Viper Energy Inc (VNOM) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Viper Energy Partners Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

美好的一天，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 Viper Energy Partners 2023 年第三季財報電話會議。 （操作員指示）請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。

I would now like to hand the conference over to Adam Lawlis, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

現在我想將會議交給投資者關係副總裁 Adam Lawlis。請繼續。

Thank you, Antoine. Good morning, and welcome to Viper Energy Partners' Third Quarter 2023 Conference Call.

謝謝你，安托萬。早安，歡迎參加 Viper Energy Partners 2023 年第三季電話會議。

During our call today, we will reference an updated investor presentation, which can be found on Viper's website. Representing Viper today are Travis Stice, CEO; Kaes Van'’t Hof, President; and Austen Gilfillian, General Manager.

在今天的電話會議中，我們將參考更新的投資者演示文稿，該演示文稿可以在 Viper 的網站上找到。今天代表 Viper 的是執行長 Travis Stice；凱斯‧範‧霍夫 (Kaes Van’ât Hof)，總裁；和總經理奧斯汀·吉爾菲利安。

During this conference call, the participants may make certain forward-looking statements relating to the company's financial condition, results of operations, plans, objectives, future performance and businesses. We caution you that actual results could differ materially from those that are indicated in these forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors. Information concerning these factors can be found in the company's filings with the SEC. In addition, we will make reference to certain non-GAAP measures. The reconciliations with the appropriate GAAP measures can be found in our earnings release issued yesterday afternoon.

在本次電話會議期間，與會者可能會就本公司的財務狀況、營運績效、計畫、目標、未來績效和業務做出某些前瞻性陳述。我們提醒您，由於多種因素，實際結果可能與這些前瞻性聲明中所示的結果有重大差異。有關這些因素的資訊可以在該公司向 SEC 提交的文件中找到。此外，我們也將參考某些非公認會計準則措施。與適當的公認會計準則措施的對帳可以在我們昨天下午發布的收益報告中找到。

I'll now turn the call over to Travis Stice.

我現在將把電話轉給 Travis Stice。

Thank you, Adam. Welcome, everyone, and thank you for listening to Viper Energy Partners' Third Quarter 2023 Conference Call. .

謝謝你，亞當。歡迎大家，並感謝您收聽 Viper Energy Partners 的 2023 年第三季電話會議。 。

There were several important updates made yesterday with our earnings announcement, so I will start with our upcoming conversion into a Delaware corporation first.

昨天我們的收益公告發布了一些重要的更新，所以我首先從我們即將轉換為特拉華州公司開始。

The Board of Directors approved the conversion on November 2, and we expect that it will become effective on November 13. When completed, this conversion will deliver increased corporate governance rights to our limited partners and is intended to position Viper, such that the value of our mineral and royalty assets can be fully recognized.

董事會於11 月2 日批准了此次轉換，我們預計將於11 月13 日生效。完成後，此次轉換將為我們的有限合夥人提供更多的公司治理權利，並旨在定位Viper，從而使Viper 的價值我們的礦產和特許權使用費資產可以充分認可。

Further on that point, we expect the conversion to result in an increase in Viper's trading liquidity and potential investor universe. Given Viper's current status as a partnership, we estimate that approximately 2% of our public float is held by index funds. This compares to a select group of our peers averaging around 30% ownership.

在這一點上，我們預計此次轉換將增加 Viper 的交易流動性和潛在投資者範圍。鑑於 Viper 目前的合夥企業地位，我們估計我們約 2% 的公眾持股量由指數基金持有。相比之下，我們精選的一群同業平均擁有 30% 左右的所有權。

Fundamentally, we believe this conversion is the right thing to do for our unitholders and that it will provide numerous benefits, but the foundation of the decision is to fully highlight the advantage nature of mineral ownership and the unique value proposition that Viper presents within the space.

從根本上講，我們相信這種轉換對我們的單位持有人來說是正確的事情，並將帶來眾多好處，但該決定的基礎是充分突出礦產所有權的優勢本質以及Viper 在該領域提出的獨特價值主張。

As a separate, recent event, Viper announced last week the closing of our GRP acquisition. This acquisition was a truly unique opportunity, and that it checked all the boxes we look for in an acquisition, immediate accretion to all relevant financial metrics, substantial undeveloped inventory to support long-term returns and significant scale that results in a pro forma business that is both bigger and better.

作為最近的另一件事，Viper 上週宣布完成對 GRP 的收購。這次收購是一個真正獨特的機會，它檢查了我們在收購中尋找的所有條件，立即增加了所有相關的財務指標，大量未開發的庫存以支持長期回報和巨大的規模，從而產生了預計業務既更大又更好。

What differentiates this acquisition, however, is both the quantity and quality of the undeveloped inventory, particularly in the Northern Midland Basin. Following the closing of this acquisition, Viper now owns roughly 32,000 net royalty acres in the Permian Basin, and our production will be over 25,000 barrels of oil per day.

然而，此次收購的與眾不同之處在於未開發庫存的數量和質量，特別是在北米德蘭盆地。此次收購完成後，Viper 目前在二疊紀盆地擁有約 32,000 英畝淨特許權土地，我們的石油日產量將超過 25,000 桶。

Looking ahead, we have an unparalleled growth runway of high-quality, undeveloped acreage. And as the largest player in the public minerals market, we expect to play a meaningful role in consolidating the highly fragmented space as high-value proposition opportunities like GRP present themselves.

展望未來，我們擁有無與倫比的優質未開發土地成長跑道。作為公共礦產市場最大的參與者，隨著 GRP 等高價值主張機會的出現，我們預計將在整合高度分散的空間方面發揮有意義的作用。

Turning to the results of the business. The third quarter was another strong quarter for Viper, as production grew roughly 5% for the second consecutive quarter. While growth will not always be ratable from quarter-to-quarter, given we own varying interest in what is mostly large-scale development in the Permian Basin, we expect the trend of meaningful growth on an annual basis to continue, as evidenced by their preliminary full year 2024 production guidance that we provided.

轉向業務成果。第三季度是 Viper 的另一個強勁季度，產量連續第二季成長約 5%。雖然增長並不總是按季度進行評估，但考慮到我們對二疊紀盆地的大規模開發有著不同的興趣，我們預計每年顯著增長的趨勢將持續下去，這一點可以從他們的我們提供的2024 年全年初步生產指引。

Additionally, during the third quarter, Viper announced an almost $100 million leased bonds, which will allow for the future development of deeper zones on certain acreage in the Midland Basin. As mentioned in our rationale for converting into a corporation, there are many structural advantages to mineral ownership beyond just the cost-free royalties, and this significant lease bonus is just one specific example.

此外，在第三季度，Viper 宣布了近 1 億美元的租賃債券，這將允許未來在米德蘭盆地的某些面積上開發更深的區域。正如我們在轉變為公司的理由中提到的，除了免費的特許權使用費之外，礦產所有權還有許多結構性優勢，而這一重要的租賃紅利只是一個具體例子。

As owners and lessors of the subsurface property, modern lease terms can dictate development requirements of operators. And when those terms are not met, leases can expire and have the full development rights revert back to us as the mineral owner. As deeper zones are tested throughout the basin, we believe this is an advantage that will only be further highlighted in the years to come.

作為地下財產的所有者和出租人，現代租賃條款可以決定營運商的開發要求。如果不滿足這些條件，租約可能會到期，並且完整的開發權將歸還給我們作為礦產所有者。隨著整個盆地更深區域的測試，我們相信這一優勢在未來幾年只會進一步凸顯。

As a final point, Viper remains committed to a sustainable and growing return of capital through cash distributions over the long term. We have the balance sheet strength, durable cash flow profile and undeveloped inventory base to support many years of significant return of capital through the cycle.

最後一點，Viper 仍然致力於透過長期現金分配實現可持續且不斷增長的資本回報。我們擁有強大的資產負債表、持久的現金流狀況和未開發的庫存基礎，可以支持整個週期內多年的顯著資本回報。

Activity on our asset base continues to be strong, and we believe we are positioned to execute on opportunistic M&A to further complement what is already a unique value proposition, both in terms of return on and return of capital.

我們的資產基礎活動持續強勁，我們相信我們有能力執行機會主義併購，以進一步補充已經是獨特的價值主張，無論是在資本回報率還是資本回報率方面。

Operator, please open the line for questions.

接線員，請開通提問線。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Neal Dingmann from Truist Securities.

（操作員指示）我們的第一個問題來自 Truist Securities 的 Neal Dingmann。

My first question, guys, is just on the lease bonus. Is that the impressive one you all recently received? I'm just wondering, could you speak to if all that bonus was tied likely to the deeper zones? And wondering, do you all believe you have -- many of your other assets have potential for similar type bonuses maybe in those type of areas?

夥計們，我的第一個問題是關於租賃獎金的。這是你們最近收到的令人印象深刻的嗎？我只是想知道，您能否談談所有這些獎金是否可能與更深的區域有關？想知道，你們都相信你們的許多其他資產在這些類型的領域有可能獲得類似類型的獎金嗎？

Yes, Neal, good question. I'll answer part of it and give it to Austen to talk about the rest of the asset base.

是的，尼爾，好問題。我將回答其中的一部分並將其交給奧斯汀討論資產基礎的其餘部分。

I think, high level, we kind of added a slide in the deck to kind of show that even in an area like Spanish Trail, highly developed on the traditional [Wolfberry] play that we all know, but now moving back in and developing Barnett, Woodford and some of the Wolfcamp D across the position, the mineral honor gets the benefit there, right? They get a lease bonus and they get a royalty on all of the new zones.

我認為，在高水準上，我們在甲板上添加了一張幻燈片，以表明即使在像西班牙小徑這樣的地區，我們都知道，在傳統的[Wolfberry]遊戲上得到了高度發展，但現在又回到並開發了巴尼特，Woodford和一些Wolfcamp D對面的位置，礦物榮譽在那裡得到好處，對吧？他們獲得租賃獎金，並獲得所有新區域的特許權使用費。

So I think we're going to be slow to test it. I think it was a convenient time to get that lease done between Diamondback and Viper as it provided a lot of cash to Viper to help close the GRP deal. But I think just generally, we're trying to highlight that we own a lot of minerals in the Midland Basin, and there's a lot left to do in terms of other zones, deeper zones, shallower zones. And all of that benefits the mineral owner, whether you can model it today or not.

所以我認為我們會慢慢測試它。我認為現在是 Diamondback 和 Viper 之間完成租賃的合適時機，因為它為 Viper 提供了大量現金以幫助完成 GRP 交易。但我認為總的來說，我們試圖強調我們在米德蘭盆地擁有大量礦產，而在其他區域、更深區域、更淺區域方面還有很多工作要做。所有這些都對礦主有利，無論您今天是否可以對其進行建模。

And Austen, do you want to talk about the asset base?

奧斯汀，你想談談資產基礎嗎？

Yes. No, the monitoring and enforcing these type of returns is a really important part of what we do now, especially kind of where we are in the industry and in these modern leases and some of the terms that they could have. So this specific lease with Spanish Trail represented about 10% of our total net acres.

是的。不，監控和執行這些類型的回報是我們現在所做的非常重要的一部分，尤其是我們在行業中的地位以及這些現代租賃及其可能擁有的一些條款。因此，西班牙步道的這筆特定租賃約占我們總淨面積的 10%。

When we kind of go through and look at the lease -- specific lease provisions that are included across the acreage that we own, we estimate about 50% of our acreage had a similar lease language, that where if the deeper rights haven't been developed that, that acreage would kind of fall out and will become available. So I don't think that's a story for tomorrow, but certainly, as things play out over time and the zone becomes more developed and it kind of expands across the basin, I think it's something that you'll see more about going forward.

當我們仔細查看租賃合約時——我們所擁有的土地中包含的具體租賃條款，我們估計大約 50% 的土地擁有類似的租賃語言，如果更深層次的權利尚未得到落實，發展到，該面積將會減少並變得可用。所以我不認為這是明天的故事，但當然，隨著時間的推移，事情會變得更加發達，並且它會擴展到整個盆地，我認為你會看到更多關於未來的事情。

Yes, I like that upside. And then just a quick second one on cap allocation. I'm just wondering, given the current leverage post the deal and obviously, the great production guide for next year, I'm just wondering, any thoughts on -- if capital allocation would change? Or will that payout type continue?

是的，我喜歡這個優點。然後是關於上限分配的快速第二個。我只是想知道，考慮到交易後當前的槓桿率，顯然，明年的出色生產指南，我只是想知道，對於資本配置是否會改變有什麼想法嗎？或者這種支付方式會繼續下去嗎？

No. It's a good question, too. I mean I think our payout philosophy is the same. 75% of free cash flow goes to equity, 25% goes to the balance sheet. We know we put a good amount of cash in this GRP deal, but we have the balance sheet capacity to do it. We also have kind of a small balance on our revolver after closing the deal. So that will be easy debt paydown.

不，這也是一個好問題。我的意思是我認為我們的支付理念是相同的。 75% 的自由現金流流向股權，25% 流向資產負債表。我們知道我們在這筆 GRP 交易中投入了大量現金，但我們的資產負債表有能力做到這一點。交易完成後，我們的左輪手槍上還有少量餘額。這樣債務償還就很容易了。

And kind of strip prices, we're still going to be likely below 1x leverage at the end of 2024, even if we do pay out 75% to equity. I think Viper is kind of gone back and forth on how we're returning capital to shareholders. I think we'd probably prefer to distribute more cash via the fixed plus variable distribution than buybacks, but there might be opportunities to buy back stock in unique situations over the coming year. But I think our preference on that 75% that gets returned shareholders or unitholders is through the base plus variable dividend.

就剝離價格而言，即使我們確實支付了 75% 的股權，到 2024 年底，我們的槓桿率仍可能低於 1 倍。我認為 Viper 在我們如何向股東返還資本的問題上有點反覆。我認為我們可能更願意透過固定加可變分配來分配更多現金，而不是回購，但在未來一年的特殊情況下可能有機會回購股票。但我認為我們更傾向於透過基本股利加可變股利來回報股東或單位持有人的 75%。

Our next question comes from Derrick Whitfield from Stifel.

我們的下一個問題來自 Stifel 的 Derrick Whitfield。

With respect to the recent GRP acquisition, this was one of the first we've seen you pursue where there wasn't a Diamondback angle or immediate Diamondback angle. Thinking about your prepared remarks and consolidation opportunities you're seeing, could you speak to what you're seeing in deal flow and the bid-ask spreads for minerals, which could lead to incremental opportunities?

關於最近的 GRP 收購，這是我們看到您在沒有 Diamondback 角度或直接 Diamondback 角度的情況下進行的第一個收購。考慮一下您準備好的評論和您看到的整合機會，您能否談談您在交易流和礦物買賣價差中看到的情況，這可能會帶來增量機會？

Yes, I'll talk about the GRP deal and Austen can talk about the market right now. I mean this deal was kind of the one we've been waiting for. This team built this asset base over 8 or 10 years. And I think it can be best summed up very unique in that it'd be impossible to build that position today, and so we needed to buy that position.

是的，我將談論 GRP 交易，奧斯汀現在可以談論市場。我的意思是，這筆交易是我們一直在等待的交易。團隊花了 8 到 10 年的時間建立了這個資產基礎。我認為最好的總結就是非常獨特，因為今天不可能建立這個頭寸，所以我們需要購買這個頭寸。

And the reason why we like it is it's a lot of -- the Midland Basin is the core asset. There's a lot of undeveloped units in the Midland Basin, and it's all in acreage that we would cover. So while there isn't a huge Diamondback-operated component to it, we put our operator hat on and said, "Would we like to own exposure to the core of the basin under competent operators like Pioneer, Endeavor, now Exxon, et cetera?" And that is second to none and in our mind, can't be built through the ground game. And so we used our size and scale to be able to put a good amount of cash in the deal and get it across the finish line.

我們喜歡它的原因是它有很多——米德蘭盆地是核心資產。米德蘭盆地有許多未開發的單位，它們都在我們要涵蓋的面積內。因此，雖然它沒有一個巨大的響尾蛇運營的組件，但我們還是戴上了運營商的帽子，說道：“我們是否願意在先鋒、奮進、現在的埃克森等有能力的運營商的領導下，擁有對盆地核心的投資機會？ ”？”在我們看來，這是首屈一指的，無法透過地面遊戲來建構。因此，我們利用我們的規模和規模，能夠在交易中投入大量現金並完成交易。

Yes, Derrick, there's been quite a few deals that have come to market and have transacted this year. We've really been pretty selective in the last couple of years, with the primary focus on Diamondback operated like you mentioned, or secondarily, as Kaes kind of highlighted, if it doesn't have the high Diamondback-operated percentage, then it's just really high-quality acres with clear undeveloped inventory where we can have that confidence in what the long-term development is going to look like. .

是的，Derrick，今年有相當多的交易進入市場並已成交。在過去的幾年裡，我們確實非常有選擇性，主要關注像你提到的那樣的響尾蛇運營，或者其次，正如凱斯強調的那樣，如果它沒有很高的響尾蛇運營百分比，那麼它只是真正高品質的土地，有明確的未開發庫存，我們可以對長期開發的前景充滿信心。 。

I think going forward, it's going to be a similar viewpoint for us, and we see an opportunity for quite a few more deals to come to market. But for us, it's always a pretty high hurdle given the quality of acres that we have today, the development that we see going forward, and it kind of has to compete for that, right? Just being accretive day 1, not enough for us. We kind of have to have confidence in that development outlook over year 2, year 3, year 4, et cetera. And that's always the hardest hurdle to clear.

我認為展望未來，我們將採取類似的觀點，我們看到了更多交易進入市場的機會。但對我們來說，考慮到我們今天擁有的土地品質以及我們看到的未來​​發展，這始終是一個相當高的障礙，而且必須為此競爭，對吧？只是第一天的累積對我們來說還不夠。我們必須對第二年、第三年、第四年等的發展前景充滿信心。這始終是最難清除的障礙。

And one last comment on the Diamondback-operated piece. It certainly has been beneficial to have that Diamondback-Viper relationship for a significant amount of our production. As the business has gotten bigger, and we chased the same decline rates that the E&Ps do, it's been -- it's harder to find sizable packages under Diamondback that will move the needle for the next 5, 6, 7 years.

最後對響尾蛇操作的作品進行評論。響尾蛇與毒蛇的關係對於我們大量的生產無疑是有益的。隨著業務規模不斷擴大，我們追求與勘探與生產公司相同的下降率，在響尾蛇專案下找到能夠在未來 5 年、6 年、7 年推動發展的大規模專案變得越來越困難。

So I think, generally, we have a great position operated by Diamondback, but the next leg of the stool is going to be undeveloped units, particularly in the Midland Basin, like what we found with GRP that drive growth into the next decade.

因此，我認為，總的來說，我們在Diamondback 運營中佔據了很好的地位，但下一步將是未開發的單位，特別是在米德蘭盆地，就像我們在GRP 中發現的那樣，它將推動未來十年的成長。

Perhaps actually picking up with where you ended there, Kaes, because I think the opportunity that you guys have the deep rights under Spanish Trail could be quite remarkable. But I would love to -- if you guys could share what the opportunity you see with the Woodford and Barnett and those at present? And how soon you could see meaningful activity and that would clearly benefit Viper given the elevated NRIs you have in that area?

凱斯，也許真的會繼續你的結局，因為我認為你們在西班牙小徑下擁有深厚的權利的機會可能是相當了不起的。但我很樂意——你們能否與伍德福德和巴尼特以及目前的那些人分享你們看到的機會？考慮到您在該地區的 NRI 較高，您多久才能看到有意義的活動，這顯然會讓 Viper 受益？

Yes. There's certainly a lot of industry activity in the Barnett and Woodford. And traditionally, our mentality has been to be a fast follower. But I think there will be some tests, particularly operated by Diamondback, in the next 12 to 24 months. .

是的。巴尼特和伍德福德當然有很多行業活動。傳統上，我們的心態是成為快速追隨者。但我認為在接下來的 12 到 24 個月內將會進行一些測試，特別是由 Diamondback 進行的測試。 。

I don't think it will move to full-scale development until kind of 2025, 2026, but all indications are pointing to those zones being very productive covering a lot of the basin. And it works at a price, right? It's going to be a little more expensive to the operator. Wearing my Viper hat, we don't really care as long as there's a lot of resource. And I think all indications are pointing towards significant resource in those deeper zones.

我認為直到 2025 年、2026 年才會全面開發，但所有跡像都表明這些區域的生產力非常高，涵蓋了盆地的大部分地區。而且它的作用是有代價的，對嗎？對於運營商來說，這會貴一些。戴著我的毒蛇帽子，只要有大量資源，我們就不在乎。我認為所有跡像都顯示這些更深的區域蘊藏著大量資源。

Our next question comes from Paul Diamond from Citi.

我們的下一個問題來自花旗銀行的保羅·戴蒙德（Paul Diamond）。

Just a quick one on the Delaware corp conversion. You talked about currently 2% of the public float is held by index funds versus about 30% by peers. Just wanted to get a little bit deeper on that to see how you guys are envisioning any trend towards that higher rate post conversion?

只是簡單介紹一下特拉華州公司的轉型。您談到目前 2% 的公眾持股由指數基金持有，而同業持有約 30%。只是想更深入地了解一下，看看你們如何設想更高轉換率的趨勢？

Yes, great question. We've done a little bit of work on it. The deals -- the conversion is supposed to close next Monday, and then we'll be a corporation. There's some details in there for shareholders, so they know what's going on. But from what we can tell, there's a couple of indices that we could be eligible for even before the end of the year. And those are pretty significant indices.

是的，很好的問題。我們已經在這方面做了一些工作。交易－轉換預計在下週一完成，然後我們將成為一家公司。其中有一些細節可供股東參考，因此他們知道發生了什麼。但據我們所知，有幾個指數我們甚至在今年年底之前就有資格獲得。這些都是非常重要的指數。

I think Vanguard-related indices as well as then eventually some of the S&P-related indices. And as the market knows, that's a lot of buying for a company that has a lower public float. And so we're going to start working with them right away after getting this thing closed and getting as many indices as possible and kind of follow the path of hopefully, what Diamondback followed years ago as that business grew and got more exposure to large index funds. And do you want to add anything there, Austen?

我認為先鋒相關指數以及最終的一些標準普爾相關指數。正如市場所知，對於一家公眾持股量較低的公司來說，這是一筆很大的買入。因此，在完成這件事並獲得盡可能多的指數後，我們將立即開始與他們合作，並希望遵循響尾蛇幾年前隨著業務增長並獲得更多大型指數敞口而遵循的道路資金。奧斯汀，你想補充什麼嗎？

Yes, Paul, the main pretty benchmarks are kind of your S&P Chris and Russell, S&P and Chris quarterly rebalanced this. So they'll both [decline] middle of December. So the conversion will be done by then. So we'll be in communicating with them and see if that's something that can happen this year. And then Russell does the rebalance annually in June.

是的，保羅，主要的漂亮基準是你的標準普爾克里斯和羅素，標準普爾和克里斯季度重新平衡了這一點。所以他們都會在十二月中旬[拒絕]。所以到那時轉換就完成了。因此，我們將與他們溝通，看看今年是否會發生這種情況。然後拉塞爾每年六月進行重新平衡。

And then additionally, you'll have something that's more criteria-based or subjective, like the S&P 600, where we'll have to have some communication with them. But all signs point to being eligible right away and hopefully getting included pretty soon. But certainly, we meet the criteria now as being a corporation as opposed to being a partnership.

此外，你還會有一些更基於標準或主觀的東西，例如標準普爾 600 指數，我們必須與它們進行一些溝通。但所有跡像都表明立即符合資格，並希望很快就能被納入其中。但當然，我們現在符合作為一家公司而不是合夥企業的標準。

Yes. And the strategy there is also exposure, right? There's a lot of other investors that, I think, are limited in their exposure to minerals. And we've already had some success converting some shareholders -- potential shareholders on the road to look at the story.

是的。而且那裡的策略也有曝光，對吧？我認為，還有很多其他投資者對礦產的投資有限。我們已經取得了一些成功，讓一些股東——潛在的股東——正在關注這個故事。

I mean, I envision and Travis envision a world where this mineral space and this business is competing with the likes of some of the mid and -- the SMID and mid caps on the E&P side. And this business certainly shows a safer way to play the Permian Basin or oil exposure with no capital requirements and just upside.

我的意思是，我和崔維斯都設想了一個世界，在這個世界中，這個礦產空間和這個業務正在與勘探與生產方面的一些中型和中小型企業和中型企業競爭。這項業務無疑展示了一種更安全的方式來發揮二疊紀盆地或石油風險，沒有資本要求，只有上升空間。

Understood. I appreciate the clarity there. Just one more quick follow-up, just more on the lease bonus payments. How are you guys envisioning that going forward? Is it more tend to be chunkier? Or do you see it as just a consistent growth over time?

明白了。我很欣賞那裡的清晰度。只是再一次快速跟進，只是更多有關租賃獎金支付的信息。你們對未來有何展望？它是否更趨於粗壯？或者您認為這只是隨著時間的推移而持續增長？

Well, Spanish Trail's unique, right? I mean this was a unique asset -- a generational asset that doesn't come around very often. So this was certainly the big one. I think it's logical that a lot of the deep rights throughout the basin are going to get leased up over the coming 12 to 24 months. But for us, they'll all be smaller than this large payment, which was a pretty significant amount of acreage.

嗯，西班牙步道很獨特，對吧？我的意思是，這是一項獨特的資產──一項不常出現的世代資產。所以這肯定是一件大事。我認為，整個盆地的許多深層權利將在未來 12 至 24 個月內出租，這是合乎邏輯的。但對我們來說，它們都比這筆大筆付款要小，這是相當大的面積。

Our next question comes from Leo Mariani from ROTH MKM.

我們的下一個問題來自 ROTH MKM 的 Leo Mariani。

I wanted to ask whether or not you see any kind of material change in the tax rates for Venom following this kind of corporate conversion? I did see you had this kind of soft sort of not really guidance, but just kind of the numbers that you kind of rolled out for 2024 outside of production where you talk about kind of an effective tax rate. But I know you've got kind of multiple classes of units historically. I know you're going to have maybe more than one class of shares. But just trying to get a sense, are we going to see any material difference in kind of cash taxes in '24 versus '23?

我想問的是，在這種公司轉型之後，您是否認為毒液的稅率有任何實質變化？我確實看到你們有這種軟性的指導，並不是真正的指導，而是你們在生產之外推出的 2024 年數字，其中談到了有效稅率。但我知道歷史上有多種類型的單位。我知道您可能會有不只一類股票。但只是想了解一下，我們是否會看到 24 世紀與 23 世紀的現金稅有任何實質差異？

No, nothing should change at all for the public unitholders that will become public stockholders. So tax position didn't change. And I think they'll just provide them more flow and more liquidity.

不，對於將成為公共股東的公共單位持有人來說，任何事情都不應該改變。所以稅務狀況沒有改變。我認為他們只會為他們提供更多的流量和流動性。

That's why the conversion made so much sense is that we became a tactical partnership back in 2018. And there, for a couple of years, Diamondback is effectively shielding us from corporate taxes, and that agreement ran out end of last year. So here in 2023, we have a partnership with paying full corporate income taxes and getting all the downside effectively being a corporation, but you don't have any of the upsides. So it just made a lot of sense to do that today given in large part, the kind of tax situation that we're in.

這就是為什麼這次轉換如此有意義，因為我們早在 2018 年就成為了戰術合作夥伴。幾年來，響尾蛇有效地保護了我們免受公司稅，而協議於去年年底到期。因此，到 2023 年，我們建立了夥伴關係，繳納全額企業所得稅，並有效地承擔了作為一家公司的所有不利因素，但您沒有任何好處。因此，在很大程度上考慮到我們所處的稅收形勢，今天這樣做是很有意義的。

Okay. That's helpful. And then just wanted to kind of ask on a couple of other sort of numbers here. So I think you guys are kind of expecting production to come down a little bit in the first quarter. I'm assuming that's all just kind of timing-related, but just wanted to maybe get a little color around that.

好的。這很有幫助。然後只是想在這裡詢問一些其他類型的數字。所以我認為你們預計第一季的產量會略有下降。我假設這只是與時間相關的，但只是想對此進行一些說明。

And then also just noticing that your cash G&A per barrel guidance also came down nicely as well. Is it at a function of spending kind of less than you expected there? Or maybe just perhaps production results have been better? And with the acquisition, you're seeing the BOEs go up and you're just able to spread the cost out over more barrels?

然後還注意到您的每桶現金管理費用指導也下降得很好。是因為那裡的支出比您預期的少嗎？或者也許只是生產結果更好？透過收購，您會看到 BOE 上漲，並且您能夠將成本分攤到更多桶上？

On the production side, first, reported production will actually go up from Q4 to Q1. Q4, you're going to have 2/3 of contribution from the GRP assets. So we have the midpoint there of 24.5. And then going into the first quarter, actual reported production will go up, given you have a full quarter of those assets contributions.

在生產方面，首先，報告的產量實際上將從第四季度上升到第一季。 Q4，您將從 GRP 資產中獲得 2/3 的貢獻。所以我們得到的中點是 24.5。然後進入第一季度，考慮到您有整整一個季​​度的資產貢獻，實際報告的產量將會上升。

But we're trying to be intellectually honest there, look at it on a pro forma basis. And that's kind of what we're pointing to there, with a slight sequential decline. And really, in context, that follows back-to-back quarters the 5% growth that we've had here, and it's mainly a result of just kind of the timing of some of these really large Diamondback pads, where we have really high interest.

但我們試圖在理智上保持誠實，以準備考試的方式來看待它。這就是我們所指的，略有連續下降。實際上，在上下文中，這是在我們連續兩個季度實現 5% 的增長之後，這主要是由於其中一些非常大的響尾蛇墊的時機的結果，我們在這些墊上的增長率非常高興趣。

And we put in Slide 9 of the deck, where we kind of show the visibility to the Diamondback schedule. The way that we kind of see 2024 right now with the Diamondback side is having -- owning an interest in about 60% of Diamondback's completions next year with about a 6.5% interest within those wells, but that will be split roughly 40-60 between first half of the year and the second half of the year.

我們放入投影片 9 中，我們在其中展示了響尾蛇時間表的可見性。我們現在對 Diamondback 方面的看法是——擁有 Diamondback 明年完井項目中約 60% 的權益，其中約 6.5% 的權益位於這些井中，但這將在大約 40-60 之間分配上半年和下半年。

So still significant growth coming, especially on the Diamondback operative side. Is it mostly significant second half weighted given some of the bigger pads? And then on the cost items, I mean, those are all very minimal. We've kind of been spending $6 million, $7 million, maybe $8 million a year in cash G&A. As production goes up, we grow the business, we're not really having to add any people. So on a per unit basis, but those should continue to trend down even further over time.

因此，仍將出現顯著成長，尤其是在響尾蛇運作方面。考慮到一些較大的打擊墊，後半部的權重是否最為重要？然後就成本項目而言，我的意思是，這些都是非常小的。我們每年花費 600 萬、700 萬、甚至 800 萬美元的現金管理費用。隨著產量的增加，我們的業務也隨之成長，我們實際上不需要增加任何人員。因此，以單位為基礎，但隨著時間的推移，這些數字應該會繼續進一步下降。

Thank you. At this time, the Q&A session has now ended. I will now turn the call over to Travis Stice for closing remarks.

謝謝。至此，問答環節已經結束。我現在將把電話轉給特拉維斯·斯蒂斯（Travis Stice）做總結發言。

Thank you again to everyone participating in today's call. If you have any questions, please contact us using the information provided. Thank you.

再次感謝參加今天電話會議的所有人。如果您有任何疑問，請使用提供的資訊與我們聯絡。謝謝。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。