山脈資源 (RRC) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Welcome to the Range Resources Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Statements made during this conference call that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question-and-answer period.

歡迎參加 Range Resources 2023 年第三季財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）本次電話會議期間所作的非歷史事實的陳述均為前瞻性陳述。此類陳述存在風險和不確定性，可能導致實際結果與前瞻性陳述中的結果有重大差異。演講者發言結束後，將進入問答環節。

At this time, I would like to turn the call over to Mr. Laith Sando, Vice President, Investor Relations at Range Resources. Please go ahead, sir.

現在，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 third quarter earnings call. The speakers on today's call are Dennis Degner, Chief Executive Officer; and Mark Scucchi, Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝你，接線生。大家早安，感謝您參加 Range 的第三季財報電話會議。今天電話會議的發言人是執行長丹尼斯·德格納 (Dennis Degner)；和財務長馬克‧斯庫奇 (Mark Scucchi)。

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 of those slides on the call this morning. You'll also find our 10-Q on Range's website under the Investors tab or you can access it using the SEC's EDGAR system. 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.

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簡報。我們可能會在今天早上的電話會議上參考其中的某些投影片。您也可以在 Range 網站的「投資者」標籤下找到我們的 10-Q，或者您可以使用 SEC 的 EDGAR 系統存取它。請注意，我們將在今天的電話會議上參考某些非公認會計原則措施。我們的新聞稿提供了這些數據與最具可比性的公認會計原則數據的調節。

We've also posted supplemental tables on our website that includes realized pricing details by product, along with calculations of EBITDAX, cash margins and other non-GAAP measures.

我們還在網站上發布了補充表格，其中包括按產品列出的已實現定價詳細信息，以及 EBITDAX、現金利潤率和其他非 GAAP 指標的計算結果。

With that, let me turn the call over to Dennis.

現在，讓我把電話轉給丹尼斯。

Thanks, Laith, and thanks to all of you for joining the call today. As we finish out our 2023 program, Range's business plan is on track, and we're making steady progress on the following key objectives we've shared with you throughout this year. Operating safely while driving continued operational improvements, generating free cash flow through the cycles with a peer-leading full cycle cost structure and prudent allocation of that free cash flow, balancing a strong balance sheet with returns of capital to shareholders, and the long-term development of our world-class asset base.

謝謝萊斯，也謝謝大家今天加入電話會議。隨著我們完成 2023 年計劃，Range 的業務計劃已步入正軌，並且我們在今年與您分享的以下關鍵目標方面正在穩步取得進展。安全運營，同時推動持續的營運改進，透過同業領先的全週期成本結構在各個週期中產生自由現金流，並審慎分配自由現金流，平衡強勁的資產負債表與股東資本回報以及長期目標發展我們的世界級資產基礎。

I believe our most recent quarters are a great example of consistent advancement against these objectives, and the results reflect the resilience and durability of Range's business. During the third quarter, we successfully delivered on our operational plans safely with peer-leading efficiencies and Range's competitive cost structure, low capital intensity, liquids optionality and thoughtful hedging allowed us to generate a healthy full cycle margins despite a lower commodity price environment.

我相信我們最近幾個季度是持續推進這些目標的一個很好的例子，結果反映了 Range 業務的彈性和持久性。在第三季度，我們以同行領先的效率和Range 具有競爭力的成本結構、低資本密集度、流動性選擇性和周到的對沖，成功安全地交付了我們的運營計劃，使我們能夠在商品價格環境較低的情況下產生健康的全週期利潤。

These results are underpinned by Range's multi-decade inventory and brought to fruition by a talented technical team that continues to innovate. Walking through some of our quarterly results. All-in capital for the third quarter came in at $151 million, with year-to-date capital spending totaling $478 million or approximately 80% of our annual plan. This front-loaded capital spending is right on track and follows the activity cadence we outlined earlier this year. As previously discussed, we ran 2 frac crews for most of the third quarter, which aligns with our back half way to turn-in-line count and production trajectory.

這些成果以 Range 數十年的庫存為基礎，並由持續創新的才華橫溢的技術團隊取得成果。瀏覽我們的一些季度業績。第三季的總資本為 1.51 億美元，年初至今的資本支出總額為 4.78 億美元，約占我們年度計畫的 80%。這種前期資本支出正步入正軌，並遵循我們今年早些時候概述的活動節奏。如前所述，我們在第三季的大部分時間裡運行了 2 名壓裂人員，這與我們的上線計數和生產軌蹟的後半程一致。

The second spot crew was released in early Q4. And as of today, we're back down to 1 dedicated horizontal rig and 1 dedicated frac crew as planned. Production for the quarter came in at 2.12 Bcf equivalent per day, adding an average of approximately 40 million cubic feet equivalent per day versus the prior quarter and placing us on track for a fourth quarter production increase that aligns favorably with the current shape of the forward commodity curve.

第二個現場工作人員已於第四季初釋放。截至今天，我們已按計劃恢復到 1 個專用水平鑽機和 1 個專用壓裂人員。本季的產量為每天 2.12 Bcf 當量，與上一季相比平均每天增加約 4000 萬立方英尺當量，使我們有望實現第四季度的產量增長，這與當前的未來形勢相符商品曲線。

Supporting our production profile, we turned to sales 19 wells during the third quarter. 13 of these wells are located in our dry acreage position with the other 6 located in our wet and super-rich acreage, all in Southwest Pennsylvania. As has become a hallmark of our operations, over 3/4 of the wells are located on pads with existing production, minimizing our operating service footprint, supporting nimble operations and driving Range's cost-efficient development approach and peer-leading capital efficiency.

為了支持我們的生產狀況，我們在第三季銷售了 19 口井。其中 13 口井位於我們的乾燥區域，另外 6 口位於我們的濕潤和超級富饒區域，全部位於賓州西南部。超過3/4 的油井位於現有生產的油田上，這已成為我們運營的一個標誌，從而最大限度地減少了我們的運營服務足跡，支持靈活的運營，並推動Range 具有成本效益的開發方法和同行領先的資本效率。

Looking at operations. just under 1,100 frac stages were completed on 18 wells during the quarter in Southwest and Northeast Pennsylvania. Demonstrating a continuation of our operational efficiencies, we averaged over 9 frac stages per day for the quarter, representing a 17% increase versus the same time period in 2022. A second spot frac fleet was utilized during the quarter and completed a return trip to an existing producing pad in our Northeastern Pennsylvania acreage, adding 3 new wells to the pad site. Consistent with what we've seen this year in Southwest PA, our completion metrics for this pad improved dramatically versus our initial development. This was accomplished through our continual learnings and improvements, which drive Range's best practices in logistics planning, water operations optimization and service partner KPIs.

看運營。本季度，賓州西南部和東北部的 18 口井完成了近 1,100 個壓裂階段。本季我們平均每天進行超過9 個壓裂階段，與2022 年同期相比增加了17%，證明了我們營運效率的持續提升。本季使用了第二個現場壓裂船隊，並完成了對賓州東北部地區現有的生產基地，在該基地增加了 3 口新井。與我們今年在賓夕法尼亞州西南部看到的情況一致，我們對該墊的完成指標比我們最初的開發有了顯著改善。這是透過我們不斷學習和改進實現的，這推動了 Range 在物流規劃、水務營運優化和服務合作夥伴 KPI 方面的最佳實踐。

Altogether, this resulted in an increased number of frac stages per day, a reduced cycle time to complete this pad site and drove an 80% improvement in overall completions efficiency. Also during the quarter, Range successfully completed 2 of the longest laterals in Range's Marcellus program history, with both lateral lengths exceeding 21,000 feet. And when factoring in the total drill footage from surface to the end of the lateral, the total distance exceeded 5.5 miles per well.

總而言之，這增加了每天壓裂階段的數量，縮短了完成該墊場的周期時間，並將整體完井效率提高了 80%。同樣在本季度，Range 成功完成了 Range 的 Marcellus 專案歷史上最長的兩條支線，兩條支線長度均超過 21,000 英尺。考慮到從地面到支管末端的總鑽進進尺，每口井的總距離超過 5.5 英里。

As a result of the team's success in increasing lateral lengths in the 2023 program, we're able to complete this year's program with fewer turn-in lines than originally planned. We still plan to turn to sales approximately 650,000 lateral feet. However, we will be doing this with 51 wells turned to sales or 16% fewer than what we had planned at the start of the year. This will drive a 4Q production increase of approximately 40 million to 60 million cubic feet equivalent per day over the third quarter. And given the flatter production profile of these long laterals, it sets us up well heading into early 2024 into what we expect will be improved pricing.

由於團隊在 2023 年計劃中成功增加了橫向長度，我們能夠以比原計劃更少的上交線完成今年的計劃。我們仍計劃銷售約 650,000 橫向英尺。然而，我們將在 51 口井實現銷售的情況下實現這一目標，比我們年初的計畫少 16%。這將推動第四季產量比第三季每天增加約 4,000 萬至 6,000 萬立方英尺當量。鑑於這些長支線的生產狀況較為平穩，這為我們在 2024 年初進入我們預期的定價改善做好了準備。

I congratulate our team on this tremendous accomplishment as we continue to advance efficient long lateral development for Range's assets. Of course, record completion efficiencies aren't possible without an integrated water operations and logistics group. In the third quarter, the team continued to build upon Range's ongoing water recycling effort through strategic partnerships with other producers and third-party treating facilities, resulting in water savings of over $2.4 million in Q3. As mentioned earlier, the team operated in both our Southwestern and Northeastern PA acreage during the quarter.

我祝賀我們的團隊在繼續推進 Range 資產的高效長期橫向開發過程中取得的巨大成就。當然，如果沒有綜合的水務營運和物流團隊，就不可能實現創紀錄的完工效率。第三季度，該團隊透過與其他生產商和第三方處理設施的策略合作夥伴關係，繼續以 Range 正在進行的水回收工作為基礎，在第三季度節省了超過 240 萬美元的水。如前所述，該團隊在本季在賓州西南部和東北部地區開展業務。

Even while concurrent operations were being performed over 200 miles apart, the team maximized efficiencies across these jobs to achieve our highest recorded water volume delivered in over 5 years by moving over 200,000 barrels of water on multiple days, while establishing a new range record of handling over 800,000 barrels in 4 days. This is an outstanding achievement. It demonstrates the team's focus on peer-leading capital efficiency and supports our overall financial results that Mark will touch on in just a moment.

即使在相距超過200 英里的同時進行作業時，團隊也最大限度地提高了這些作業的效率，透過在多天內輸送超過200,000 桶水，實現了5 年來最高的供水量記錄，同時建立了新的處理範圍記錄4天內產量超過80萬桶。這是一項傑出的成就。它表明了團隊對同行領先資本效率的關注，並支持了馬克稍後將談到的整體財務表現。

Before moving back to marketing, I want to touch briefly on service costs. We recently launched our annual RFP process for services needed in 2024. The process is in the initial phases, but early indications suggest prices are softening for certain services and consumables versus the start of 2023. Most notably, we've seen a reduction in tubular goods pricing this year. And as a result, we've locked in steel pricing for our 2024 program at approximately a 30% discount to what we saw in 2023. For sand, we've seen similar signs of cost reduction and anticipate those savings could remain in place throughout 2024. Other consumables, like diesel fuel have moved higher and could remain elevated for next year.

在回到行銷之前，我想先簡單談談服務成本。我們最近啟動了2024 年所需服務的年度RFP 流程。該流程處於初始階段，但早期跡象表明，與2023 年初相比，某些服務和消耗品的價格正在走軟。最值得注意的是，我們看到管材需求量減少今年的商品定價。因此，我們將 2024 年計劃的鋼鐵定價鎖定為比 2023 年低約 30%。對於沙子，我們看到了類似的成本降低跡象，並預計這些節省將在整個過程中保持不變。2024 年。柴油等其他消耗品價格已走高，並可能在明年保持高位。

While we have a natural hedge against diesel prices with our condensate production, we've secured pricing for a portion of our 2024 development plan, further mitigating pricing risk. Similar to our 2023 development program, Range will continue to utilize a super-spec drilling rig and an electric frac fleet in 2024.

雖然我們透過凝析油生產對柴油價格有天然的對沖，但我們已經確保了 2024 年開發計畫的一部分的定價，進一步降低了定價風險。與我們的 2023 年開發計畫類似，Range 將在 2024 年繼續使用超規格鑽機和電動壓裂船隊。

Day rates for rigs in '24 are showing signs of decline versus peak levels seen over the past 12 months, certainly influenced by the current U.S. rig count. But super-spec rigs remain in high demand. Similarly, for completions, electric frac fleets are operating at a high level of utilization, resulting in comparable year-over-year pricing despite this year's overall rig count reduction across the U.S. To secure this portion of our program, Range has contracted an electric fleet for 2 years that is scheduled to commence operations on January 1, 2024.

與過去 12 個月的峰值水平相比，24 年的鑽機日費率顯示出下降的跡象，這當然受到當前美國鑽機數量的影響。但超規格鑽孔機的需求仍然很高。同樣，對於完井作業，電動壓裂船隊的利用率很高，儘管今年美國各地的鑽機總數有所減少，但同比價格仍可比較。為了確保我們計劃的這一部分，Range 已與一支電動船隊簽訂了合約為期 2 年，計劃於 2024 年 1 月 1 日開始運作。

In aggregate, we anticipate our RFP process will generate a modest year-over-year cost savings across various services. We'll have the numbers formalized by year-end. And at the end of the day, we fully expect to remain at the leading edge of capital efficiency when compared to our peers and other basins. We look forward to sharing our 2024 plans with you on the next call.

總的來說，我們預計我們的 RFP 流程將為各種服務帶來適度的逐年成本節省。我們將在年底前正式確定這些數字。最終，與同業和其他盆地相比，我們完全希望在資本效率方面保持領先地位。我們期待在下次電話會議上與您分享我們的 2024 年計畫。

Turning to the NGL macro and pricing. The third quarter saw prices increase across the board for both NGLs and condensate. Overall, liquids pricing was supported by upward trending crude values and lifted further by strengthening supply demand fundamentals for NGLs. Ethane's fundamental strengthened on increased domestic demand and third quarter exports that were up 19% year-on-year, while LPG balances improved on stronger domestic propane demand and exports that increased 16% versus the prior year's quarter. At the same time, third quarter global LPG balances tightened 14% year-on-year. As a result of improving NGL fundamentals, Range was able to realize $24.44 per barrel in the third quarter, a 14% increase over the prior quarter. This realized price represents a $0.63 per barrel uplift versus the Mont Belvieu index, reflecting Range's advantaged portfolio of NGL contracts and access to international markets.

轉向 NGL 宏觀和定價。第三季液化天然氣和凝析油價格全面上漲。整體而言，液體價格受到原油價格上漲的支撐，並因液化天然氣供需基本面的加強而進一步提振。由於國內需求增加和第三季出口年增 19%，乙烷基本面得到加強，而液化石油氣平衡則因國內丙烷需求強勁和出口同比增長 16% 而改善。同時，第三季全球液化石油氣餘額較去年同期收緊14%。由於 NGL 基本面改善，Range 在第三季達到每桶 24.44 美元，比上一季成長 14%。與 Mont Belvieu 指數相比，這一實現價格每桶上漲 0.63 美元，反映出 Range 擁有優勢的 NGL 合約組合和進入國際市場的機會。

And as a reminder, each $1 per barrel increase in Range's NGL per barrel price represents $30 million in incremental cash flow generated. As we enter the winter months, we expect fundamentals to remain strong and our NGL price realizations to remain in the $1 minus to $1 per barrel premium for the fourth quarter, generating a strong premium to Mont Belvieu for the year.

需要提醒的是，Range 的 NGL 每桶價格每上漲 1 美元，就意味著產生 3,000 萬美元的增量現金流。隨著進入冬季，我們預計基本面將保持強勁，第四季度液化天然氣價格將保持在每桶 1 美元至 1 美元的溢價之間，今年產生相對 Mont Belvieu 的強勁溢價。

On the natural gas front, incremental gas demand for power generation we touched on during the last quarter proved resilient in the months that followed as the summer expired. This incremental power demand, coupled with industrial demand growth, exports to Mexico and continued LNG commissioning sets the tone for the domestic natural gas market to gradually rebalance, particularly when considering the meaningful rig activity reductions we've seen in the Haynesville. To follow, we then see further strengthening with increased LNG exports next year and beyond. We're excited about the future of natural gas and NGLs, but regardless of the macro backdrop, the team remains focused on advancing our overall efficiencies, delivering repeatable well performance across our large contiguous inventory, while bolstering a strong balance sheet with returns of capital to shareholders.

在天然氣方面，我們在上個季度提到的發電天然氣需求增量在夏季結束後的幾個月中證明是有彈性的。這種電力需求的增量，加上工業需求的增長、對墨西哥的出口以及液化天然氣的持續調試，為國內天然氣市場逐步重新平衡奠定了基調，特別是考慮到我們在海恩斯維爾看到的鑽機活動大幅減少。接下來，隨著明年及以後液化天然氣出口的增加，我們將看到進一步走強。我們對天然氣和液化天然氣的未來感到興奮，但無論宏觀背景如何，該團隊仍然專注於提高我們的整體效率，在我們的大量連續庫存中提供可重複的油井性能，同時透過資本回報支撐強勁的資產負債表給股東。

These are the building blocks that underpin the resilience of Range's business through the cycles. And I believe the positive results we've seen year-to-date are a reflection of that. I'll now turn it over to Mark to discuss the financials.

這些是支撐 Range 業務在各個週期中保持彈性的基石。我相信我們今年迄今為止所看到的積極成果就反映了這一點。我現在將把它交給馬克來討論財務問題。

Thanks, Dennis. As we turn to the financial results, I think some context is helpful to frame upstream companies results in relation to the macroeconomic backdrop. During the first 9 months of 2023, NYMEX natural gas prices averaged $2.71 per Mcf compared to $6.77 for the same period of 2022. WTI oil prices were roughly $77 per barrel in the first 9 months of 2023 compared to $98 in 2022. These price declines have led to a natural gas-focused rig count drop of 27% since April with new U.S. natural gas production now stabilizing.

謝謝，丹尼斯。當我們轉向財務表現時，我認為一些背景有助於將上游公司的業績與宏觀經濟背景連結起來。 2023 年前9 個月，NYMEX 天然氣平均價格為每立方英尺2.71 美元，而2022 年同期為6.77 美元。2023 年前9 個月，WTI 石油價格約為每桶77 美元，而2022 年為每桶98美元。這些價格下跌自 4 月以來，以天然氣為主的鑽機數量下降了 27%，而美國天然氣新產量現已趨於穩定。

The read-through is that prices experienced year-to-date are below maintenance levels at least for marginal producers. With a market that is at low tide when truths are revealed, hopefully, the investor task of comparing upstream companies is a bit easier. Lower prices highlight the quality of assets, the durability of business models and identified those that not only survive but thrive through cycles. Despite commodity prices experienced in 2023, Range is having a successful year focused on creating value today, while also positioning the company for long-term value creation. What does that mean? It means Range has reduced debt and paid cash dividends, while fully funding a capital reinvestment program that efficiently sustains production, while also positioning the company for the long term as a responsible, reliable supplier to growing global demand for U.S. natural gas.

通讀來看，今年迄今的價格至少低於邊際生產商的維持水準。當市場處於低潮時，真相大白，希望投資人比較上游公司的任務會比較容易。較低的價格突顯了資產品質和商業模式的持久性，並確定了那些不僅能夠生存而且能夠在周期中蓬勃發展的模式。儘管大宗商品價格在 2023 年經歷了一些波動，但 Range 今年仍專注於創造價值，同時也為公司的長期價值創造做好了準備。這意味著什麼？這意味著Range 減少了債務並支付了現金股息，同時為有效維持生產的資本再投資計劃提供了全額資金，同時也將該公司長期定位為負責任、可靠的供應商，滿足全球對美國天然氣日益增長的需求。

Putting Range's success in numbers. Third quarter analyst cash flow totaled $240 million, funding $151 million in capital investments and the $19 million quarterly dividend, while maintaining balance sheet strength. Cash flow was driven by strong production levels achieving pre NYMEX hedge realization of $2.79 per Mcfe during the third quarter. This realized unit price is $0.24 above NYMEX Henry Hub, demonstrating the value of Range's diverse sales outlets for natural gas and the pricing uplift from natural gas liquids and condensate.

Range 的成功體現在數字上。第三季分析師現金流總計 2.4 億美元，為 1.51 億美元的資本投資和 1,900 萬美元的季度股息提供資金，同時保持資產負債表實力。現金流受到強勁生產水準的推動，第三季在 NYMEX 對沖實現每 Mcfe 2.79 美元。這項實現的單價比 NYMEX Henry Hub 高出 0.24 美元，體現了 Range 多元化天然氣銷售網點的價值以及天然氣液體和凝析油的價格提升。

During the third quarter, Range's realized NGL price was $24.44 per barrel or $4.07 on an Mcf equivalent basis. Range's portfolio of transportation capacity and customer contracts supported differentials, delivering roughly 80% of natural gas out of basin, virtually all natural gas liquids out of basin, generating roughly 90% of revenues from diverse growing premium markets.

第三季度，Range 的 NGL 實現價格為每桶 24.44 美元，以 Mcf 等值計算為 4.07 美元。 Range 的運輸能力和客戶合約組合支援差異化，將大約80% 的天然氣輸送到盆地外，幾乎將所有液化天然氣輸送到盆地外，從多樣化的不斷增長的優質市場中產生了大約90% 的收入。

In addition, Range's approach to hedging provide additional support to per unit realizations for a hedged realized price of $3.09 per Mcfe. Hedged cash margin per unit of production was resilient, $1.23, benefiting from a persistent focus on efficiency and the right way risk of certain price-linked costs. Total cash unit costs improved by $0.29 versus third quarter last year.

此外，Range 的對沖方法為每單位變現提供額外支持，對沖變現價格為每 Mcfe 3.09 美元。每單位產量的對沖現金利潤具有彈性，為 1.23 美元，這得益於對效率和某些價格相關成本的正確風險的持續關注。總現金單位成本比去年第三季減少了 0.29 美元。

The change from prior year primarily relates to savings in processing, fuel and power costs which are related to NGL and natural gas prices and demonstrate the resilient full cycle cost structure of Range's business. Cash interest expense declined by $8 million for the quarter compared to Q3 last year on reduced debt balances.

與前一年相比的變化主要與加工、燃料和電力成本的節省有關，這些成本與液化天然氣和天然氣價格相關，並表明 Range 業務具有彈性的全週期成本結構。由於債務餘額減少，本季現金利息支出比去年第三季減少了 800 萬美元。

Range's financial hedging program supported realized prices for the third quarter with approximately $59 million in NYMEX related gains. Looking forward, Range's natural gas is approximately 50% hedged for the balance of 2023 with an average $3.40 floor, providing continued confidence in Range's free cash flow profile. For 2024, we have hedged approximately 50% of natural gas at an average floor price of $3.68 using a combination of $4 swaps and collars retaining upside to roughly $5.30. A modest 2025 hedge position on natural gas with an average price of $4.12 did not materially change quarter-over-quarter.

Range 的金融對沖計畫為第三季的實現價格提供了支撐，紐約商業交易所相關收益約為 5,900 萬美元。展望未來，Range 的天然氣在 2023 年剩餘時間內進行了約 50% 的對沖，平均下限為 3.40 美元，這為 Range 的自由現金流狀況提供了持續的信心。到 2024 年，我們以 3.68 美元的平均底價對沖了約 50% 的天然氣，採用了 4 美元掉期和套圈的組合，將上漲空間保留在約 5.30 美元。 2025 年平均價格為 4.12 美元的天然氣適度對沖部位並沒有出現季度季比的重大變動。

The objective of this program is essentially to cover fixed costs at attractive levels, enabling consistent free cash flow while maintaining exposure to a market poised we expect to positively respond to new LNG facilities coming online alongside rising domestic demand with U.S. natural gas supply flattening as a result of significantly reduced industry activity.

該計劃的目標主要是以具有吸引力的水平覆蓋固定成本，實現穩定的自由現金流，同時保持市場敞口，我們預計將積極應對新的液化天然氣設施的上線以及美國天然氣供應趨於平緩的國內需求的成長。行業活動大幅減少的結果。

Turning to the balance sheet. At the end of Q3, we held cash balances of $163 million, which is essentially unchanged from last quarter. We will continue to manage our cash balance to retain flexibility for efficient working capital management, bond redemption and share repurchases. This cash balance, combined with future free cash flow and $1.2 billion available on our undrawn revolving credit facility, provide ample liquidity to efficiently operate our business and take advantage of opportunities the market may present. We've been focused on a target capital structure for several years. And as of quarter end, we have reduced debt net of cash by roughly $2.5 billion since it peaked in 2018. This places us very close to our target range of $1 billion to $1.5 billion in net debt. With current leverage of roughly 1x debt to EBITDAX and close proximity to our balance sheet targets, we believe the company is in great shape to continue value creation on a stable financial base throughout the business cycle.

轉向資產負債表。第三季末，我們持有現金餘額 1.63 億美元，與上季基本持平。我們將繼續管理現金餘額，以保持高效能營運資本管理、債券贖回和股票回購的靈活性。這筆現金餘額，加上未來的自由現金流和我們未提取的循環信貸額度中的 12 億美元，為我們高效經營業務和利用市場可能提供的機會提供了充足的流動性。多年來我們一直專注於目標資本結構。截至季末，自 2018 年達到高峰以來，我們已將淨債務淨額減少了約 25 億美元。這使我們非常接近 10 億至 15 億美元淨債務的目標範圍。目前債務槓桿約為 EBITDAX 的 1 倍，並且非常接近我們的資產負債表目標，我們相信該公司處於良好狀態，可以在整個商業週期的穩定財務基礎上繼續創造價值。

Successful results this year, combined with a positive industry backdrop for Range going forward, support our confidence in the return of capital program discussed on previous calls. We believe a reliable fixed cash dividend is appropriate at this time and in this market while remaining opportunistic in our share repurchases with capacity available totaling $1.1 billion. As we look to 2024 with an expected even stronger balance sheet, we will be in a position to evaluate the size and speed at which we deploy free cash flow. We believe that will provide greater flexibility around our capital allocation priorities of balance sheet strength, returns of capital and growth at an appropriate time.

今年的成功業績，加上 Range 未來積極的行業背景，支持了我們對先前電話會議中討論的資本回報計劃的信心。我們認為，可靠的固定現金股利在此時此刻和這個市場上是合適的，同時在我們的股票回購中保持機會主義，可用能力總計 11 億美元。展望 2024 年，我們的資產負債表預計會更加強勁，因此我們將能夠評估我們部署自由現金流的規模和速度。我們相信，這將為我們的資產負債表實力、資本回報和適時增長等資本配置優先事項提供更大的靈活性。

Fundamentally, we will prioritize financial strength and remain responsive to market conditions, project returns and prudent reinvestment. In the commodity business, prices will fluctuate, but designing a business to be successful in both high prices and lower prices, is challenging. It requires quality assets and a creative, dedicated, disciplined team. The Range team across every facet of the business, think and act like owners of the business, striving to make the best decisions for the safest, cleanest and most economic results.

從根本上來說，我們將優先考慮財務實力，並對市場狀況、專案回報和審慎的再投資保持敏感。在大宗商品業務中，價格會波動，但設計一個在高價和低價下都取得成功的業務是具有挑戰性的。它需要優質的資產和一支富有創造力、敬業、紀律嚴明的團隊。 Range 團隊遍佈企業的各個方面，像企業所有者一樣思考和行動，努力做出最佳決策，以獲得最安全、最清潔和最經濟的結果。

A few commonly used words applied to our story, unique, differentiated, peer-leading, among other superlatives. Instead, I'll point to the data, low base decline, low full-cycle cost structure, largest quality acreage position and more than a decade of positive performance revisions of proved reserves, a combination that we believe creates an E&P company built for the long haul. With a strong financial foundation and the largest portfolio of quality inventory in Appalachia, paired with transportation to delivery points across key U.S. and international markets, we seek to continue this trend of disciplined value creation for our shareholders.

一些常用的字詞適用於我們的故事，包括獨特、差異化、同儕領先等等。相反，我將指出數據、低基數遞減、低全週期成本結構、最大的優質面積位置以及十多年來對已探明儲量的積極業績修正，我們相信這些組合將創建一家為長途。憑藉強大的財務基礎和阿巴拉契亞最大的優質庫存組合，再加上前往美國和國際主要市場交貨點的運輸，我們尋求繼續為股東創造價值的趨勢。

Dennis, back to you.

丹尼斯，回到你身邊。

Thanks, Mark. Before moving to Q&A, I'll reiterate a message we've shared previously that is as important today as ever given the current world events. As the world continues to move towards cleaner, more efficient fuels, natural gas and NGLs will be the affordable, reliable and abundant supply that helps power our everyday lives while also helping billions of others improve their standard of living.

謝謝，馬克。在進行問答之前，我將重申我們之前分享的一條訊息，考慮到當前的世界事件，這訊息在今天和以往一樣重要。隨著世界不斷轉向更清潔、更有效率的燃料，天然氣和液化天然氣將成為負擔得起、可靠且豐富的供應，為我們的日常生活提供動力，同時幫助數十億人提高生活水平。

We believe Appalachia natural gas and natural gas liquids are positioned to meet that future demand. And within the Appalachian Basin, Range has derisked the large inventory of high-quality wells across our 0.5 million net acre position and translated that into a business capable of generating free cash flow through commodity cycles, all while leading the way on capital efficiency, emissions intensity and transparency.

我們相信阿巴拉契亞天然氣和液化天然氣能夠滿足未來的需求。在阿巴拉契亞盆地，Range 消除了我們50 萬淨英畝土地上大量優質油井庫存的風險，並將其轉化為能夠通過商品週期產生自由現金流的業務，同時在資本效率、排放​​方面處於領先地位。強度和透明度。

With that, we'll open the line for questions.

這樣，我們將開通提問熱線。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question will be coming from Scott Hanold of RBC Capital Markets.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題將來自 RBC 資本市場的 Scott Hanold。

I thought it was pretty interesting, the ability for you guys to reduce the well count so dramatically this year with the longer laterals. Could you give us some color and context around the overall capital efficiency? What do you think like on an annual basis, you could save with drilling less top holes? And how does that manifest into -- or how and when does that manifest into stronger free cash flow?

我認為這非常有趣，今年你們能夠透過更長的支線大幅減少井數。您能否為我們介紹一下整體資本效率的一些情況和背景？您認為每年減少頂部鑽孔可以節省多少費用？這如何體現為——或者如何以及何時體現為更強勁的自由現金流？

Scott, I'll start, and this may be something that Mark and I both tag team across this discussion here. But when you look over the past several years, I'll take about a half step back first. Year-over-year, we continue to see the team demonstrate the ability to advance our efficiencies. And what that's transitioned into is the ability to drill longer laterals. I think you heard us talk about it not only in today, but in some of the prior quarters where not only were we drilling our longest laterals but our fastest days where we saw an improvement at the midyear point of a 40% improvement in our drilling efficiencies just for the first half of the year versus 2022's full year average.

史考特，我先開始，這可能是馬克和我在本次討論中標記團隊的內容。但當你回顧過去幾年時，我會先退後半步。年復一年，我們不斷看到團隊展現出提高效率的能力。這轉變為能夠鑽更長的支管。我想您不僅在今天聽到我們談論這個問題，而且在之前的一些季度中，我們不僅鑽探了最長的支管，而且在最快的日子裡，我們在年中看到了鑽探進步 40% 的進步僅上半年的效率與2022 年全年平均的比較。

Completions have seen the same thing. They've seen approximately a 20% to 25% improvement in completion efficiencies this year versus last year. Some of it is with procedures, rooting out nonproductive time and then have an ability to reduce overall cycle time as you basically execute these pad sites. So it's a multivariable type assessment when you start to then translate that into our capital efficiency. If you just do a spreadsheet exercise and you compare a 10,000-foot program with 61 laterals like we originally communicated to something more like we're seeing today for the year, it really changes our capital efficiency by as much as $15 to $20 per foot. So pretty exciting about when you think about it from that perspective. But what that also does at the same time is it pulls activity that would have been executed in, let's just say, the first half of Q1, it has the ability to pull that into the back half of Q4.

竣工也看到了同樣的事情。他們發現今年的完成效率比去年提高了約 20% 到 25%。其中一些與程序有關，消除非生產時間，然後在您基本上執行這些焊盤站點時能夠減少總體週期時間。因此，當您開始將其轉換為我們的資本效率時，這是一個多變量類型的評估。如果您只是做一個電子表格練習，並將一個10,000 英尺的項目與61 條支線進行比較，就像我們最初傳達的那樣，與今年我們今天看到的類似，這確實會改變我們的資本效率，每英尺高達15 至20 美元。當你從這個角度思考時，非常令人興奮。但同時它還能將原本在第一季前半段執行的活動拉到第四季後半段。

And so when you think about our guidance that we provided early on this year from a capital window perspective, and we're looking at both land and other aspects to this, part of that was us looking forward in anticipating some of these capital or these operational efficiency improvements and what that could set us up for in 2024. Having these longer laterals is going to present a flatter production profile that carries into the early part of 2024. So we really like the setup and seeing how this then translates into year-over-year further improvements.

因此，當你考慮我們今年早些時候從資本窗口角度提供的指導時，我們正在考慮土地和其他方面，其中一部分是我們期待預期其中一些資本或這些資本運營效率的提高以及這可以為我們在2024年做些什麼。擁有這些更長的支管將呈現出更平坦的生產狀況，並持續到2024 年初。所以我們真的很喜歡這種設置，並看看這將如何轉化為年-較上年進一步改進。

And then the last thing I'll certainly throw out is, again, congratulations to the team for all their hard work on this. It is as old supervisor might use to say success begets success. And -- so the momentum, I think, behind everyone and what we've been able to accomplish by returning to pad sites, is now what we're seeing in our peer-leading capital efficiency. The ability to maintain that $0.76 per Mcfe for that replacement molecule this year, last year $0.64. So, however, it shapes up with what pulls in this year, we fully expect that to be another component that allows us to be on that peer-leading edge.

然後我肯定要扔掉的最後一件事是，再次祝賀團隊為此所做的所有辛勤工作。正如老主管常說的，成功帶來成功。而且 - 因此，我認為，每個人背後的動力以及我們透過返回焊盤站點所能夠實現的目標，現在就是我們在同行領先的資本效率中所看到的。今年該替代分子的價格維持在每 Mcfe 0.76 美元，去年為 0.64 美元。然而，隨著今年的發展，我們完全希望這成為另一個讓我們處於同儕領先優勢的組成部分。

Okay. And just specifically on the cost savings of those. If we're looking at 10 less wells on -- this year, for example, like what does that save you? If we were to look at that in isolation, just as a reference point?

好的。特別是關於這些成本的節省。例如，如果我們今年減少 10 口井，這能為您節省什麼？如果我們孤立地看待這一點，只是將其作為參考點呢？

Well, again, from a simplistic standpoint, I would say, ultimately, you could -- if you start to remove top holes out of the program and you start to look at savings for facilities construction, that could represent approximately $10 million. But when you start to think about that activity that pulls in then at the end of the year, essentially, that gets redeployed to drilling rigs, frac activity that ultimately, when you have that operational fork in the road of, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to release the rigs come for December 1 to only then pick it back up in January 1 as an example. So it maintains that ability to continue on with your operational efficiencies.

好吧，再次從簡單化的角度來看，我想說，最終，你可以——如果你開始消除該計劃中的頂部漏洞，並開始考慮設施建設的節省，這可能意味著大約 1000 萬美元。但是，當你開始考慮年底的活動時，本質上，這些活動會重新部署到鑽機、壓裂活動中，最終，當你遇到操作岔路時，它不會使例如，在12 月1 日發布鑽機然後在1 月1 日重新拾取它是很有意義的。因此，它保持了繼續提高營運效率的能力。

But at a high level, spreadsheet exercise, it would be around $10 million, but it really provides us the flexibility year in and year out to make that judgment call when we reach the year-end.

但在電子表格的高水準上，這大約是 1000 萬美元，但它確實為我們提供了年復一年的靈活性，以便我們在年底時做出判斷。

Yes. No, I appreciate that. As you know, we do a lot of spreadsheet exercises on this side of the table. But -- as my second question, and it's going to be along the same lines. Look, it sounds like then you're going to have more DUCs at the end of the year. And can you talk about having that larger DUC build that setup for 2024 and maybe into 2025, how you look at potentially utilizing that more aggressively or just as a lower kind of a free cash flow buffer into 2024?

是的。不，我很欣賞這一點。如您所知，我們在桌子的這一側做了很多電子表格練習。但是──作為我的第二個問題，它也會遵循同樣的思路。聽著，聽起來今年底你將會有更多的 DUC。您能否談談讓更大的 DUC 為 2024 年甚至 2025 年建立該設置，您如何看待更積極地利用該設置，或者只是將其作為 2024 年較低的自由現金流緩衝？

Well, I'll start off with this. And when we think about the -- again, at a high level, what it does allow us, from a flexibility standpoint is to deploy a completion crew January 1 instead of may be waiting to see that DUC inventory build that's more "just in time" within that completions activity starts, let's just say, a little bit later into the first quarter. So it really does provide a nice setup for us in how we then see that production come online, hopefully, at more favorable pricing opportunities.

好吧，我就從這個開始吧。當我們再次思考時，從靈活性的角度來看，它確實允許我們在 1 月 1 日部署完成人員，而不是等待 DUC 庫存的建立，這更加“及時” “在完成活動中，我們可以說，是在第一季晚些時候開始的。因此，它確實為我們提供了一個很好的設置，讓我們能夠看到生產上線，希望能夠以更有利的定價機會。

I think the activity that not only gets pulled forward in 2024, but at the end of this year, also then makes that equivalent impact. From a cash flow perspective, I'll just frame it at a high level as to say we see that helping us then take either capital pressure off for next year or depending upon the setup that we're going to consider for 2025 that we'll communicate at the next earnings call along with our 2024 budget. We think it provides a really healthy optionality for us to either think about growth when that opportunity persists or how it further supports our maintenance level program, whichever path is most prominent.

我認為這項活動不僅會在 2024 年提前，而且在今年年底也會產生同樣的影響。從現金流的角度來看，我只是將其放在一個較高的層面上，我們認為這可以幫助我們減輕明年的資本壓力，或者取決於我們將在 2025 年考慮的設置我們將在下一次財報電話會議上通報我們的2024 年預算。我們認為，它為我們提供了一個真正健康的選擇，要么在機會持續存在時考慮增長，要么考慮它如何進一步支持我們的維持水平計劃，無論哪條路徑最突出。

And our next question comes from Doug Leggate of Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的 Doug Leggate。

Dennis, I appreciate all the details this morning. There's obviously Scott hit a couple of the key issues that are obviously going to impact your outlook for '24. So I have a simple question to try and summarize all the moving parts. What do you think has happened or will happen to your corporate level breakeven gas price? And the reason I'm asking is, it looks to us that you were pretty close to breakeven ex hedges in 20 -- third quarter '23, but 250 Henry Hub gas price. We've got a forward curve north of $4. It seems to us the market continues to grossly underestimate the free cash flow capacity of the portfolio. So I'm trying to understand what you would -- where you would draw the line in terms of what you think your '24 corporate breakeven can look like? And I've got a quick follow-up, please.

丹尼斯，我很欣賞今天早上的所有細節。顯然，斯科特解決了幾個關鍵問題，這些問題顯然會影響你對 24 世紀的展望。所以我有一個簡單的問題來嘗試總結所有活動部分。您認為您的企業級損益平衡汽油價格已經發生或將會發生什麼？我問的原因是，在我們看來，20 年第三季的對沖保值相當接近盈虧平衡，但亨利中心汽油價格為 250。我們的遠期曲線在 4 美元以上。在我們看來，市場持續嚴重低估了投資組合的自由現金流能力。因此，我試圖了解您的想法 - 您認為 24 年公司損益平衡點的界線在哪裡？請盡快跟進。

Sure. Doug. Thanks for the questions. I think as we think about the breakout of our inventory on Slide 5, it's something we've walked through a number of times with folks. But we've made the transition from really talking about wells from an EUR per 1,000-foot perspective and really starting to talk about the breakevens, which you're addressing. We basically look at it from a standpoint, we've got the 2,500 locations that basically have a breakeven of 250 or less with further improvements in our capital efficiency, and you're always going to have fluctuations in service costs that are going to take place just given what's going on in the market. We'd expect, a, that to be incredibly stable and b, opportunity to further improve that as we look at expanding areas like water recycling as an example and further translating some of the record efficiencies that we've been talking about this year into more repeatable performance.

當然。道格.感謝您的提問。我認為，當我們思考幻燈片 5 上的庫存突破時，我們已經與人們討論過很多次了。但我們已經從真正從每 1,000 英尺歐元的角度談論油井轉變為真正開始談論您正在解決的盈虧平衡問題。我們基本上從一個角度來看，我們有 2,500 個地點，隨著我們資本效率的進一步提高，基本上盈虧平衡點為 250 或更少，而且服務成本總是會出現波動。考慮到市場上正在發生的事情。我們預計，a，這將非常穩定，b，當我們以水循環利用等不斷擴大的領域為例，並進一步將我們今年一直在談論的一些創紀錄的效率轉化為時，有機會進一步改進這一點更可重複的性能。

Certainly, it's fun to talk about the records, but really in order to be successful, we know it's important that we'd be repeatable. So how do you translate that data into a repeatable formats, we think that has the opportunity to further improve our overall breakeven cost from that inventory bidding perspective.

當然，談論記錄很有趣，但實際上，為了取得成功，我們知道我們的可重複性非常重要。那麼如何將這些數據轉換為可重複的格式，我們認為從庫存競價的角度來看，這有機會進一步提高我們的整體損益平衡成本。

Doug. This is Mark. I'll -- I'm sorry to interrupt.....

道格.這是馬克。我會——抱歉打擾…

But Dennis -- yes, so I'm asking as a corporate level, the corporate level. Not the well level. Sorry, Mark, go ahead.

但是丹尼斯——是的，所以我問的是公司層面，公司層面。不是井的水平。抱歉，馬克，請繼續。

Sure. I think stepping back and look at the corporate level cash flow, third quarter this year is really an exemplary example of what this asset can do. We generated greater than $90 million in free cash flow. We intentionally reinvested and deployed that, maintained the balance sheet strength, paid the dividend, continued to maintain and improve the balance sheet because this asset in one sense, can be viewed like an annuity. I know that's one lens, which you use to value a company.

當然。我認為退一步看看公司層面的現金流，今年第三季確實是該資產的典範。我們產生了超過 9000 萬美元的自由現金流。我們有意進行再投資和部署，保持資產負債表實力，支付股息，繼續維持和改善資產負債表，因為這種資產在某種意義上可以被視為年金。我知道這是你用來評估一家公司的一個鏡頭。

As we fast forward and look at what this company can do, there's a few scenarios in our deck to talk about free cash flow, hypothetical scenarios. As we approach $4, you're generating what we think is a reasonable, perhaps a conservative estimate of $1 billion per year corporate level of free cash flow and greater. And I think it's notable also that, that incorporates an assumption of a fairly conservative NGL realization. So there's basically an option, an upside option embedded in that as well. So if we're thinking about a maintenance scenario, that represents an enormous annuity of cash flow range. As we've talked about before and as Dennis has already said, we're very mindful of positioning the business to be resilient if prices are soft, but also to position ourselves to participate in growing demand, whether that's '25, pick your timeframe. Range has the capacity, the willingness and the ability to grow, to grow efficiently and generate what we think will be some of the most competitive margins out there.

當我們快轉並看看這家公司可以做什麼時，我們的甲板上有一些場景可以討論自由現金流，假設場景。當我們接近 4 美元時，您將產生我們認為合理的、也許是保守估計的每年 10 億美元的公司自由現金流水準或更高。我認為值得注意的是，這包含了相當保守的 NGL 實現的假設。因此，基本上有一個選項，其中也包含一個上行選項。因此，如果我們考慮維護場景，這代表著現金流量範圍的巨大年金。正如我們之前討論過的以及丹尼斯已經說過的，我們非常注意將業務定位為在價格疲軟時具有彈性，同時也讓自己定位於參與不斷增長的需求，無論是 25 年，還是選擇您的時間範圍。 Range 有能力、有意願、有能力成長、有效率地成長，並產生我們認為最具競爭力的利潤率。

So I think the repeatability of that also to Dennis' point is key. This inventory depth multiply that out across a couple of decades, times $1 billion of free cash flow annually at the corporate level and improving as we pay off debt and other corporate costs reduced on an Mcfe basis, expanding your per unit margin that I think really does represent a unique opportunity in this space.

所以我認為對於丹尼斯的觀點來說，這一點的可重複性也是關鍵。這種庫存深度將其乘以數十年，乘以公司層面每年10 億美元的自由現金流，並且隨著我們償還債務和在Mcfe 基礎上減少的其他公司成本而改善，從而擴大了我認為真正的單位利潤率確實代表了這個領域的獨特機會。

Mark, thanks for the clarification, guys. I might -- you're right. I mean, I don't think too many companies can claim the inventory depth, so I don't know that -- I'd say we look at everything in as an annuity. But certainly, inventory debt is a big constraint on valuation for sure.

馬克，謝謝你們的澄清，夥伴們。我可能——你是對的。我的意思是，我認為沒有太多公司可以聲稱庫存深度，所以我不知道 - 我想說我們將一切視為年金。但可以肯定的是，庫存債務肯定是估值的一大限制。

So a quick follow-up, guys. If your inventory depth is defined on 10,000-foot laterals, which I believe it is, but you're drilling significantly longer laterals and improving capital efficiency, how much longer do you think -- I mean, how long do you think the program can continue to step up into those longer laterals? And I'll -- I guess, what's the inventory for that if the longer laterals is a question? So -- and I'll leave it there.

夥計們，快速跟進。如果您的庫存深度定義為10,000 英尺的支管（我相信確實如此），但您正在鑽探明顯更長的支管並提高資本效率，那麼您認為該計劃可以持續多長時間- 我的意思是，您認為該計劃可以持續多長時間繼續進入那些更長的支線？我想，如果較長的支線是個問題，那麼庫存是多少？所以——我會把它留在那裡。

Yes. Thank you, Doug. I think there's a lot of running room when you think about the ability to further extend our laterals and what that means to our overall program. If you look back over the past, let's just say, 3 years, I'll pick something reasonably near term. Year-over-year, we've seen a continued theme of incrementally increasing our overall lateral length. And I know we've talked about this on previous calls, but also while returning to pad sites with the existing production. So this isn't necessarily what we would call clean sheet development where you're moving out into the fringes of your asset base. This is in and around prior producing wells, and taking the learnings from those historical executions and translating that into more efficient execution and planning.

是的。謝謝你，道格。我認為，當你考慮進一步擴展我們的支線的能力以及這對我們的整體計劃意味著什麼時，還有很大的運行空間。如果你回顧過去，比如說，三年，我會選擇近期的一些東西。年復一年，我們看到了一個持續的主題：逐步增加我們的整體橫向長度。我知道我們在之前的電話會議上討論過這個問題，而且在返回現有產品的現場時也討論過這個問題。因此，這不一定是我們所說的“乾淨的開發”，即您正在進入資產基礎的邊緣。這是在先前的生產井及其周圍，從歷史執行中吸取經驗教訓，並將其轉化為更有效的執行和規劃。

So we see -- the 21,000 foot laterals that we drilled this year is a good reflection of that. We've got in excess of 60 wells that are at 15,000 foot in horizontal length. So again, we'll move methodically through equipment upgrades, procedures, KPI tracking and make sure that we're extending our laterals in the most efficient and prudent way. And look, at the end of the day, we've got an inventory runway even with the extending of these laterals that 30 -- greater than 30 years with breakevens that are in the $2 range or better. And so we think this is going to bode well as we think about the runway of this inventory development process.

所以我們看到——我們今年鑽探的 21,000 英尺支管很好地反映了這一點。我們有超過 60 口水平長度為 15,000 英尺的井。因此，我們將有條不紊地進行設備升級、程序、KPI 跟踪，並確保我們以最有效和審慎的方式擴展我們的支線。看看，歸根結底，即使這些支線延長了 30 年（超過 30 年），我們還是有一條庫存跑道，盈虧平衡在 2 美元或更高的範圍內。因此，當我們考慮庫存開發流程時，我們認為這將是一個好兆頭。

And our next question will come from Jean Ann Salisbury of Bernstein.

我們的下一個問題將來自伯恩斯坦的讓安·索爾茲伯里。

One more follow-up on the drivers of the longer laterals and fewer turned-in-line wells. How material is the shape of the forward curve in that decision? For example, if the forward curve goes into backwardation, would that kind of push you to stop extending lateral length or even potentially go to shorter laterals?

對較長支管和較少轉入井的驅動因素進行了另一項後續行動。遠期曲線的形狀對此決定有何影響？例如，如果遠期曲線進入現貨溢價，這是否會促使您停止延長橫向長度，甚至可能轉向較短的橫向長度？

I think maybe from an economic standpoint, I'll start this one off. The shape of the forward curve won't drive -- will be the primary driver in that decision-making process. As we look at efficiency and driving the lowest maintenance capital number possible, it is optimizing those capital reinvestments. It is creating a company with, call it, 40% or better reinvestment rate to hold production flat and that $0.77 per Mcfe capital expenditure to hold production flat. So the shape of the curve, as we think about the overall economics, it's also impacted by the flat decline rate that Range has that 19% decline rate.

我想也許從經濟角度來看，我會從這個開始。遠期曲線的形狀不會起主導作用，而是決策過程中的主要驅動力。當我們著眼於效率並盡可能降低維護資本時，它正在優化這些資本再投資。它正在創建一家公司，其再投資率達到 40% 或更高，以保持產量不變，並且每 Mcfe 資本支出為 0.77 美元，以保持產量不變。因此，當我們考慮整體經濟時，曲線的形狀也受到 Range 19% 下降率的平坦下降率的影響。

So as you flatten that out over time, we're looking at a price 3 years through the seasonality of what the sustainable price levels are. And of course, that's also bolstered by the hedging program. So prices will move. They will move radically. Our balanced program that generates significant contribution from the liquids cut as well, combined with the natural gas cut along with sales points across the U.S., the shape of the curve doesn't necessarily impact us deciding to drill a 12,000 to 15,000 foot lateral.

因此，當你隨著時間的推移將其壓平時，我們會根據可持續價格水平的季節性來查看 3 年的價格。當然，對沖計畫也支撐了這一點。所以價格將會變動。他們將採取徹底的行動。我們的平衡計劃也從液體切割中產生了重大貢獻，再加上天然氣切割以及美國各地的銷售點，曲線的形狀並不一定會影響我們決定鑽探 12,000 至 15,000 英尺的側向井。

Really, it comes back to what's the economics, what's the space in the existing system? Where are we placing that to optimize the use of the existing surface facilities, existing compression, gathering and long-haul transport. So not to talk around the question, but it's just a multifaceted equation and evaluation we do to make sure we can get the most out of each reinvested dollar.

真的，這又回到了經濟是什麼，現有體系的空間又是什麼？我們將其放置在哪裡，以優化現有地面設施、現有壓縮、收集和長途運輸的使用。因此，不要迴避這個問題，這只是我們所做的一個多方面的方程式和評估，以確保我們能夠從每一美元再投資中獲得最大收益。

Yes. No, that makes sense. And then your differential guidance for the year moved. It was slight -- but moved slightly to the $0.40 to $0.45. Can you give any more color around whether that was specific in market getting a little bit worse or in-basin pricing?

是的。不，這是有道理的。然後你今年的差異化指導改變了。漲幅不大，但小幅上漲至 0.40 美元至 0.45 美元。您能否提供更多關於這是否是市場變得更糟或盆地內定價的具體情況的資訊？

Laith can add some details to that, but I think the short version is we all know in shoulder seasons and where storage levels were in the third quarter, there were some soft spots in the in-basin markets, in particular, in Appalachia. But fortunately, 80-plus percent of our gas is out of basin. And basically, all of our liquids over 90% of our revenue is out of basin. So that's a reflection of that minority of production that's sold in basin.

萊斯可以添加一些細節，但我認為簡短的版本是我們都知道的，在平季，第三季度的存儲水平，盆地市場存在一些弱點，特別是在阿巴拉契亞。但幸運的是，我們 80% 以上的天然氣都在盆地之外。基本上，我們所有的液體超過 90% 的收入都來自盆地。因此，這反映了流域內銷售的少數產品。

It is bolstered by our -- by a basis hedging program and effectively a basis hedging program embedded in the physical sales and diversity of customers we have. But that's a long and short of it. There's been no substantial change to our portfolio of customers. We still sell across greater than 30 different natural gas pricing points, and we'll look to keep optimizing that program over time and that portfolio over time.

它得到了我們的基差對沖計劃和有效嵌入到我們擁有的實體銷售和客戶多樣性中的基差對沖計劃的支持。但這是一個長期和短期的事情。我們的客戶組合沒有重大變化。我們仍然在 30 多個不同的天然氣定價點上進行銷售，並且我們將隨著時間的推移不斷優化該計劃和產品組合。

Our next question will be coming from Umang Choudhary of Goldman Sachs & Company.

我們的下一個問題將來自高盛公司的 Umang Choudhary。

My first question was on the NGL macro. I appreciate all the details on your slide deck. Prices have been weak this year, especially for LPG. And you've seen a pickup in exports recently, but the freight prices have been high too. So would love your thoughts around the LPG outlook heading into next year?

我的第一個問題是關於 NGL 巨集。我很欣賞你幻燈片上的所有細節。今年價格疲軟，尤其是液化石油氣。最近出口有回升，但運費價格也很高。那麼您對明年液化石油氣前景有何看法？

Umang. I think as we start to think about -- I'll start with propane first. When you think about -- what we've seen, clearly, stock levels have been elevated. We're running around 100 million barrels in inventory levels. That's clearly on the back of a weaker winter from this past year and also maybe a little bit of a slower progression to the chemical markets than what had originally been anticipated. But I think if you start to think about '24, which was the crux of your question, a couple of things I see or we see is underpinning a positive movement going forward. And one is the PDH infrastructure and cracker infrastructure that's been in the process of being commissioned, seeing improving run rates month-over-month, but also additional infrastructure that will get commissioned.

烏芒。我想當我們開始考慮時，我會先從丙烷開始。當你想到我們所看到的情況時，顯然庫存水準已經升高。我們的庫存水準約為 1 億桶。這顯然是由於去年冬季較為疲軟，而且化學品市場的進展可能比最初預期的要慢一些。但我認為，如果你開始思考 24 年，這是你問題的關鍵，我看到或我們看到的一些事情正在支撐著向前發展的積極運動。其中之一是正在投入使用的 PDH 基礎設施和破解基礎設施，運行率逐月提高，而且還將投入使用的其他基礎設施。

So it's around 400,000 barrels a day in infrastructure this year. And next year, it's in excess of 400,000. So you've got back-to-back years of what we'll call incremental needs and an infrastructure that's going to get commissioned, that's going to help with the stock level perspective in view.

因此，今年基礎設施的產量約為每天 40 萬桶。明年，這一數字將超過 40 萬。因此，您擁有連續多年的增量需求和即將投入使用的基礎設施，這將有助於從庫存水準角度考慮。

Other side of this equation is you've got really strong exports. If you look at year-to-date values, we've seen a range of 1.5 million to 1.7 million barrels a day, average is a little over 1.5 for the year. A few years ago, that would have been a peak moment and a record 2.2, but now it's good, strong repeatable performance month in and month out. So that's certainly helping with the equation. When you think about days of supply, though, and you translate that back to where we're at today, we're really 3% below the 5-year average. So when you think about all the demand component and getting through the winter setup that we have ahead of us, we see stock levels starting to renormalize as you get into -- through the first half of 2024.

這個等式的另一面是你的出口非常強勁。如果你看看今年迄今為止的價值，我們會發現每天的產量在 150 萬桶到 170 萬桶之間，全年平均值略高於 1.5 桶。幾年前，這將是一個巔峰時刻和創紀錄的 2.2，但現在它是每月都良好、強大的可重複性能。所以這肯定對方程式有幫助。不過，當您考慮供應天數並將其轉換為我們今天的情況時，我們確實比 5 年平均值低了 3%。因此，當您考慮所有需求因素並度過即將到來的冬季準備時，我們會看到庫存水準開始重新正常化，直到 2024 年上半年。

Ethane is tighter. The days of supply on that side is around 18 days and storage levels are just below 50 million barrels. And we continue to see strong interest from our traditional counterparties on additional ethane opportunities. And so we would expect to see some spikes at times in pricing like we've seen over the past 3 to 6 months. It's been reflective in how the market has been tightened. We would expect to see some ongoing volatility as we move forward. And of course, once we start to see net gas storage levels get renormalized as well, you would expect to see further improvements in ethane trading than on the back of what's happening on the gas front as well.

乙烷更緊。那邊的供應天數約18天，儲存量略低於5,000萬桶。我們繼續看到傳統交易對手對更多乙烷機會表現出濃厚的興趣。因此，我們預計價格有時會出現一些飆升，就像過去 3 到 6 個月所看到的那樣。這反映了市場是如何收緊的。隨著我們的前進，我們預計會出現一些持續的波動。當然，一旦我們開始看到淨天然氣儲存水準也重新正常化，您會期望看到乙烷貿易比天然氣方面發生的情況進一步改善。

I'll join in here as well. As we think about the valuation impact of that commentary in the backdrop that creates -- today, we're seeing NGL realizations in the 35% type and the ZIP code in mid-30s relative to WTI. As we think about a more normalized level that we would fully expect to be well in excess of 40%, what you're seeing is an embedded option value within Range for that re-rating for the normalization of propane inventories. And while nominally, they are high on a days to cover basis like many of the other commodities, they're not that far off of 5-year averages.

我也來加入這裡吧。當我們在今天的背景下思考該評論的估值影響時，我們看到 NGL 的實現形式為 35%，郵遞區號相對於 WTI 為 30 多歲。當我們考慮一個更標準化的水平時，我們完全預計將遠遠超過 40%，您看到的是範圍內的嵌入期權價值，用於丙烷庫存標準化的重新評級。雖然名義上它們的回補天數與許多其他商品一​​樣很高，但與 5 年平均值相差並不遠。

So with these high export levels, growth in demand with the speed at which they can recover to normalized levels nominally and actually become tight in reality really highlights the value of that embedded option of NGLs within the Range story.

因此，在出口水平如此高的情況下，需求的增長以及名義上恢復到正常水平並實際上變得緊張的速度確實凸顯了 Range 故事中 NGL 嵌入式選項的價值。

Another option which you have is also on growth given your differentiated inventory. Anything you would like to see on local demand or anything you're seeing on gas marketing, which can unlock that potential heading into next year or in the next few years?

鑑於您的差異化庫存，您的另一個選擇也是成長。您希望在當地需求方面看到什麼，或在天然氣行銷方面看到什麼，這可以釋放明年或未來幾年的潛力？

Yes. I think when you start to think about the opportunity for growth and we'll just say in-basin demand, clearly, a Shell cracker is a good example of it's ongoing commissioning, getting to higher run rates over the course of time, and it's working through what we would kind of view as normal greenfield start-up type challenges, but also successes in the same brand. So I think that's a good example.

是的。我認為，當你開始考慮成長機會時，我們只會說盆地需求，顯然，殼牌裂解裝置是一個很好的例子，它正在進行調試，隨著時間的推移獲得更高的運行率，而且它是解決我們所認為的正常的綠地新創型挑戰，但也在同一品牌中取得了成功。所以我認為這是一個很好的例子。

I think the other part is, as you've got coal retirements that are going to be taking place over the balance of the next few years, opportunity for Nat Gas and Range to backfill those opportunities for power generation. I think if we learned anything this past summer, Nat Gas really stood strong for that backfill of power generation, adding 2.5 Bcf roughly in incremental power generation and occupying that space when at times wind and others were below forecast. So we see those as kind of more in the near term. I think when you start to get past 2024, you really start to have the question of what additional power generation is going to get put into place from a combined cycle standpoint.

我認為另一部分是，由於煤炭將在未來幾年的剩餘時間退役，天然氣和牧場有機會回補這些發電機會。我認為，如果說我們去年夏天學到了什麼的話，那就是天然氣在發電回填方面確實表現強勁，在增量發電量中增加了大約2.5 Bcf，並在有時風能和其他發電量低於預測的情況下佔據了這一空間。因此，我們認為這些在短期內會更多。我認為，當 2024 年過去時，您確實會開始思考從聯合循環的角度來看將增加哪些發電量。

I think you're seeing a lot of dialogue now around the grid, reliability, how you expand that. If we're going to have further electrification and bolstering of the grid that's going to come with a reliable fuel source, which we think, Range and Nat Gas is going to play a huge role in that.

我認為你現在看到了很多圍繞著網格、可靠性以及如何擴展它的對話。如果我們要進一步實現電氣化並加強電網，並提供可靠的燃料來源，我們認為，範圍和天然氣將在其中發揮巨大作用。

And I think the second thing I would throw out on the future is EV battery, industrial type development, manufacturing. If you start to look at where some of this incremental and future manufacturing and industrial demand is pointing to be constructed, it's not too far away from some of the transport that Range has in our portfolio that gets us to the Gulf, to the Midwest. So again, we really see this as being a bright future for not only Nat Gas and NGLs, but how the role that Range could play in that as you start to see inventory exhaustion by others and also then underpinned by the quality and runway of inventory that Range has. So we think it's a bright future. It's a multivariable perspective as you look forward.

我認為我對未來要放棄的第二件事是電動車電池、工業型開發、製造。如果你開始考慮這些增量和未來的製造業和工業需求的建設地點，你會發現它距離 Range 投資組合中的一些運輸工具並不太遠，這些運輸工具可以將我們帶到海灣和中西部。因此，我們確實認為這不僅對天然氣和液化天然氣來說是一個光明的未來，而且當你開始看到其他人的庫存耗盡，然後又受到庫存品質和跑道的支撐時，Range 可以在其中發揮怎樣的作用範圍有。所以我們認為這是一個光明的未來。當你展望未來時，這是一個多變量的觀點。

Our next question will be coming from Michael Scialla of Stephens.

我們的下一個問題將來自史蒂芬斯的邁克爾·夏拉（Michael Scialla）。

Just give some detail on the savings you anticipate for steel and sand, maybe on rig costs as well. It looks like you kept your well costs in your investor deck unchanged from last quarter. Can you say where do you think '24 costs will be relative to '23? Do some of those savings get offset elsewhere? I know you've mentioned the new frac fleet, is that going to offset those savings? Or do you anticipate lower cost next year?

只需詳細說明您預計節省的鋼材和沙子費用，也許還有鑽孔機成本。看來您在投資者平台上的油井成本與上季相比保持不變。您能說說您認為「24」的成本與「23」的成本相比如何嗎？其中一些節省的費用是否會在其他地方抵消？我知道您提到了新的壓裂船隊，這會抵消這些節省嗎？或者您預計明年的成本會降低？

Yes, Michael, I think I would start off by somewhat saying we're super early in the process of our RFP rollout that we just deployed here over the last several weeks. So what I'm sharing with you is kind of some of those early indications in the prepared remarks this morning. I think we're going to have a lot better view once we get towards the end of the year. We get that process wrapped up and we start to communicate how that translates into our execution for our plan for 2024. So I think we'll have a lot better view at that point.

是的，邁克爾，我想我首先要說的是，我們在過去幾週剛剛在這裡部署的 RFP 部署過程中處於非常早期的階段。所以我要與大家分享的是今天早上準備好的演講中的一些早期跡象。我認為，到了年底，我們的視野將會好得多。我們完成了這個過程，並開始溝通如何將其轉化為我們 2024 年計劃的執行。所以我認為到那時我們會有更好的看法。

The numbers in the back of the slide deck haven't changed because ultimately, we're still in the middle of that evaluation of that process. And once we know what our full cost structure will look like, then we'll have, again, better updates. You're seeing -- in our opinion, I'll share one final thought. You're starting to see, I think, a -- it's maybe costs are going to look differently than the traditional rig count up, service cost up, rig count down, service costs down across the board. And I -- we tried to share some of that this morning in the prepared remarks because you're still seeing a high level of utilization for services, as an example, like super-spec drilling rigs and also the electric fracturing fleets.

幻燈片後面的數字沒有改變，因為最終我們仍處於對過程的評估之中。一旦我們知道我們的完整成本結構是什麼樣子，那麼我們將再次獲得更好的更新。你看到了——在我們看來，我將分享最後一個想法。我認為，你開始看到，成本可能會與傳統的鑽機數量增加、服務成本增加、鑽機數量減少、服務成本全面下降有所不同。我 - 我們今天早上試圖在準備好的演講中分享其中的一些內容，因為您仍然看到服務的高利用率，例如超規格鑽機和電動壓裂車隊。

We think that could prevent -- could present some stabilization in that cost structure, maybe even some slight relief, but it will be other areas that we may see, again, more relief, whether it's some of the consumables like tubular goods or we're seeing that 30% relief for next year and have done a job of securing that, but also in areas like diesel fuel, more stabilization on the frac sand side as well. So we'll have better numbers for everyone at the next call, but we would expect to see some modest level of savings. It could be single-digit type savings mid-level, but we'll have a better answer once we get to February.

我們認為這可以防止 - 可能會在成本結構中帶來一些穩定，甚至可能會略有緩解，但我們可能會在其他領域再次看到更多的緩解，無論是管材等一些消耗品還是我們的。我們預計明年將減少30%，並已努力確保這一目標，而且在柴油等領域，壓裂砂方面也更加穩定。因此，我們將在下次電話會議上為每個人提供更好的數字，但我們預計會看到一定程度的節省。這可能是個位數的中等儲蓄，但到了二月我們就會得到更好的答案。

Understood. And I guess given the longer laterals, the improved capital efficiency, it sounds like your base decline rates continuing to shallow. Can you say where maintenance CapEx or maybe if it's easier, maintenance activity level would need to be next year relative to 2023?

明白了。我想，考慮到支線更長、資本效率提高，聽起來你的基礎遞減率繼續下降。您能否說說明年相對於 2023 年的維護資本支出在哪裡？或者如果更簡單的話，維護活動水準需要達到多少？

I think a way of thinking about our program for '24 in a maintenance-type scenario is around $600 million. You could see that be slightly less depending upon the setup we're thinking about for 2025. Once we start to get to February, see what kind of winter we've got, LNG infrastructure build-out, how that's further progressing along. So I think there are several variables that we would want to take into account. But I think the way to think about our program in a maintenance scenario is about $600 million.

我認為在維護型場景中考慮我們 24 年計劃的一種方式是大約 6 億美元。你可以看到，根據我們考慮的 2025 年的設置，這個數字會稍微少一些。一旦我們開始進入 2 月，看看我們會遇到什麼樣的冬天，液化天然氣基礎設施建設，以及進展如何。所以我認為我們需要考慮幾個變數。但我認為在維護場景中考慮我們的計劃的方式大約是 6 億美元。

And it would be around 50 to 60 wells. I think historically, we would have said 60 wells kind of year in and year out. But with the advancement in our lateral lengths, it could be somewhere closer to 50 depending upon what kind of inventory we would like to carry into the setup for 2025.

大約有 50 到 60 口井。我認為從歷史上看，我們會說年復一年有 60 口井。但隨著我們橫向長度的進步，它可能會接近 50，具體取決於我們希望在 2025 年的設置中攜帶什麼樣的庫存。

Our next question will be coming from Jacob Roberts of TPH & Company.

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

I think that you've touched on this in response to Doug earlier, but I'm just curious if you could remind us the percentage of activity that has been on prior pads in recent years and where you would expect that percentage to shift to over the next, let's say, 12 to 24 months?

我認為您之前已經在回應 Doug 時談到了這一點，但我只是好奇您能否提醒我們近年來在之前的電極片上進行的活動百分比，以及您預計該百分比將在哪裡轉變接下來，比如說12到24 個月？

Yes. Jacob. Historically, we've been moving back to pads with existing production for somewhere as low as 30%, but it's more closer to about 50% of our activity each year. This past quarter kind of represents some of that fluctuation of what we see quarter in and quarter out or actually 3/4 of our wells that we executed were on pads with the existing production.

是的。雅各.從歷史上看，我們一直在以低至 30% 的現有產量回歸墊片，但更接近我們每年活動的 50% 左右。過去的一個季度代表了我們所看到的季度和季度的一些波動，或者實際上我們執行的油井中有 3/4 是在現有產量的油田上。

But I think a good way of thinking about our program year in and year out is about half of our activity would be on pads with existing production. And again, part of that is to complement something Mark touched on a few minutes ago, and that is utilization of the gathering system, compression, pipes and also our processing where we see those opportunities. So moving back to those pads, not only provides capital efficiency improvements, but it also translates in our ability to keep our gathering system fully utilized and our cost structure as low as possible.

但我認為，年復一年地思考我們的計劃的一個好方法是，我們大約一半的活動將在現有的生產上進行。再說一遍，其中一部分是對馬克幾分鐘前談到的一些內容的補充，那就是收集系統、壓縮、管道的利用以及我們看到這些機會的處理。因此，回到這些墊子不僅可以提高資本效率，而且還意味著我們有能力充分利用我們的收集系統並盡可能降低成本結構。

I appreciate that. And then as a second question, can you refresh us on where the understandings are on the Utica and Devonian and maybe where you hope to be in that understanding in end of 2024, whether it's via your own pursuits or by peers in the area?

我很感激。第二個問題，您能否向我們介紹一下對尤蒂卡和泥盆紀的理解，以及您希望在 2024 年底實現的理解，無論是透過您自己的追求還是該地區的同行？

Well, when we think about the Utica, I'll start off by saying we're awfully excited about the future potential of that asset. But when we think about our inventory runway on the Marcellus, the repeatability, we've got 1,500 wells that we've drilled and completed. We understand that the formation incredibly well. And again, as I've mentioned earlier, it's very repeatable for us. And so the improvements that we've made have really kind of underpinned the resilience of our business.

好吧，當我們想到尤蒂卡時，我首先要說的是，我們對該資產的未來潛力感到非常興奮。但當我們考慮 Marcellus 上的庫存跑道和可重複性時，我們已經鑽探並完成了 1,500 口井。我們對這個陣型的理解非常好。正如我之前提到的，這對我們來說是非常可重複的。因此，我們所做的改進確實支撐了我們業務的彈性。

When you think about the future of the organization and the inventory bidding that we have with the low breakevens that we touched on earlier, our focus is clearly on the Marcellus as we go forward. In many cases, you're going to see others focus on the Utica because of potentially limitations they have either in their Marcellus inventory or the quality of that inventory they have. We think we can be patient, we can sit back, we can do industry surveillance, watch what others are doing and then translate that into how we would advance the technical model in the years that follow for the opportunity when we would like to pull that into the program on more of an active basis. But Again, we're highly focused on the Marcellus and for obvious reasons, when you look at the cost associated with it, the efficiencies and on top of it, just the depth and quality of inventory that we have.

當您考慮組織的未來以及我們之前提到的低盈虧平衡點的庫存競價時，我們的重點顯然是繼續前進的 Marcellus。在許多情況下，您會看到其他人關注尤蒂卡，因為他們的馬塞勒斯庫存或庫存品質有潛在的限制。我們認為我們可以保持耐心，我們可以坐下來，我們可以進行行業監控，觀察其他人在做什麼，然後將其轉化為我們在接下來的幾年中如何推進技術模型，以便在我們想要實現這一目標時抓住機會更積極參與該計劃。但同樣，我們高度關注 Marcellus，出於顯而易見的原因，當您查看與之相關的成本、效率以及最重要的是我們擁有的庫存深度和品質時。

Our next question will be coming from Arun Jayaram of JPMorgan Securities.

我們的下一個問題將來自摩根大通證券的 Arun Jayaram。

Dennis, I wanted to start with maybe a housekeeping question. The fourth quarter guide on volumes that you've provided on the call looks to be a touch shy of The Street and what we're modeling. And maybe we're a little surprised just given kind of the pull forward of activity. But any drivers of that, that you could point to?

丹尼斯，我想從一個家政問題開始。您在電話會議上提供的第四季銷售指南看起來與《華爾街日報》和我們正在建模的內容有些差距。也許我們對活動的推動感到有點驚訝。但您可以指出其中的任何驅動因素嗎？

Yes, Arun, I think what I would point to is really the extended laterals that we've been completing. I think if you look at Q3, a good example is the 220 -- 21,000-foot laterals and having that maintenance level program, coupled with the gathering system that we're keeping full. So what it's going to do is it's going to allow us to keep production flatter as we start to transition into Q1.

是的，阿倫，我想我要指出的是我們已經完成的擴展支線。我認為，如果你看一下第三季度，一個很好的例子就是 220 - 21,000 英尺的支線，並擁有維護級別計劃，再加上我們保持滿載的收集系統。因此，它將讓我們在開始過渡到第一季時保持生產穩定。

If you think about the past several years and what maintenance has looked like, we kept -- tend to have our highest production in the back half of the year. But then you're going to see some decline in the first portion of the year as we start to then catch back up with that higher activity cadence in the first half that translates into the uptick in production in the back half. We think this is going to actually translate into a little bit more of a level-loaded production profile as we come out of Q4 through the winter months where we have improved pricing and then through not only the first part of Q1, but then as the start of Q2. It's a little bit different than what we've seen in the past couple of years.

如果您考慮過去幾年以及維護情況，我們會發現，我們的產量往往在下半年達到最高。但是，隨著我們開始趕上上半年較高的活動節奏，你會看到今年上半年的產量有所下降，這轉化為下半年產量的上升。我們認為，這實際上將轉化為更多的水平負載生產概況，因為我們在冬季的第四季度結束時，我們提高了定價，然後不僅是第一季的第一部分，而且隨著第二季度開始。這與我們過去幾年所看到的有點不同。

That's helpful. Maybe next one is for Mark. Mark, you're really approaching your debt reduction or your leverage target or your gross debt target, pardon me. And I just wanted to see if you could kind of give us a sense of, from a timing perspective, when do you expect to get there and thoughts on cash return as we move into a better part of the gas cycle?

這很有幫助。也許下一篇是給馬克的。馬克，你真的正在接近你的債務削減或你的槓桿目標或你的總債務目標，請原諒。我只是想看看你是否可以從時間的角度讓我們了解一下，當我們進入天然氣循環的更好部分時，你預計什麼時候能達到目標以及對現金回報的想法？

Sure. That's a tough question to answer, to give the month in which we pass it through the target range. If I had a perfect crystal ball for the weather and the pricing this winter, we'd be able to do that. But I think what you're pointing to is the fact that we're right there on the doorstep of entering the target threshold. We think we're in a great spot already with the balance sheet, and that gives us flexibility today, but even more flexibility we fully expect next year to use free cash flow and redeploy it whether it's through incremental share repurchases, whether there's a modest increase in the dividend, whether there's other forms of reinvestment directly into the business that gives us additional latitude.

當然。這是一個很難回答的問題，要給出我們通過目標範圍的月份。如果我有一個完美的水晶球來預測今年冬天的天氣和價格，我們就能做到這一點。但我認為你所指的是這樣一個事實：我們正處於進入目標門檻的門口。我們認為我們的資產負債表已經處於一個很好的位置，這給了我們今天的靈活性，但我們完全期望明年能夠利用自由現金流並重新部署更大的靈活性，無論是透過增量股票回購買，還是適度的回購股利的增加，是否有其他形式的直接再投資給業務，這給了我們額外的自由。

We have available on our Board-approved buyback program, $1.1 billion.

我們已獲得董事會批准的 11 億美元回購計畫。

I'll point to our activity last year where we repurchased $400 million in shares. This year, obviously, prices came off, so we backed off a little bit. So we're just balancing that reinvestment. Our program we intentionally shied away to date from giving a formulaic approach. We like the optionality of being able to take advantage of opportunities in the market to reinvest it at opportune times. So just to give extreme examples, if we saw a huge pullback in the stock, we would consider hard, whether it's time to put more of our cash flow sooner rather than later back into the buyback program. Alternatively, prices are soft, we'll remain conservative and focus on the balance sheet.

我會提到我們去年回購了 4 億美元股票的活動。顯然，今年價格有所下降，所以我們有所退縮。所以我們只是平衡再投資。迄今為止，我們的計劃有意避免採用公式化的方法。我們喜歡能夠利用市場機會在適當的時候進行再投資的選擇。因此，僅舉極端的例子，如果我們看到股票大幅回調，我們會認真考慮是否是時候儘早而不是稍後將更多現金流投入回購計劃。或者，價格疲軟，我們將保持保守並專注於資產負債表。

So we're so close to that target balance sheet range that we like the flexibility to get today, and I'll just highlight again that I think that gives us even greater latitude as we get into 2024 and after.

因此，我們非常接近目標資產負債表範圍，我們希望今天能夠獲得靈活性，我將再次強調，我認為這為我們進入 2024 年及之後提供了更大的自由。

And that will be our last question. This concludes today's question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the call back over to Mr. Degner for his concluding remarks.

這將是我們的最後一個問題。今天的問答環節到此結束。我想將電話轉回給德格納先生，讓他作總結發言。

I'd like to say thanks for everyone joining us on the call this morning. If you have any follow-up questions, please don't hesitate to follow up with the Investor Relations team. Thank you.

我想對今天早上加入我們電話會議的所有人表示感謝。如果您有任何後續問題，請隨時與投資者關係團隊聯繫。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。您現在可以斷開連線。