很抱歉一直喋喋不休地談論這個話題。但是，內部是否有任何關於顯示剩餘 11 億美元回購的理想速度的討論，這個數字是否有一個滴答作響的時鐘？

I guess the short answer to the question is no. There is no pace on it. We'll be opportunistic and balance the priorities. So we intentionally have not given out a hard and fast formulaic approach. We have to balance market conditions in our priorities and returns and cash flows. So that's the optionality and the intentional flexibility building the program.

我想這個問題的簡短答案是否定的。沒有步伐。我們會投機取巧並平衡優先事項。所以我們有意沒有給出一個硬性的公式化方法。我們必須在我們的優先事項、回報和現金流之間平衡市場條件。這就是構建程序的選擇性和有意的靈活性。

Fair enough. And then I was hoping you could speak to the ethane dynamic that range saw during this quarter and how you see that shaping up over the year? And Dennis, you laid out the NGL macro side of things. I'm just -- just wondering longer term, how we should be thinking about any potential impacts on the premium to Mont Belvieu, maybe in 2024 and beyond.

很公平。然後我希望你能談談本季度範圍內看到的乙烷動態，以及你如何看待這一年的形成？丹尼斯，你列出了 NGL 宏觀方面的內容。我只是 - 只是想知道從長遠來看，我們應該如何考慮對 Mont Belvieu 溢價的任何潛在影響，也許在 2024 年及以後。

Thanks for the question, Jacob. I'm going to start off and then I'm going to pitch over to Alan to let him provide some thoughts as well on this question that you've raised. I think when you look at the production profile for this year, quarter in and quarter out, you can expect to see some fluctuations in let's just say the gas that we report on and that production profile or on the NGLs, just depending upon the turn-in lines, and again, that activity cadence. But by and large, we would expect our NGL production to basically be relatively consistent and flat throughout the balance of the year. And a lot of that goes back to some comments I made earlier, we're still under a maintenance-level program where, again, we're keeping the system at a high level of utilization and maintaining a flat level of production. But from an ethane perspective, I'll punt over to Alan at this point and let him provide some additional color on the DIF and other long-term outlook.

謝謝你的問題，雅各布。我要開始了，然後我會請 Alan 就你提出的這個問題提出一些想法。我認為當你查看今年的生產概況時，一個季度和一個季度，你可以預期會看到一些波動，我們只說我們報告的天然氣和生產概況或 NGL，這取決於轉向- 在線，再一次，活動節奏。但總的來說，我們預計我們的 NGL 產量在今年餘下時間基本保持穩定。其中很多可以追溯到我之前發表的一些評論，我們仍在維護級別計劃中，我們再次將系統保持在高利用率並保持穩定的生產水平。但從乙烷的角度來看，我現在會把注意力轉向艾倫，讓他為 DIF 和其他長期前景提供一些額外的顏色。

Jacob, this is Alan Engberg. I manage our liquids business. I'll actually start talking maybe a little bit just about the overall premium NGL premium that we got during the first quarter. As I think the guys have said already, it's been a good start of the year for Range. And at a high level, the liquids business really is -- it's a hedge against weak net gas prices. NGLs in general, really track crude more than natural gas. Now ethane, in particular, does track gas, but it's also influenced by the rest of the NGL barrels, which tracks much more closely with crude. And then in particular, the international markets track a lot more with crude. So when natural gas is weak, NGLs, the spread between gas and crude widens and NGLs tend to outperform.

雅各布，這是艾倫·恩伯格。我負責管理我們的液體業務。實際上，我可能會開始談論我們在第一季度獲得的整體保費 NGL 保費。正如我認為這些人已經說過的那樣，對於 Range 來說，這是今年的一個良好開端。從高層次上看，液體業務確實是——它是對沖疲軟的淨天然氣價格的一種對沖。一般而言，NGL 確實比天然氣更能追踪原油。現在尤其是乙烷，它確實追踪天然氣，但它也受到其他 NGL 桶的影響，後者與原油的追踪更為密切。然後特別是，國際市場更多地追踪原油。因此，當天然氣疲軟時，NGL、天然氣和原油之間的價差會擴大，而 NGL 往往會跑贏大市。

For Range in particular, we have a lot of flexibility in our system, and we did see weak winter weather demand. So we actually flexed to the export markets. And the export markets really performed strongly for us. If you look at just market reported index values at the export dock relative to the Mont Belvieu index. Those averaged for the first quarter around $8 to $8.05 per gallon, which was up about 35% year-on-year. So overall, our premium benefited from the market dynamics, the spread between gas and crude as well as our ability to flex to the highest value markets. Now it is somewhat seasonal, what we get. And typically, the winter does provide us more opportunities than the summer months. So we're still maintaining our guidance at plus or minus $1 for that premium.

特別是對於 Range，我們的系統具有很大的靈活性，我們確實看到冬季天氣需求疲軟。所以我們實際上轉向了出口市場。出口市場對我們來說確實表現強勁。如果您僅查看出口碼頭相對於 Mont Belvieu 指數的市場報告指數值。第一季度的平均價格約為每加侖 8 至 8.05 美元，同比上漲約 35%。因此，總的來說，我們的溢價受益於市場動態、天然氣和原油之間的價差以及我們向最高價值市場靈活調整的能力。現在它有點季節性，我們得到了什麼。通常，冬季確實比夏季為我們提供了更多的機會。因此，我們仍然將該保費維持在正負 1 美元的指導。

Now going to ethane fundamentals, in particular, it's interesting. The ethane price has come off quite a bit from the fourth quarter. It's actually kind of weak and that is really the result of the lower natural gas price, which does pull on ethane. But also, there's been, let's say, value chain destocking on the chemical side. Which has reduced demand somewhat. All that said, though, the ethane inventories, especially as represented in days of supply, so total stocks divided by total demand are still at 5-year lows. So the market is relatively snuck. And in fact, EIA's short-term NGL look that was just released a couple of weeks ago, is showing ethane stocks in terms of days of disposition remaining at the bottom of the 5-year range for the rest of this year and next year. And in fact, you don't get any lower than where we are right now unless you look back to 2011 on days of disposition.

現在談到乙烷的基本面，特別有趣。與第四季度相比，乙烷價格已經下降了很多。它實際上有點疲軟，這實際上是天然氣價格下降的結果，這確實拉動了乙烷。而且，比方說，化學方面的價值鏈去庫存化。這在一定程度上減少了需求。儘管如此，乙烷庫存，尤其是供應天數，因此總庫存除以總需求仍處於 5 年低點。所以市場相對偷偷摸摸。事實上，幾週前剛剛發布的 EIA 短期 NGL 展望顯示，在今年剩餘時間和明年，乙烷庫存的處置天數仍處於 5 年範圍的底部。事實上，除非你回顧 2011 年的配置天數，否則你不會比我們現在的位置低。

We see operating rates improving already in the chemical industry during the first quarter. There's domestically about another 250,000 barrels per day of ethane demand that can still come back and get us back to last July, ethane demand levels, plus there's new demand internationally as well as domestically that could add another 200,000 barrels per day. So given strong underlying fundamentals, a lot of demand coming online that we see, we think ethane prices relative to gas are going to improve through the rest of this year and could actually double in value relative to gas. And again, Range, because of our position, first mover in the industry, having production at the Houston MarkWest facility that is the main hub for moving ethane to whether it's Mont Belvieu or moving it to Canada or moving into international markets. We feel real confident about our ability to continue to extract strong values for ethane and the rest of the NGL barrel through the rest of the year.

我們看到第一季度化學工業的開工率已經有所提高。國內每天還有大約 250,000 桶的乙烷需求，這仍然可以使我們回到去年 7 月的乙烷需求水平，再加上國際和國內的新需求可能每天再增加 200,000 桶。因此，鑑於強勁的基本面，我們看到大量需求上線，我們認為乙烷相對於天然氣的價格將在今年餘下時間有所改善，並且相對於天然氣的價值實際上可能翻一番。再一次，Range，由於我們的地位，行業的先行者，在休斯頓 MarkWest 工廠生產，該工廠是將乙烷運往 Mont Belvieu 或將其運往加拿大或進入國際市場的主要樞紐。我們對我們在今年餘下時間繼續為乙烷和其他 NGL 桶提取強大價值的能力充滿信心。

Our next question will come from Subhasish Chandra of Benchmark Company.

我們的下一個問題將來自基準公司的 Subhasish Chandra。

And (inaudible) Jeff, on all the words said here for a long and storied career. Couple of line item questions. First, I guess on lifting costs, I think, in the 10-Q kind of cited water hauling cost, just wondering if that is a temporary issue or a structural issue of any kind and the abandonment cost, which is not a huge number, but if that was specific to any particular part of your acreage.

還有（聽不清）傑夫，關於他漫長而傳奇的職業生涯，在這裡說的所有話。幾個訂單項問題。首先，我想關於提升成本，我認為，在 10-Q 類的引水成本中，只是想知道這是一個臨時問題還是任何類型的結構性問題以及放棄成本，這不是一個很大的數字，但如果那是特定於您種植面積的任何特定部分。

Yes. Subhasish. I'll go ahead and tackle these. From a water hauling perspective, we had seen some fluctuations that are kind of short term in nature from a cost perspective. As you can imagine, as demand goes up for, let's just say, just start a program at the beginning of the year, coupled with winter operations and fuel cost. We can see some of those being needle movers, if you will, at times our quarterly water hauling cost. We would expect, though, all of that to still normalize throughout the year, and we're on track for our lease operating expense guidance that we provided this past call for $0.11 to $0.13. So all of that is still intact. From a workovers perspective, any given quarter, I think, is really tough to assess whether it's a workover that's unique or an abandonment operation because each one has its own unique cost exposure. We did pull several projects forward into Q1. As you can imagine, in the Northeast, we try and push some of those projects into the middle part of the year when the weather is a little bit nicer. But with the mild winter conditions that we had in the first quarter, the team became very proactive to pull some of those projects forward. So we could see some benefit throughout the year with further production stabilization. So we would expect to see, just like when we talk about turn-in lines or other operational cadence, we see -- expect to see some quarter-over-quarter variance, but everything is still on track for the guidance that we provided this past quarter.

是的。 Subhasish。我會繼續解決這些問題。從運水的角度來看，從成本的角度來看，我們看到了一些本質上是短期的波動。可以想像，隨著需求的增加，我們只是說，在年初開始一個項目，再加上冬季運營和燃料成本。我們可以看到其中一些是針頭推動者，如果你願意的話，有時我們的季度運水成本。不過，我們預計所有這些在全年仍會正常化，並且我們正朝著我們過去提供的 0.11 美元至 0.13 美元的租賃運營費用指導走上正軌。所以這一切仍然完好無損。從修井的角度來看，我認為任何給定的季度都很難評估它是獨特的修井還是廢棄作業，因為每個季度都有其獨特的成本風險。我們確實將幾個項目提前到第一季度。正如您想像的那樣，在東北部，我們嘗試將其中一些項目推遲到年中天氣稍微好一點的時候。但由於第一季度冬季氣候溫和，團隊變得非常積極主動地推進其中一些項目。因此，隨著生產進一步穩定，我們可以在全年看到一些好處。因此，我們希望看到，就像我們談論上交線或其他運營節奏時一樣，我們看到 - 預計會出現一些季度環比差異，但一切仍按我們提供的指導進行上個季度。

And then a question on MVP. It seems like it's warmer than ever to get that pipeline operational. And we've chatted before on it. Just curious you -- I think you've signed indirect benefits. But do you have an opinion whether you would expect to see 2 Bcf a day of fresh gas in the basin? Or do you think some large portion of it would be just rerouted gas.

然後是關於 MVP 的問題。似乎比以往任何時候都更熱衷於讓該管道投入運營。我們之前就此聊過。只是好奇你——我想你已經簽署了間接利益。但是您是否認為盆地每天會產生 2 Bcf 的新鮮天然氣？或者你認為其中很大一部分只是改道天然氣。

Well, I think -- that's a really good question. And I think if you look historically with other projects of that magnitude that were greenfield that were brought into service and commissioned, clearly there was more of a ramp to fill type approach. In this particular environment, you can make the argument there's probably going to be more of a production redistribution effort where you can see some capacity start to open up on other pipes. And you can see then the demand pull for the customers that are going to be on the end of that particular piece of infrastructure, you can see that production then get shifted off of other infrastructure and directed toward utilization of MVP. I think we would see it would be -- it could potentially be a balance of those two.

好吧，我認為 - 這是一個非常好的問題。而且我認為，如果你從歷史上看其他規模如此大的項目，這些項目都是投入使用和委託的綠地，顯然有更多的斜坡填充類型的方法。在這個特定的環境中，您可以說可能會有更多的生產重新分配工作，您可以看到一些容量開始在其他管道上開放。然後你可以看到對將要位於該特定基礎設施末端的客戶的需求拉動，你可以看到生產然後從其他基礎設施轉移並轉向使用 MVP。我想我們會看到——它可能是這兩者的平衡。

And our next question will come from Paul Diamond of Citi.

我們的下一個問題將來自花旗銀行的 Paul Diamond。

I would echo having enough commentary here. Congratulations, Jeff. Well deserved, and good luck on the next efforts.

我會回應這裡有足夠的評論。祝賀你，傑夫。當之無愧，祝你接下來的努力好運。

Well, thank you very much. I appreciate it.

好的，謝謝。我很感激。

But just circling back a little bit. You guys talked a touch about -- you're starting to see some cracks in the inflationary narrative we've seen over the past years and looking more towards H2 and more probably likely 2024. I was wondering if you could give a bit of color on that as far as if there is a -- anything particular you think might go first or just a bit a bit more detail there.

但只是稍微轉了一圈。你們談到了一點——你們開始看到我們在過去幾年看到的通貨膨脹敘述中的一些裂縫，並且更多地關注下半年，更有可能是 2024 年。我想知道你們是否可以提供一些顏色就此而言，就好像有一個 - 你認為可能首先出現的任何特定內容或那裡的更多細節。

Paul, this is Dennis. I think as you start to -- it's hard to predict today where some of that will surface. We are starting to see signs of, we'll call it, one-off rig availability or you're starting to see some different openings in the schedule for maybe those spot frac crews that you may need to address like that one-off pad or to executions throughout the balance of your year. I can't say that pricing has really moved all that much at this point. You are still seeing, I think a very high utilization of what we call the specialty equipment, your high-spec drilling rigs and also the electric frac fleets where those are clearly very -- at a very high level of utilization.

保羅，這是丹尼斯。我認為當你開始 - 今天很難預測其中一些會浮出水面。我們開始看到我們稱之為一次性鑽井平台可用性的跡象，或者你開始在時間表中看到一些不同的空缺，可能是那些你可能需要解決的現場壓裂工作人員，比如一次性墊或者在你一年的剩餘時間裡執行死刑。我不能說定價在這一點上真的有那麼大的變化。你仍然看到，我認為我們稱之為特種設備的利用率非常高，你的高規格鑽機以及電動壓裂車隊顯然非常 - 在非常高的利用率水平。

You are starting to see signs of tubular goods showing signs of relief along with one-off consumable products like frac sand as an example. So that could translate again into some one-off unique savings toward the end of the year. But again, we think this is going to be -- if there is -- whatever savings materializes, we'll then really more show itself for the balance of 2024. Whatever comes out of the inflation uptick or relief that we see through the balance of this year and into the years that follow, I'll kind of direct you back to our dollars per Mcf incremental component. Last year, we were at $0.64 in when you look at our low base decline and just our overall capital efficiency and our cost structure. And this year, I mean, clearly, even with that -- with the increases that we've seen from '22 to '23, we're still in the mid-$0.70 range. So still a fraction of what we would see compared to our peers in other basins, if you will. So however this plays out, we do see that we're still going to be in a peer-leading position at the end of the day.

您開始看到管狀產品的跡像以及壓裂砂等一次性消耗品出現緩解跡象。因此，這可能會在年底前再次轉化為一些一次性的獨特儲蓄。但同樣，我們認為這將是——如果有的話——無論儲蓄實現多少，我們都會在 2024 年餘下的時間裡真正體現出來。無論我們從餘額中看到的通脹上升或緩解帶來的結果是什麼今年和接下來的幾年，我將引導您回到我們的每千億平方英尺增量組件的美元。去年，當您查看我們的低基數下降以及我們的整體資本效率和成本結構時，我們的股價為 0.64 美元。而今年，我的意思是，很明顯，即使如此 - 從 22 年到 23 年我們看到的增長，我們仍然處於 0.70 美元的中間範圍內。如果你願意的話，與其他盆地的同行相比，我們所看到的仍然是一小部分。因此，無論結果如何，我們確實看到我們最終仍將處於同行領先地位。

p id="1790839182" name="Paul Diamond" type="A" />

p id="1790839182" name="Paul Diamond" type="A" />

Understood. And just one quick follow-up. I know we've talked a lot about the takeaway constraints and the concern for in-basin growth, at least in the near term. How do you guys think about the opportunity for more organic growth in basin, whether through industrial demand or commercial or residential or anything along those lines? How do you guys think about that going forward?

明白了。並且只是一個快速跟進。我知道我們已經談了很多關於外賣限制和對流域內增長的擔憂，至少在近期是這樣。你們如何看待流域更多有機增長的機會，無論是通過工業需求還是商業或住宅或任何類似的方式？你們如何看待這件事？

Yes. I think if you start to -- I think we see a couple of options. And one, when you start to look at some of the M&A activity that's occurred over the last few years, you -- no doubt have seen also a change in capital allocation potentially for some of those producers to start to direct their activity toward the assets that have been a part of that transaction in some regards away from Appalachia. You've also seen some degradation in well performance year-over-year, which certainly challenges probably those other peers around capital allocation choices that they're making. Those are things that we haven't seen on our end. And so the position that, that puts us in is really to be on the first kind of the fairway to utilize infrastructure that goes underutilized in the future. So we think that poises us well with our long runway of inventory.

是的。我想如果你開始——我想我們會看到幾個選擇。第一，當你開始審視過去幾年發生的一些併購活動時，你無疑也看到了資本配置的變化，其中一些生產商可能開始將他們的活動轉向資產在遠離阿巴拉契亞的某些方面，它們已成為該交易的一部分。您還看到油井性能逐年下降，這肯定會挑戰其他同行圍繞他們正在做出的資本配置選擇。這些是我們還沒有看到的東西。因此，我們所處的位置實際上是處於第一種利用未來未充分利用的基礎設施的航道上。因此，我們認為這使我們能夠很好地應對我們漫長的庫存跑道。

There are some projects that have been identified in the event that growth. It's not probably -- it's not a question of if, it's when. That call on Appalachia gas takes place. And we feel like those have been identified in a way that Range could participate down the road in the future. But again, for now, maintenance is the case. And we know we've got the runway and ability to add inventory to the growth conversation when the -- not only the macro but also the basin fundamentals point in that direction. And you're seeing more conversations around in-basin demand sources in the future. Shell cracker is one of those prime examples where you're taking somewhere in the neighborhood of 100,000 barrels of ethane in the conversation plus fuel gas that gets you almost to between an excess of 1/4 of a B a day just a loan in that facility. You've got combined cycle facilities that have continued to express interest in being in that area, given the long runway of inventory and supply that a company like Range could participate in. So we see that there's more than just pipes being a part of the solution, but there's going to be in-basin demand that has the opportunity to further materialize. So certainly, opportunities down the road for sure for growth.

有一些項目已經確定了增長的情況。不太可能——這不是會不會的問題，而是什麼時候的問題。對阿巴拉契亞天然氣的呼籲發生了。我們覺得這些已經以 Range 將來可以參與的方式確定。但是，就目前而言，情況仍然如此。而且我們知道，當不僅宏觀而且盆地基本面都指向那個方向時，我們已經有了跑道和能力來增加庫存到增長對話中。未來您會看到更多關於流域內需求來源的對話。殼牌裂解器就是其中一個典型的例子，您在談話中使用大約 100,000 桶乙烷，加上燃料氣體，每天幾乎可以超過 1/4 B 的燃料，而這只是一筆貸款設施。考慮到像 Range 這樣的公司可以參與的長期庫存和供應，你有聯合循環設施，它們繼續表示有興趣進入該地區。所以我們看到，不僅僅是管道成為其中的一部分解決方案，但流域內的需求將有機會進一步實現。所以當然，未來肯定會有增長的機會。

And our next question will come from Scott Hanold of RBC Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題將來自 RBC Capital Markets 的 Scott Hanold。

Maybe my first question is to kind of layer on to that conversation there. But like when you think about the market right now, it is a little bit loose, the gas market. And I know there are a lot of folks calling for the need for some gas producers to further reduce activity. Can you just give us a high level sense that, is there any point where it makes sense for Range to back off on its maintenance plan? Or is there an overriding just kind of efficiency benefit to maintaining maintenance?

也許我的第一個問題是對那裡的對話進行某種程度的分層。但是就像你現在考慮市場一樣，天然氣市場有點鬆動。我知道有很多人呼籲一些天然氣生產商需要進一步減少活動。您能否給我們一個高層次的感覺，Range 是否有理由放棄其維護計劃？或者維護維護是否具有壓倒一切的效率優勢？

Yes. Scott, this is Dennis again. We're very comfortable with the maintenance program that we have laid out I mean, again, by the time we get to the midyear point, we'll be down to one drilling rig and one frac crew. So this is what I would say a very comfortable low-end position for our program. It's very capital and operationally efficient for us. and it allows us to continue to check all the right boxes from a lower cost structure perspective, high-end utilization of the gathering system. And even through the balance of the last couple of years when we started to see fluctuation in commodity prices, we didn't grow. Instead, we stayed the course. And we did what we said we were going to do and remain focused on our balance sheet objectives. So from our perspective, we're -- we never grew and we stayed the course. And so Again, we'll stay at this level until the fundamentals suggest we should do otherwise.

是的。斯科特，我又是丹尼斯。我們對我們制定的維護計劃感到非常滿意我的意思是，到年中時，我們將只剩下一個鑽井平台和一個壓裂船員。所以這就是我要說的我們程序的一個非常舒適的低端位置。這對我們來說非常資本和運營效率。它使我們能夠從低成本結構的角度繼續檢查所有正確的框，收集系統的高端利用。即使在我們開始看到大宗商品價格波動的過去幾年的餘額中，我們也沒有增長。相反，我們堅持到底。我們做了我們說過要做的事情，並繼續專注於我們的資產負債表目標。所以從我們的角度來看，我們 - 我們從未成長，我們堅持到底。因此，我們將再次保持在這個水平，直到基本面表明我們應該這樣做。

So would there be any consideration to curtail production rather than change your drilling from particular tail during periods of more extreme weakness?

那麼，在更極端的疲軟時期，是否會考慮減少產量而不是改變從特定尾部的鑽探？

Yes, good question. It's something we -- I will say we evaluate on an as-needed basis here within the organization. I think at the end of the day, if you look back on the last time we had commodity prices in this similar ZIP code. We did demonstrate that we were willing to shut in some of our gas that basically had commensurate cost reductions associated with it. But really, for us, it's much more of a complex math problem, if you will, than just do we shut in the gas or not because of the liquids component that you've heard Alan, Mark and Jeff and myself touch on today, when you look at the incremental benefit that we see to our realized price because of our overall liquids production quarter in and quarter out, it generates a NYMEX plus type exposure for us versus our natural gas, wholly exposed peers who can be more at a NYMEX minus type environment.

是的，好問題。這是我們——我會說我們在組織內根據需要進行評估的事情。我想在一天結束的時候，如果你回顧一下我們上次在這個類似的郵政編碼中的商品價格。我們確實證明了我們願意關閉我們的一些天然氣，這些天然氣基本上可以相應地降低成本。但實際上，對我們來說，這更像是一個複雜的數學問題，如果你願意的話，而不是僅僅因為你聽到艾倫、馬克、傑夫和我今天談到的液體成分，我們是否關閉氣體，當您查看由於我們的整體液體生產季度和季度而對我們的實際價格帶來的增量收益時，它為我們產生了 NYMEX plus 類型的敞口，而我們的天然氣完全敞口的同行可以在 NYMEX 獲得更多負型環境。

So back to -- I know we touched on in the prepared remarks, but just this past quarter, we were in excess of $1 over Henry Hub in a comparison basis, as an example, $1.14. So for us, again, maintenance really makes a lot of sense for us, utilizing that existing infrastructure. That NGL exposure that Alan's touched on plays a significant part in the overall cash flow that we generate. Our NGLs generally produce about 30% of our overall production profile. But from a cash flow perspective, it can mean as much as 40% to 45%. So all in all, something that we are cognizant of. We study on a regular basis as needed based upon where commodity prices are, but NGLs carry a lot of weight for us, and it's meaningful returns.

回到——我知道我們在準備好的評論中提到了，但就在上個季度，我們比 Henry Hub 高出 1 美元，例如 1.14 美元。因此，對我們來說，利用現有的基礎設施，維護對我們來說真的很有意義。艾倫提到的 NGL 敞口在我們產生的整體現金流中起著重要作用。我們的 NGL 通常占我們整體產量的 30% 左右。但從現金流的角度來看，這可能意味著高達 40% 到 45%。總而言之，這是我們認識到的事情。我們根據大宗商品價格的位置，根據需要定期研究，但液化天然氣對我們來說很重要，而且回報也很有意義。

And we are nearing the end of today's conference. We will go to Umang Choudhary of Goldman Sachs for our final question. One moment.

我們即將結束今天的會議。我們將請高盛的 Umang Choudhary 回答我們的最後一個問題。一瞬間。

Jeff, thank you so much for your leadership and contribution and good luck on your retirement and Dennis, congratulations on the promotion. My first question was around deflation. You talked about seeing some signs of deflation. Can you give any more details around it? What do you think is the impact to capital spending this year and potentially next year?

傑夫，非常感謝你的領導和貢獻，祝你退休後好運，丹尼斯，祝賀你晉升。我的第一個問題是關於通貨緊縮。你談到看到一些通貨緊縮的跡象。你能提供更多細節嗎？您認為今年和明年可能對資本支出有何影響？

Yes. I would really point to having a very minimal impact to this year's program. And I think for a couple of reasons. One, you're still trying to see the rig reductions materialize. And what that means for where the market is truly heading. And secondly, our program is friendly loaded for the year. And so the deeper you get into the year, it does take us down to the one rig, one frac crew type environment. So by nature of that, your phenomenon has been reduced by the time you get to the remaining quarters in the second half of the year at that point. So more materially, we see this being an opportunity for 2024. We know that we have a long-running history and relationship with many of our service providers. And those service partners want to align with companies that are efficient and we'll execute a program that they've communicated and everyone's made commitments around. So we think that will be more results will be seen through the 2024 process than later this year.

是的。我真的會指出對今年計劃的影響非常小。我認為有幾個原因。第一，你仍在努力看到鑽機減少的實現。這對市場真正走向的方向意味著什麼。其次，我們的計劃適合全年使用。因此，你越深入這一年，它確實會把我們帶到一個鑽井平台，一個壓裂船員類型的環境中。因此，從本質上講，當你到達下半年的剩餘季度時，你的現像已經減少了。因此，更重要的是，我們認為這是 2024 年的一個機會。我們知道我們與許多服務提供商有著悠久的歷史和關係。這些服務合作夥伴希望與高效的公司保持一致，我們將執行一個他們已經溝通過並且每個人都做出承諾的計劃。因此，我們認為，與今年晚些時候相比，2024 年的流程將取得更多成果。

Got it. That's helpful. And then going back on that response on options for growth. I guess anything which you would like to see on local demand or on a cash basis to get signal to grow more in basin. Put another way, like if you think about where you would like to grow and how your gas marketing portfolio will evolve, is there any place where you would like to add more end market exposure?

知道了。這很有幫助。然後回到對增長選擇的回應。我猜你希望根據當地需求或以現金形式看到任何東西，以獲得在流域種植更多的信號。換句話說，如果你考慮你想在哪裡發展以及你的天然氣營銷組合將如何發展，你是否想在任何地方增加更多的終端市場風險？

Well, good question. I think we much -- I'll take a half a step back on this one, Umang. I think we would take the same approach that we've had on the NGLs as an example or our current gas portfolio. Mark touched on it a few moments ago, but 80% of our gas gets out of basin of that overall portfolio of 50% of it gets to the Gulf. We already participate in the LNG market. So I think we would continue to look for whether it's NGL side or the gas side, what gives the most competitive returns regardless of that end market. We do see the future having more in-basin opportunities that's going to take, as you would imagine, time to further develop and put that infrastructure in place. But it also has to compete with our ability to get that gas as an example, transported to the Gulf versus being right there in basin. So we'll evaluate all of our options. We've got a really talented marketing team. I think if you look over the history of the organization, we've demonstrated through creative structures and being the first producer to put ethane on a waterborne export tying to foreign indices as an example, for some of those structures. All of that has translated into some of the returns that we talked about today. So the team will remain diligent. We'll continue to evaluate all of our options, but they have to compete amongst what we have is our options and what we have in the current portfolio.

嗯，問得好。 Umang，我認為我們非常——我會在這個問題上後退半步。我認為我們會採用與 NGL 相同的方法作為示例或我們當前的天然氣組合。馬克剛才談到了這一點，但我們 80% 的天然氣從盆地中流出，其中 50% 的天然氣進入了海灣。我們已經參與了液化天然氣市場。因此，我認為我們會繼續尋找無論是 NGL 方面還是天然氣方面，無論終端市場如何，都能提供最具競爭力的回報。我們確實看到未來有更多的流域內機會，正如您想像的那樣，需要時間進一步開發和部署該基礎設施。但它也必須與我們獲取天然氣的能力相競爭，例如，將其輸送到海灣而不是就在盆地中。因此，我們將評估所有選項。我們擁有一支非常有才華的營銷團隊。我認為，如果你回顧一下該組織的歷史，我們已經通過創造性結構進行了展示，並且是第一個將乙烷用於與外國指數掛鉤的水運出口的生產商，例如，對於其中一些結構。所有這些都轉化為我們今天談到的一些回報。因此，團隊將保持勤奮。我們將繼續評估我們所有的選擇，但他們必須在我們擁有的選擇和我們當前的投資組合中進行競爭。

This concludes today's question-and-answer session. I'd like to turn the call back over to Mr. Ventura for his concluding remarks.

今天的問答環節到此結束。我想將電話轉回給 Ventura 先生，聽取他的總結髮言。

I just want to thank everybody for participating on our call today, and thanks for all the kind comments for Dennis and I on our path forward. And if you have any questions, please follow up with the team. Thank you.

我只想感謝大家今天參加我們的電話會議，並感謝丹尼斯和我在我們前進的道路上發表的所有友好評論。如果您有任何問題，請跟進團隊。謝謝。

Thank you for your participation in today's conference. You may now disconnect.

感謝您參加今天的會議。您現在可以斷開連接。