Western Midstream Partners LP (WES) 2025 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good morning. My name is Joanna, and I will be your conference operator today.

早安.我叫喬安娜，今天我將擔任您的會議主持人。

At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Western Midstream Partners Second Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Thank you.

現在，我歡迎大家參加 Western Midstream Partners 2025 年第二季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）謝謝。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Daniel Jenkins, Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

現在，我想將會議交給投資者關係總監 Daniel Jenkins。請繼續。

Thank you. I'm glad you could join us today for Western Midstream's Second Quarter 2025 Conference Call. I'd like to remind you that today's call, the accompanying slide deck in yesterday's earnings release and the Aris acquisition press release and slide deck contain important disclosures regarding forward-looking statements and non-GAAP reconciliations.

謝謝。我很高興您今天能參加 Western Midstream 2025 年第二季電話會議。我想提醒您，今天的電話會議、昨天收益報告中附帶的幻燈片以及 Aris 收購新聞稿和幻燈片包含有關前瞻性陳述和非 GAAP 對帳的重要披露。

Please reference Western Midstream's most recent Form 10-K and 10-Q and other public filings for a description of risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statements we discuss today. Relevant reference materials are posted on our website.

請參考 Western Midstream 最新的 10-K 和 10-Q 表格以及其他公開文件，以了解可能導致實際結果與我們今天討論的任何前瞻性陳述存在重大差異的風險因素的描述。相關參考資料已發佈在我們的網站上。

You will also note that due to the pending Aris Water Solutions transaction, today's discussion is subject to certain additional securities laws. And so we refer you to the slides in the Aris acquisition slide deck titled Forward-Looking Statements and Ownership Structure, and additional disclaimers that are posted in the Events and Presentations section of WES's corporate website.

您還會注意到，由於 Aris Water Solutions 交易尚未完成，今天的討論還需遵守某些額外的證券法。因此，我們請您參閱 Aris 收購幻燈片中的「前瞻性聲明和所有權結構」幻燈片，以及 WES 公司網站「活動和簡報」部分發布的附加免責聲明。

With me today are Oscar Brown, our Chief Executive Officer; Danny Holderman, our Chief Operating Officer; Kristen Shults, our Chief Financial Officer; and Jon VandenBrand, our Senior Vice President of Commercial.

今天與我一起出席的有我們的執行長奧斯卡布朗 (Oscar Brown)、我們的營運長丹尼霍爾德曼 (Danny Holderman)、我們的財務長克里斯汀舒爾茨 (Kristen Shults) 和我們的商業高級副總裁喬恩范登布蘭德 (Jon VandenBrand)。

I'll now turn the call over to Oscar.

我現在將電話轉給奧斯卡。

Thank you, Daniel, and good morning, everyone. The second quarter was both eventful and highly successful for WES. Yesterday afternoon, we reported strong second quarter operational and financial results, highlighted by sequential improvement in adjusted gross margin and the highest quarterly adjusted EBITDA in our partnership's history. In addition, continued strong activity levels and high system operability contributed to increased throughput across all core operating assets and product lines. Notably, we achieved record-breaking natural gas, crude oil and NGLs and produced water throughput in the Delaware Basin.

謝謝你，丹尼爾，大家早安。對 WES 來說，第二季既是多事之秋，也是非常成功的季度。昨天下午，我們報告了強勁的第二季度營運和財務業績，其中突出的是調整後毛利率的連續改善以及我們合作歷史上最高的季度調整後 EBITDA。此外，持續強勁的活動水準和較高的系統可操作性有助於提高所有核心營運資產和產品線的吞吐量。值得注意的是，我們在德拉瓦盆地實現了破紀錄的天然氣、原油和液化天然氣以及採出水吞吐量。

While our quarterly results were noteworthy, it is our steadfast commitment to and effective execution of our prudent growth strategy that truly distinguishes this quarter's performance. This is exemplified by our recent announcement of an agreement to acquire Aris Water Solutions and the sanctioning of a second train at our North Loving natural gas processing plant. These actions will enable us to further strengthen our footprint in the Delaware Basin, expand our service offerings and deliver enhanced flow assurance to all our producing customers.

雖然我們的季度業績值得關注，但真正讓本季業績脫穎而出的是我們對審慎成長策略的堅定承諾和有效執行。我們最近宣布了一項收購 Aris Water Solutions 的協議，並批准在我們的 North Loving 天然氣處理廠生產第二列天然氣列車，就是一個例證。這些措施將使我們能夠進一步加強在特拉華盆地的業務，擴大我們的服務範圍，並為所有生產客戶提供增強的流量保證。

Turning first to the Aris announcement. This accretive bolt-on acquisition enables us to optimize the value of our existing asset base and leverage our operational expertise to generate incremental value for our unitholders, which are both core principles of our M&A strategy. By integrating Aris's water disposal, water solutions and beneficial reuse capabilities with WES's existing produced water business, including our under-construction Pathfinder pipeline, this acquisition establishes WES as a best-in-class intra-basin produced water system provider. With a differentiated Texas and New Mexico water system, WES will continue to deliver exceptional flow assurance and sustainable service offerings to customers for years to come.

首先談談 Aris 公告。此次增值性附加收購使我們能夠優化現有資產基礎的價值，並利用我們的營運專業知識為我們的單位持有人創造增量價值，這兩者都是我們併購策略的核心原則。透過將 Aris 的水處理、水解決方案和有益再利用能力與 WES 現有的生產水業務（包括我們正在建造的 Pathfinder 管道）相結合，此次收購使 WES 成為一流的流域內生產水系統供應商。憑藉差異化的德州和新墨西哥州供水系統，WES 將在未來幾年繼續為客戶提供卓越的流量保證和永續的服務。

The ability to transport water throughout the basin has become increasingly important considering the volume of produced water generated in the Delaware Basin and the recent Texas Railroad Commission regulations pertaining to the permitting of new saltwater disposal wells. After the close of this transaction, WES's pro forma produced water disposal capacity will be more than 3.8 million barrels per day. Additionally, Aris's recent purchase of the McNeill Ranch, which straddles New Mexico and Texas between the Delaware Basin and the Central Basin Platform provides significant long-term optionality with incremental access to pore space and other surface use opportunities. Next, this transaction further diversifies WES's customer base and contributes to WES's already strong midstream contract portfolio.

考慮到特拉華盆地產生的採出水量以及最近德克薩斯州鐵路委員會關於允許開設新的鹽水處理井的規定，在整個盆地內輸送水的能力變得越來越重要。此次交易完成後，WES 的預計採出水處理能力將超過每天 380 萬桶。此外，Aris 最近收購了麥克尼爾牧場 (McNeill Ranch)，該牧場橫跨新墨西哥州和德克薩斯州，位於特拉華盆地和中央盆地平台之間，為長期發展提供了重要的選擇權，可以逐步利用孔隙空間和其他地表使用機會。其次，此交易進一步豐富了WES的客戶群，並為WES本已強大的中游合約組合做出了貢獻。

Through Aris's long-term contracts, material acreage dedications that consist of more than 625,000 acres and minimum volume commitments with investment-grade counterparties, adding Aris to our portfolio will provide additional support for our distribution. The transaction also significantly expands our footprint in New Mexico, unlocking new opportunities to potentially grow our

透過 Aris 的長期合約、超過 625,000 英畝的土地承諾以及與投資等級交易對手的最低產量承諾，將 Aris 添加到我們的投資組合中將為我們的分銷提供額外支持。這項交易也大幅擴大了我們在新墨西哥州的業務範圍，為我們的發展帶來了新的機會。

natural gas and crude oil gathering and processing businesses. Aris's customers include large integrated producers such as Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Occidental and large private producers such as Mewbourne. At $25 per share, the acquisition values Aris at $2 billion, including the assumption of Aris's net debt and other liabilities before transaction costs. This implies approximately 7.5x 2026 consensus EBITDA, inclusive of $40 million of estimated cost synergies. Based on this, the acquisition is expected to be accretive to 2026 free cash flow per unit.

天然氣和原油收集和加工業務。Aris 的客戶包括雪佛龍、康菲石油和西方石油等大型綜合生產商以及 Mewbourne 等大型私人生產商。以每股 25 美元的價格計算，此次收購對 Aris 的估值為 20 億美元，其中包括承擔 Aris 的淨債務和其他負債（不包括交易成本）。這意味著 2026 年 EBITDA 約為 7.5 倍，其中包括 4,000 萬美元的預期成本綜效。基於此，預計此次收購將增加2026年每單位的自由現金流。

By financing the transaction with up to 28% cash and 72% WES units, we expect our industry-leading net leverage position to remain at approximately 3x on a pro forma basis. Over the past several years, we have prioritized strengthening our balance sheet through debt reduction, enhancing operational efficiencies, reducing costs and growing adjusted EBITDA. These actions have positioned our partnership to successfully execute this strategic bolt-on acquisition from a position of strength. Pivoting to our recently announced organic growth opportunities, we have also sanctioned an additional train at our existing North Loving plant in the Delaware Basin. This 300 million cubic feet per day natural gas processing train will increase the North Loving plant capacity to 550 million cubic feet per day and take our total West Texas complex processing capacity to approximately 2.5 billion cubic feet per day by early in the second quarter of 2027.

透過以高達 28% 的現金和 72% 的 WES 單位為交易融資，我們預計我們行業領先的淨槓桿率將保持在約 3 倍的備考基礎上。過去幾年，我們一直致力於透過減少債務、提高營運效率、降低成本和增加調整後的 EBITDA 來加強資產負債表。這些舉措使我們的合作關係能夠以優勢地位成功執行這項策略性附加收購。圍繞我們最近宣布的有機增長機會，我們還批准在特拉華盆地現有的北洛文工廠增加一列火車。這條每天 3 億立方英尺的天然氣處理生產線將使北洛文工廠的產能增加到每天 5.5 億立方英尺，並使我們西德克薩斯綜合設施的總處理能力到 2027 年第二季度初達到每天約 25 億立方英尺。

After evaluating multiyear throughput forecast and conducting numerous discussions with our producing customers in West Texas, we strongly believe that the volume of natural gas and produced water will be substantial for years to come.

在評估多年的吞吐量預測並與西德州的生產客戶進行多次討論後，我們堅信未來幾年天然氣和採出水的數量將會非常可觀。

Our North Loving Train I reached full capacity within just 1 month of its late February 2025 start-up, and we are still relying on offloads at times to manage our customers' throughput profile. The offload market today is tighter than in 2022 when we put these original offloads into place.

我們的北方愛心列車 I 號於 2025 年 2 月底啟動後僅 1 個月內就達到了滿載運轉，我們有時仍依靠卸載來管理客戶的吞吐量狀況。今天的卸載市場比我們最初實施這些卸載計劃的 2022 年更加緊張。

Therefore, we see a need for additional own processing capacity at our West Texas complex. We think it is in our partnership's best interest to be well prepared to receive more natural gas and produced water volumes as the gas-to-oil and the water-to-oil ratios experienced by our customers continue to increase over time.

因此，我們認為西德州綜合設施需要增加自身的加工能力。我們認為，隨著客戶所經歷的氣油比和水油比不斷增加，做好接收更多天然氣和採出水量的充分準備符合我們合作夥伴的最佳利益。

In addition to these actions, the teams at WES have maintained a sharp focus on enhancing productivity and efficiency to strengthen our cost structure and sharpen our competitive edge. During the first quarter, we implemented new initiatives to optimize operational processes and improve resource allocation, both of which drive meaningful efficiencies in operating performance, improve our ability to compete for new business and advance high-value organic growth initiatives. Kristen will provide additional details on these accomplishments in a moment.

除了這些行動之外，WES 的團隊也一直高度重視提高生產力和效率，以加強我們的成本結構並增強我們的競爭優勢。在第一季度，我們實施了新的舉措來優化營運流程並改善資源配置，這兩項舉措都顯著提高了營運績效的效率，增強了我們爭奪新業務的能力並推進了高價值的有機增長計劃。克里斯汀稍後將提供有關這些成就的更多詳細資訊。

These actions, coupled with our Pathfinder pipeline and the recently commissioned North Loving Train I, advance our strategy of prioritizing capital-efficient growth that generates strong returns for WES unitholders and aligns with our continued focus on sustaining and growing the distribution over time. Collectively, these efforts will help accelerate growth over the coming years, and I look forward to our team's continued strong execution as we strive to deliver excellent service and increased flow assurance for our customers.

這些行動，加上我們的 Pathfinder 管道和最近投入使用的 North Loving Train I，推進了我們優先考慮資本高效增長的戰略，為 WES 單位持有人帶來豐厚回報，並與我們持續關注維持和增加分銷保持一致。總的來說，這些努力將有助於加速未來幾年的成長，我期待我們的團隊繼續強而有力的執行，努力為客戶提供優質的服務和更高的流量保證。

With that, I will turn the call over to our Chief Operating Officer, Danny Holderman, to discuss our operational performance during the second quarter. Danny?

接下來，我將把電話轉給我們的營運長 Danny Holderman，討論我們第二季的營運表現。丹尼？

Thank you, Oscar, and good morning, everyone. Our second quarter natural gas throughput increased by 3% on a sequential quarter basis, primarily due to increased throughput across all of our core operating basins. The Delaware Basin outperformed in the second quarter, primarily due to numerous wells coming online early in the second quarter.

謝謝你，奧斯卡，大家早安。我們第二季的天然氣吞吐量環比成長 3%，這主要歸功於我們所有核心營運盆地的吞吐量增加。特拉華盆地在第二季度表現出色，主要原因是第二季初有大量油井投入使用。

This increase was partially offset by lower throughput from our other assets, specifically in South Texas due to plant turnaround activities during the quarter. Our crude oil and NGLs throughput increased by 6% on a sequential quarter basis due to increased throughput across all of our core operating basins and new wells in the Delaware Basin that came on early in the quarter.

這一增長被我們其他資產的吞吐量下降部分抵消，特別是由於本季度工廠週轉活動導致的南德克薩斯州的吞吐量下降。由於我們所有核心營運盆地的吞吐量增加以及本季初特拉華盆地的新油井的吞吐量增加，我們的原油和天然氣液體吞吐量環比增加了 6%。

We also experienced increased throughput from our equity investments. Additionally, our produced water throughput increased by 4% on a sequential quarter basis due to new wells in the Delaware Basin coming online early in the quarter.

我們的股權投資產出也增加了。此外，由於特拉華盆地的新井在本季初投入使用，我們的採出水吞吐量較上季增加了 4%。

Our second quarter per Mcf adjusted gross margin for natural gas decreased by $0.02 on a sequential quarter basis, which was in line with our prior expectations coming into the quarter. This decrease was primarily driven by lower excess natural gas liquids volumes in conjunction with reduced NGL pricing and changes in contract mix.

我們第二季每千立方英尺天然氣調整後毛利率環比下降 0.02 美元，這與我們先前對本季的預期一致。下降的主要原因是過剩天然氣液體量減少、天然氣液體價格下降以及合約組合變化。

Going forward, we expect our third quarter per Mcf adjusted gross margin to be in line with the second quarter. Our second quarter per barrel adjusted gross margin for crude oil and NGLs decreased by $0.15 compared to the prior quarter, which was in line with our prior expectations coming into the quarter.

展望未來，我們預計第三季每千立方英尺調整後的毛利率將與第二季持平。我們第二季每桶原油和天然氣液體的調整後毛利率與上一季相比下降了 0.15 美元，這符合我們對本季的先前預期。

This decrease was primarily due to more normalized timing of distribution payments and increased throughput from our equity investments, which have a lower-than-average per barrel margin as compared to our other crude oil and NGL assets. On an operated

這一下降主要是由於分配付款時間更加標準化以及股權投資吞吐量增加，與我們的其他原油和天然氣液體資產相比，股權投資的每桶利潤率低於平均水平。在手術上

basis, our per barrel adjusted gross margin remained relatively flat. We expect our third quarter per barrel adjusted gross margin to be in line with the second quarter. Our second quarter per barrel adjusted gross margin for produced water was unchanged and in line with our prior expectations coming into the quarter. Going forward, we expect our third quarter per barrel adjusted gross margin to be in line with the second quarter.

基礎上，我們每桶調整後的毛利率保持相對穩定。我們預計第三季每桶調整後的毛利率將與第二季持平。我們第二季每桶調整後的採出水毛利率保持不變，與我們先前對本季的預期一致。展望未來，我們預計第三季每桶調整後的毛利率將與第二季持平。

Turning our attention to the remainder of the year, we continue to expect our portfolio-wide average year-over-year throughput to increase by mid-single-digit percentage growth for both natural gas and produced water and low single-digit percentage growth for crude oil and NGLs. For year-over-year comparative purposes, these expectations exclude the volumes associated with the noncore asset sales that closed in early 2024.

展望今年剩餘時間，我們繼續預計整個投資組合的天然氣和採出水平均同比吞吐量將實現中等個位數百分比增長，原油和天然氣液體的平均同比吞吐量將實現低個位數百分比增長。為了與去年同期進行比較，這些預期不包括 2024 年初完成的非核心資產銷售相關的交易量。

In the Delaware Basin, we continue to expect modest year-over-year increases in average throughput across all 3 product lines, reaffirming the basin's role as our primary growth engine in 2025. During the second quarter, Delaware Basin throughput benefited from new wells coming online early in the quarter.

在特拉華盆地，我們繼續預計所有 3 條產品線的平均吞吐量將同比小幅增長，並重申該盆地作為我們 2025 年主要成長引擎的作用。第二季度，特拉華盆地的產量受惠於本季初投產的新井。

Going forward and based on current producer forecast, the cadence of wells that come to market is expected to remain fairly consistent throughout the second half of the year, although we currently forecast this activity to be more heavily weighted towards the fourth quarter.

展望未來，根據目前生產商的預測，預計今年下半年油井上市的節奏將保持相當一致，儘管我們目前預測這一活動將更多地集中在第四季度。

As a result, our latest forecast shows that our third quarter Delaware Basin volumes for all three products will remain flat compared to the second quarter levels. In the DJ Basin, we continue to expect average year-over-year throughput to remain fairly flat for both natural gas and for crude oil and NGLs. During the first half of the year in the Powder River Basin, we benefited from offloads from certain peers that experienced temporary downtime due to asset maintenance or repairs.

因此，我們的最新預測顯示，第三季特拉華盆地三種產品的產量將與第二季持平。在 DJ 盆地，我們繼續預期天然氣、原油和 NGL 的平均年比吞吐量將保持相當穩定。今年上半年，在 Powder River Basin，我們受益於某些同業的卸載，這些同業因資產維護或維修而經歷了暫時的停機。

Even though those trains returned to service by the end of the second quarter and the volumes from those offloads decreased, we still anticipate modest year-over-year increases in average throughput for both natural gas and crude oil and NGLs for 2025 due to offsetting customer-driven organic growth projects.

儘管這些列車在第二季末恢復運營，且卸貨量有所下降，但我們仍預計，由於抵消了客戶驅動的有機增長項目，2025 年天然氣、原油和天然氣液體的平均吞吐量將同比小幅增長。

Finally, we still expect meaningful natural gas throughput growth from our other assets, specifically in the Uinta Basin to commence in the second half of the year, driven by increased volumes from Williams' Mountain West pipeline expansion and the tie-in of Kinder Morgan's Altamont pipeline to our Chipeta plant in September.

最後，我們仍然預計，我們其他資產的天然氣吞吐量將顯著增長，特別是在尤因塔盆地，這將在下半年開始，受到威廉斯西山管道擴建和金德摩根阿爾塔蒙特管道與我們奇佩塔工廠 9 月連接帶來的產量增加的推動。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Kristen to discuss our financial performance during the second quarter.

說完這些，我將把電話轉給克莉絲汀，討論我們第二季的財務表現。

Thank you, Danny, and good morning, everyone. During the second quarter, we generated net income attributable to limited partners of $334 million and adjusted EBITDA of $618 million. Relative to the first quarter, our adjusted gross margin increased by $18 million.

謝謝你，丹尼，大家早安。第二季度，我們實現歸屬於有限合夥人的淨收入 3.34 億美元，調整後 EBITDA 為 6.18 億美元。與第一季相比，我們的調整後毛利率增加了 1800 萬美元。

This was primarily driven by increased throughput and improved gross margin contribution from the Delaware Basin, which was partially offset by less gross margin contribution from the excess natural gas liquids volumes in combination with lower NGL pricing and lower distributions from our equity investments. Our operations and maintenance expense decreased slightly quarter- over-quarter.

這主要得益於特拉華盆地吞吐量的增加和毛利率的提高，但過剩天然氣液體產量帶來的毛利率貢獻減少，加上 NGL 價格下降和股權投資分配減少，部分抵消了這一影響。我們的營運和維護費用較上季略有下降。

Going forward, we anticipate higher operation and maintenance expense during the third quarter, resulting from increased utility expense during the hotter summer months associated with higher estimated electricity pricing. As a reminder, we are reimbursed for approximately 75% of our utility cost portfolio-wide from our producing customers.

展望未來，我們預計第三季的營運和維護費用將會增加，這是由於夏季較熱月份的公用事業費用增加以及預計電價上漲所造成的。提醒一下，我們的生產客戶報銷了大約 75% 的整個公用事業成本組合。

Turning to cash flow. Our second quarter cash flow from operating activities totaled $564 million, generating free cash flow of $388 million. Free cash flow after our first quarter 2025 distribution payment in May was $33 million. Focusing on capital markets activities, we retired $337 million of senior notes upon their maturity in early June with cash on hand, and we were able to maintain our top-tier net leverage ratio of 2.9x at quarter end.

轉向現金流。我們第二季的經營活動現金流總計 5.64 億美元，產生的自由現金流為 3.88 億美元。我們於 5 月支付 2025 年第一季分配後的自由現金流量為 3,300 萬美元。我們專注於資本市場活動，在 6 月初到期的 3.37 億美元優先票據到期後，我們用手頭上的現金贖回了這些票據，並且我們能夠在季度末保持 2.9 倍的頂級淨槓桿率。

In July, we declared a quarterly distribution of $0.91 per unit, which is in line with the prior quarter's distribution and will be paid on August 14 to unitholders of record on August 1. At this time, we are not making any changes to our 2025 financial guidance ranges considering the estimated Aris acquisition close date, which we expect to be during the fourth quarter after the regulatory review process and the Aris shareholder meeting is complete.

7 月份，我們宣布季度分配為每單位 0.91 美元，與上一季的分配一致，並將於 8 月 14 日支付給 8 月 1 日登記在冊的單位持有人。目前，考慮到預計的 Aris 收購完成日期，我們不會對 2025 年財務指導範圍做出任何更改，我們預計該日期將在監管審查程序和 Aris 股東大會完成後的第四季度。

Additionally, as Oscar previously mentioned, during the first quarter, we implemented new initiatives to optimize our operational processes and improve resource allocation, which has yielded meaningful efficiencies and cost reductions across the partnership. Through targeted optimization of field level operations, procurement practices and maintenance and turnaround procedures, we have successfully reduced downtime, increased efficiencies and identified permanent annual run rate cost savings of approximately $50 million.

此外，正如奧斯卡之前提到的，在第一季度，我們實施了新的舉措來優化我們的營運流程並改善資源配置，這為整個合作夥伴關係帶來了顯著的效率提升和成本降低。透過有針對性地優化現場級運營、採購實踐以及維護和周轉程序，我們成功減少了停機時間，提高了效率，並確定了每年約 5000 萬美元的永久運行成本節約。

We are already realizing the benefits of these improvements, which are expected to help us better manage and offset rising variable costs and higher operation and maintenance expense as our operations continue to grow. These are ongoing initiatives that we expect to continue yielding results and additional improvements in both 2025 and 2026. With regard to capital spending, we still expect to remain within the 2025 guidance range.

我們已經意識到這些改進的好處，預計隨著業務的不斷增長，這些改進將幫助我們更好地管理和抵消不斷上升的變動成本以及更高的營運和維護成本。這些都是正在實施的舉措，我們預計它們將在 2025 年和 2026 年繼續取得成果並帶來進一步的改善。關於資本支出，我們仍預計將維持在2025年的指導範圍內。

But with the addition of North Loving II, coupled with the expected Aris acquisition close date during the fourth quarter, we now expect WES to be towards the high end of our previous guidance range of $625 million to $775 million. Looking ahead to 2026 and

但隨著 North Loving II 的加入，再加上預計在第四季度完成 Aris 收購，我們現在預計 WES 的銷售額將接近我們之前 6.25 億美元至 7.75 億美元的指導範圍的高端。展望 2026 年和

recognizing that the majority of expenditures related to Pathfinder and North Loving II will be incurred during that year, we now expect 2026 capital expenditures to be at least $1.1 billion. Given that both Pathfinder and North Loving II are short-cycle capital projects with expected returns of at least mid-teens on an unlevered basis, we expect these investments to drive substantial EBITDA growth beginning in 2027. Over the coming months, we will continue to receive updated forecast from our producers, which will allow us to continue developing our 2026 forecast.

考慮到與 Pathfinder 和 North Loving II 相關的大部分支出將在當年發生，我們目前預計 2026 年的資本支出將至少為 11 億美元。鑑於 Pathfinder 和 North Loving II 都是短週期資本項目，在無槓桿基礎上的預期回報率至少為十五六倍，我們預計這些投資將從 2027 年開始推動 EBITDA 大幅成長。在接下來的幾個月裡，我們將繼續從生產商收到更新的預測，這將使我們能夠繼續制定 2026 年的預測。

Even with elevated levels of capital spending next year and the capital needed to close the Aris acquisition, we would still expect net leverage to remain at approximately 3 times. With that said, based on our recent conversations with our customers and updated throughput forecast, we would expect to grow average year-over-year throughput across all three product lines again in 2026, even before you incorporate the positive contribution from Aris.

即使明年資本支出水準上升，且需要資金來完成對 Aris 的收購，我們仍預期淨槓桿率將維持在 3 倍左右。話雖如此，根據我們最近與客戶的對話和更新的吞吐量預測，我們預計到 2026 年，所有三條產品線的平均同比吞吐量將再次增長，甚至在計入 Aris 的積極貢獻之前也是如此。

With a growing asset base, the inclusion of Aris and net leverage at approximately 3x, we are confident we have plenty of financial flexibility to fund a more robust capital expenditure program that will generate higher throughput in 2027 and beyond. We remain committed to generating strong returns for WES unitholders to sustain and grow the base distribution over time. However, in light of our strong current yield, we intend for distribution growth to trail earnings growth in order to increase our distribution coverage and provide greater cash flow certainty.

隨著資產基礎的不斷增長、Aris 的納入以及淨槓桿率達到約 3 倍，我們有信心擁有充足的財務靈活性來資助更強勁的資本支出計劃，從而在 2027 年及以後產生更高的吞吐量。我們將繼續致力於為 WES 單位持有者創造豐厚的回報，以維持和增加基礎分配。然而，鑑於我們目前的強勁收益率，我們希望分銷成長落後於獲利成長，以擴大我們的分銷覆蓋範圍並提供更大的現金流確定性。

With that, I will now turn the call over to Oscar for closing remarks.

現在，我將把發言時間交給奧斯卡，請他作最後發言。

Thanks, Kristen. Before we open it up for Q&A, I would like to emphasize how our premier asset portfolio, steadfast commitment to financial discipline and resilient business model distinguish us as an industry leader and positions us to capitalize on compelling growth opportunities, all while delivering industry-leading return of capital to our investors and sustained long-term value to our stakeholders.

謝謝，克里斯汀。在我們開始問答之前，我想強調我們一流的資產組合、對財務紀律的堅定承諾和有彈性的商業模式如何使我們成為行業領導者，並使我們能夠利用引人注目的成長機會，同時為我們的投資者提供行業領先的資本回報，並為我們的利益相關者提供持續的長期價值。

First, the Aris acquisition significantly strengthens WES's position as a midstream water services leader and allows WES to provide elevated levels of flow assurance to our customers that further derisks their core exploration and production businesses.

首先，收購 Aris 大大加強了 WES 作為中游水服務領導者的地位，並使得 WES 能夠為我們的客戶提供更高水準的流量保證，從而進一步降低其核心勘探和生產業務的風險。

The increased scale and expanded service offerings that the acquisition provides will better position WES to compete for incremental natural gas and crude oil and NGLs business over the long term and especially in New Mexico.

此次收購將擴大規模並擴大服務範圍，使 WES 能夠更好地長期競爭增量天然氣、原油和 NGL 業務，尤其是在新墨西哥州。

Second, the Aris acquisition and the sanctioning of our second train at the North Loving plant were driven by continued strong producer activity levels in the Delaware Basin that greatly support our growth outlook and strategy in 2026 and beyond. Despite experiencing volatile market conditions early in the second quarter, we have not experienced any substantial changes in our customers' expected production outlooks, and we remain on track to execute our overall growth strategy.

其次，對 Aris 的收購以及我們在北洛文工廠第二條生產線的批准，得益於特拉華盆地持續強勁的生產活動水平，這極大地支持了我們 2026 年及以後的增長前景和戰略。儘管第二季初經歷了市場動盪，但我們客戶的預期生產前景並未發生任何實質變化，我們仍在按計劃執行我們的整體成長策略。

Finally, WES's long-term contract portfolio, strong balance sheet and investment-grade credit ratings provide the financial flexibility necessary to support our multiyear expansion projects. Our contract structure supported by minimum volume commitments and cost of service protections further enhance the stability and predictability of our future profitability and potential free cash flow generation.

最後，WES 的長期合約組合、強勁的資產負債表和投資等級信用評級提供了支持我們多年擴張項目所需的財務靈活性。我們的合約結構由最低數量承諾和服務成本保護支持，進一步增強了我們未來盈利能力和潛在自由現金流產生的穩定性和可預測性。

By maintaining low net leverage and generating strong free cash flow, we are well positioned to maintain our disciplined capital allocation framework, increase distribution coverage and return more capital to unitholders over time.

透過維持較低的淨槓桿率和產生強勁的自由現金流，我們能夠很好地維持嚴謹的資本配置框架，提高分配覆蓋率，並隨著時間的推移向單位持有人返還更多資本。

Our strong second quarter results have kept us on track to achieving our 2025 operational and financial goals and the Pathfinder Pipeline and North Loving II organic growth projects as well as the Aris acquisition prudently accelerate our growth plans for 2026, 2027 and beyond. We will remain focused on providing excellent customer service for our producing customers, and we look forward to leveraging our leading midstream water services position to drive additional growth in our natural gas and crude oil gathering and processing businesses.

我們第二季的強勁業績使我們有望實現 2025 年的營運和財務目標，而 Pathfinder Pipeline 和 North Loving II 有機增長項目以及 Aris 收購則審慎地加速了我們 2026 年、2027 年及以後的增長計劃。我們將繼續致力於為生產客戶提供卓越的客戶服務，並期待利用我們領先的中游水服務地位來推動我們的天然氣和原油收集和加工業務的進一步成長。

Thank you to the entire WES workforce for your hard work and dedication to our partnership. And with that, we'll open the call up for questions.

感謝全體 WES 員工為我們的合作所付出的辛勤工作和奉獻。接下來，我們將開始回答問題。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Keith Stanley of Wolfe Research.

沃爾夫研究公司的基斯‧史丹利。

Hi, good morning. I wanted to start on the funding for Aris. So you're issuing over $1 billion of equity for the deal in a leverage-neutral way. The company has excess balance sheet capacity today. So can you talk to that financing decision? I guess, especially with the stock yielding 9%, I think you'd get a lot more accretion if you use more cash on the deal.

嗨，早安。我想開始為 Aris 籌集資金。因此，您將以槓桿中性的方式為該交易發行超過 10 億美元的股權。該公司目前的資產負債表容量過剩。那麼您能談談這個融資決策嗎？我想，尤其是在股票收益率達到 9% 的情況下，如果你在這筆交易中使用更多的現金，我認為你會獲得更多的收益。

Yeah, No, thanks for that. It's Oscar. So when we looked at this, we had the opportunity to do a transaction that's immediately accretive to really all our metrics on a per unit basis and to finance it leverage neutral. And we think that gives us the kind of capability to lean into, one, our organic growth projects, which are increasing as we talked about, but also to position us for additional consolidation opportunities in gas and oil as they arise.

是的，不，謝謝你。是奧斯卡。因此，當我們考慮這一點時，我們就有機會進行一項交易，該交易可以立即增值我們單位的所有指標，並以中性槓桿為其提供資金。我們認為，這不僅讓我們有能力依靠我們的有機成長項目（正如我們談到的，這些項目正在增加），而且還讓我們在天然氣和石油領域出現更多整合機會時做好準備。

So given the metrics here, we thought it was a great opportunity to just preserve the balance sheet and set us up for additional opportunities in the near term.

因此，考慮到這裡的指標，我們認為這是一個很好的機會，可以保留資產負債表並在短期內為我們創造更多機會。

Okay. Great. Second one, I guess, just from a business mix perspective, you make the point on the slides that water is still only 16% of EBITDA with the transaction. It's a big part of your growth strategy and capital plan, though. So where do you see water kind of as a percentage of the company going forward? And is there any limit or mix that you're going for?

好的。偉大的。第二，我想，僅從業務組合的角度來看，您在幻燈片上指出，即使進行了交易，水仍僅佔 EBITDA 的 16%。但它是你的成長策略和資本計畫的重要組成部分。那麼您認為未來水資源在公司中所佔的比例會是多少呢？您想要達到什麼限製或混合效果嗎？

I don't think we have a specific target mix. We firmly believe the water business has evolved into a midstream, a clear midstream type of business, just like gathering and processing for oil and gas. If you look at the commercial contracts that they have, the dedications and the MVCs, it looks just like the rest of our business.

我認為我們沒有特定的目標組合。我們堅信，水務業務已經發展成為中游業務，一種明確的中游業務，就像石油和天然氣的收集和加工一樣。如果你看一下他們擁有的商業合約、奉獻和 MVC，它看起來就像我們的其他業務一樣。

So commercially, we're sort of happy with any of the 3 streams that we support, and it really helps us with our customers and helps them with overall integrated flow assurance. In terms of the business mix, we kind of like this 15% range. When we're highly successful on a Pathfinder, it will creep up a little bit closer to 20%. We're probably pretty happy with that mix. Thank you.

因此從商業角度來看，我們對我們支援的 3 種流中的任何一種都感到滿意，它確實幫助我們服務客戶，並幫助他們實現整體的綜合流量保證。就業務組合而言，我們有點喜歡這個 15% 的範圍。當我們在探路者號上取得巨大成功時，這個比例將會上升到接近 20%。我們可能對這種組合非常滿意。謝謝。

Yeah Thank you. Your next question comes from the line of Gabriel Maureen at Mizuho. Your line is now open.

是的，謝謝。您的下一個問題來自瑞穗的 Gabriel Maureen。您的線路現已開通。

Hey, good morning team. I just wanted to ask about following up sort of on the water deal. And can you just talk about systems around Aris and going to New Mexico here? Are there other privately held systems where you view the opportunity to continue to consolidate around here? And then also from a regulatory standpoint, you're making an entry into New Mexico. Just your views on doing business in that state versus in Texas, particularly on the water front, whether it's permitting disposal wells or what have you, what your views are there?

嘿，大家早安。我只是想問有關水交易的後續情況。您能談談 Aris 周圍的系統以及前往新墨西哥州的情況嗎？您認為有其他私人控股系統有機會繼續整合嗎？然後從監管的角度來看，你正在進入新墨西哥州。您對在該州和德克薩斯州開展業務有何看法，特別是在水邊，無論是允許處置井還是其他什麼，您有何看法？

Thanks for that, Gabe. So in terms of -- again, Aris was our #1 sort of focus opportunity given their sort of midstream structure for us in the water business. And when you look at the map, it really completes our system in the Delaware Basin. So we're pretty happy with the combination here and don't see a lot of need to continue to add to the system from here in an inorganic way. And frankly, the commercial opportunities increased dramatically for both entities with the combination. So I think that will help us on that front. We've been looking for a way.

謝謝你，加布。因此就這一點而言——再次強調，鑑於 Aris 在水務業務中為我們提供的中游結構，Aris 是我們首要關注的機會。當你查看地圖時，它確實完善了我們在特拉華盆地的系統。因此，我們對這裡的組合非常滿意，並且認為沒有必要繼續以無機的方式向系統中添加任何東西。坦白說，合併後，兩個實體的商業機會都大大增加。所以我認為這將對我們在這方面有所幫助。我們一直在尋找方法。

We operate in a small way in New Mexico today across streams, and we've been looking for a way to grow in New Mexico. So we're comfortable with the regulatory environment. We have experience there, obviously. And so we don't see any concern there with sort of those kind of issues. In fact, we think that the ability to move water across state lines and across the combined systems is going to be a critical feature in optimizing the assets and frankly, increases commercial opportunities for Pathfinder in the long run as well. So we really think this combination gives us a unique position in the space.

目前，我們在新墨西哥州的河流上進行小規模經營，並且一直在尋找在新墨西哥州發展的方式。所以我們對監管環境感到滿意。顯然，我們在這方面有經驗。因此，我們認為不存在任何此類問題的擔憂。事實上，我們認為，跨州和跨聯合系統輸送水的能力將成為優化資產的關鍵特徵，坦白說，從長遠來看，這也將增加 Pathfinder 的商業機會。因此我們確實認為這種結合使我們在該領域擁有獨特的地位。

Thanks, Oscar. And then maybe if I can pivot to the FID on Loving II, I think maybe a little bit sooner than some folks were expecting. You talked about still needing some offloads and maybe having that baseload some of the plant. In the past, you've also had some commitments from some of your producers to baseload new plants. Can you talk about that? And also a lot of new plan FIDs. Are you playing a little more offense and being a little more aggressive here in terms of the FID of this plant maybe relative to some of your historical plan FIDs?

謝謝，奧斯卡。然後，如果我可以轉向《愛戀 II》的 FID，我想可能會比一些人預期的要早一點。您談到仍然需要一些卸載，並且可能將一些基本負載分配給工廠。過去，你們也曾從一些生產商那裡獲得為新電廠提供基本負載的承諾。你能談談這個嗎？另外還有很多新的計劃最終決定 (FID)。就工廠的最終投資決定 (FID) 而言，相對於您的一些歷史計劃的最終投資決定 (FID)，您是否會採取更具進攻性且更積極的態度？

I think that's right. So historically, we've taken a very conservative approach and built up an offload portfolio that ultimately equips the size of a plant and then at that time would take FID and 2 years later, you'd have a plant.

我認為那是對的。因此，從歷史上看，我們採取了非常保守的方法，並建立了最終達到工廠規模的卸載組合，然後在那時進行 FID，兩年後，你就會擁有一座工廠。

We've probably ceded a little market share with that strategy in the past. Here, we spent a lot of time with our existing dedication customers and producers to really understand their medium- and long-term sort of view on where their gas production is expected over the next few years.

我們過去可能因為這項策略而失去了一些市場份額。在這裡，我們花了很多時間與現有的忠實客戶和生產商交流，以真正了解他們對未來幾年天然氣產量預期的中長期看法。

And so really we're thoughtful about this and had the opportunity to go ahead and take FID. The design of North Loving, the area and then North Loving I sort of built in the opportunity to move quickly on an additional train. We have the space.

因此，我們確實對此進行了深思熟慮，並有機會繼續採取 FID。北洛文 (North Loving) 的設計、該地區以及北洛文 (North Loving) 的設計都為搭乘額外的火車快速移動提供了機會。我們有空間。

We already had much of the design work done, in line with completing the first one. So we are continuing to use offloads today. We see growth in gas with our producers. We're aligned with the direction the basin is going in terms of increasing GORs as well.

我們已經完成了大部分設計工作，與第一個設計工作的完成一致。因此我們今天將繼續使用卸載。我們看到天然氣生產商的產量正在增加。在增加 GOR 方面，我們與盆地的發展方向保持一致。

So, we have a lot of confidence and visibility this time and decided to go ahead and move before waiting to kind of a completely full plant from the start.

因此，我們這次非常有信心，並且有清晰的認識，因此決定立即行動，而不是等待工廠完全建成。

Thanks Oscar.

謝謝奧斯卡。

Manav Gupta at UBS.

瑞銀的 Manav Gupta。

Good morning. Looks like a great deal. I'm just trying to understand this a little better. You talked about like $40 million in synergies. So how should we think about synergy capital? Would you have to spend anything to actually gain these synergies? And once this transaction closes, how should we think about the long-term distribution growth enabled by this transaction?

早安.看起來非常划算。我只是想更好地理解這一點。您談到了 4000 萬美元的協同效應。那我們該如何看待協同資本呢？你需要花費什麼才能真正獲得這些協同效應嗎？一旦這筆交易完成，我們該如何看待這筆交易帶來的長期分銷成長？

Thank you for that. Good questions. In terms of the synergy capture, the $40 million is all kind of G&A and typical sort of public company consolidation synergies. So low-hanging fruit that should be quick to realize. Of course, we've got to wait for this regulatory approval and shareholder vote. So there's a lot of planning we've done and are going to do in the next couple of months into closing.

謝謝你。好問題。就綜效而言，4,000 萬美元屬於各類一般及行政費用和典型的上市公司合併綜效。如此唾手可得的成果應該很快就能實現。當然，我們必須等待監管部門的批准和股東投票。因此，我們已經做了很多規劃，並將在接下來的幾個月內完成。

So, we should be able to move very quickly on realizing those synergies. As we know, we have not counted any revenue synergies or commercial opportunities that the combination will provide, which we think are significant, including the potential pull-through of additional gas and oil gathering and processing based on the new enlarged footprint. In terms -- I'm sorry, your second question? I'm sorry, distribution growth. Yes. So we've continued to stand by our long-term mid- to -- mid-single-digit distribution growth outlook and plan.

因此，我們應該能夠迅速實現這些協同效應。我們知道，我們還沒有計算合併將帶來的任何收入協同效應或商業機會，但我們認為這些效應非常重要，包括基於新擴大的足跡可能帶來的額外天然氣和石油收集和加工。就此而言——抱歉，您的第二個問題是？抱歉，分銷增長。是的。因此，我們繼續堅持長期中至中等個位數的分銷成長前景和計劃。

And certainly, an accretive transaction helps support that. Everything we do in terms of deploying capital, either sustains or grows our distribution, that's our core strategy. So this falls in line with that. We -- given where the yield is today, we don't see a lot of need to go above sort of our already indicated sort of distribution growth plans.

當然，增值交易有助於支持這一點。我們在部署資本方面所做的一切，無論是維持還是擴大我們的分銷，這都是我們的核心策略。所以這與此相符。考慮到目前的收益率，我們認為沒有必要超越我們已經指出的分銷成長計劃。

And as we build distribution coverage, it's the only thing, frankly, we can identify is any additional risk in our story that we can control. So obviously, this transaction sets us up for well in excess of 10% EBITDA growth next year, and we'll likely stick to something in that mid-single-digit range. But of course, that will be up to the Board and the efficiency of how we close and execute on this transaction before we can make that determination.

當我們建立分銷覆蓋範圍時，坦白說，我們唯一能確定的就是我們故事中任何我們可以控制的額外風險。因此，顯然，這筆交易將使我們明年的 EBITDA 成長率遠超 10%，而且我們很可能會維持在中等個位數的範圍內。但當然，這取決於董事會以及我們如何完成和執行這筆交易的效率，然後我們才能做出決定。

Thank you so much for that. You were kind enough to give us some idea of the 2026 CapEx. And just from a modeling perspective, should we expect this CapEx bump to be '26 and '27 and then fall off? Or should we just expect '26 to be elevated and '27 to fall off? If you could help us understand that a little better.

非常感謝。您非常友好地向我們提供了一些有關 2026 年資本支出的想法。僅從建模角度來看，我們是否應該預期資本支出將在 26 年和 27 年出現成長，然後下降？或者我們應該預期 26 年會上升，27 年會下降？如果您能幫助我們更好地理解這一點。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Yeah, We kind of -- honestly, at this moment, based on what we see in our announced organic growth projects, the biggest of which, of course, are Pathfinder and North Loving II now. The vast majority of the capital for those projects sits in 2026. So if things remain unchanged, we would expect the CapEx to sort of normalize into 2027.

是的，老實說，目前，根據我們在宣布的有機增長項目中看到的情況，其中最大的當然是 Pathfinder 和 North Loving II。這些項目的絕大部分資金將在2026年到位。因此，如果情況保持不變，我們預計資本支出將在 2027 年恢復正常。

Thank you so much Sir.

非常感謝您，先生。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Jeremy Tonet at JPMorgan.

摩根大通的 Jeremy Tonet。

Hey, good morning. This is Eli on for Jeremy. Congrats on the strong quarter. Maybe just to look at the McNeill Ranch a little bit and understand how that fits into WES's long-term plans for pore space and surface use opportunities. What kind of opportunities do you see at that asset? And that might be different than the way Aris was looking at it? Thanks.

嘿，早安。這是 Eli 代替 Jeremy 上場。恭喜本季業績強勁。也許只是稍微看一下麥克尼爾牧場，並了解它如何適應 WES 的孔隙空間和表面利用機會的長期計劃。您認為該資產有什麼樣的機會？這可能與阿里斯的看法不同嗎？謝謝。

Well thanks for that. We see McNeil is certainly an upside opportunity, a bit of a call option, so we do view it as a longer term upside, as you can see where the ranch sits, it's in a great location between basins and straddling the state line on sort of the east side, but it is a little bit far from the current structure of the systems. So.

好的，謝謝。我們認為麥克尼爾無疑是一個上漲機會，有點像看漲期權，因此我們確實將其視為一個長期上漲機會，正如您所看到的，該牧場位於盆地之間，橫跨州界，位於東側，地理位置優越，但距離當前的系統結構還有點遠。所以。

On the plus side, Aris has already applied for and received permits on the Texas side of that ranch for water disposal, so there's an opportunity there and certainly as the basin grows and water volumes continue to grow, we see that as a great. Long term opportunity to expand our disposal business in terms of surface use, I do think sort of our reaching footprint and many of our partners that we work with give us the opportunity to maybe move a bit more quickly on surface items, and they run the gamut of everything that frankly everybody's chasing, so we're pretty excited about having this surface area, this land. I think it's a good spot and and look forward to hopefully generating some value with it in the long run.

積極的一面是，阿里斯已經申請並獲得了該牧場德克薩斯州一側的水處理許可證，因此這是一個機會，而且隨著盆地的擴大和水量的不斷增長，我們認為這是一個很好的機會。就表面利用而言，擴大我們的處置業務的長期機會，我確實認為我們的覆蓋範圍以及與我們合作的許多合作夥伴使我們有機會在表面項目上更快地採取行動，而且它們涵蓋了每個人都在追逐的一切，所以我們對擁有這個表面積、這片土地感到非常興奮。我認為這是一個好地方，並希望從長遠來看能夠產生一些價值。

Awesome thanks and then you know maybe just thinking about the impact and some of the feedback you've gotten from Conco or Chevron, where do they stand on this and, maybe if you could also just kind of touch a little bit on the, pathway to a deal approval from here I know you talked about a 4,225 close, but just, you know what kind of hurdles do you see there to kind of get this thing finished?

非常感謝，然後您知道也許只是在考慮影響以及您從 Conco 或 Chevron 得到的一些反饋，他們對此持什麼立場，也許您也可以稍微談談從這裡獲得交易批准的途徑，我知道您談到了 4,225 的收盤價，但是，您知道您認為在完成這件事方面存在什麼樣的障礙嗎？

Thanks for that. We see McNeill as certainly an upside opportunity, a bit of a call option. So we do view it as a longer-term upside. As you can see where the ranch sits, it's in a great location between basins and straddling the state line, on sort of the east side, but it is a little bit far from the current structure of the systems.

謝謝。我們認為麥克尼爾無疑是一個上漲的機會，有點像是看漲期權。因此，我們確實認為這是一個長期的利多。如您所見，牧場位於盆地之間，橫跨州界，位於東側，地理位置優越，但距離目前的系統結構稍遠。

So on the plus side, Aris has already applied for and received permits on the Texas side of that ranch for water disposal.

因此，從好的方面來看，阿里斯已經申請並獲得了該牧場德克薩斯州一側的水處理許可證。

So, there's an opportunity there. And certainly, as the basin grows and water volumes continue to grow, we see that as a great long-term opportunity to expand our disposal business. In terms of surface use, I do think sort of our reach and footprint and many of our partners that we work with give us the opportunity to maybe move a bit more quickly on surface items, and they run the gamut of everything that, frankly, everybody is chasing.

所以，那裡有一個機會。當然，隨著流域的擴大和水量的不斷增長，我們認為這是一個擴大我們處置業務的絕佳長期機會。在表面使用方面，我確實認為我們的覆蓋範圍和足跡以及與我們合作的許多合作夥伴使我們有機會在表面項目上更快地採取行動，坦率地說，它們涵蓋了每個人都在追逐的一切。

So we're pretty excited about having this surface area, this land. I think it's in a good spot and look forward to hopefully generating some value with it in the long run.

所以我們對擁有這麼大面積的土地感到非常興奮。我認為它處於一個很好的位置，並希望從長遠來看能夠產生一些價值。

Thank you. The next question comes in. The next question comes from the line of Zac van En at TPH. Your line is open.

謝謝。下一個問題來了。下一個問題來自 TPH 的 Zac van En。您的線路已開通。

Hi, thanks for taking.

你好，謝謝您的接受。

My question. Maybe going to the capital program for the remainder of the year. Looks like in the slide, the powder percentage shifted down. Is this just the dynamic of the North Loving plant adding to the Permian, or are you guys spending a little bit less than expected up in the powder?

我的問題。也許會在今年剩餘的時間投入資本計畫。就像幻燈片中顯示的一樣，粉末百分比下降了。這是 North Loving 電廠向二疊紀盆地擴張的動態嗎，還是你們在粉末方面的支出比預期要少一點？

We are spending a little bit less in the powder. We've seen some projects just shift around from a timing perspective, and so especially as we get towards the latter part of the year, you'll see stuff slip out of 25 and into 26. So yes, you're right, you have seen that shifted down. And then when you add in the incremental capital as it would relate to North levying, that's going to increase the Delaware a little bit.

我們在粉末方面的花費少了一點。我們已經看到一些項目只是從時間角度發生了變化，因此，特別是當我們進入今年下半年時，你會看到一些項目從 25 年開始進入 26 年。是的，你是對的，你已經看到它向下移動了。然後，當你添加與北方徵稅相關的增量資本時，這將稍微增加特拉華州的稅收。

Got it. That makes sense. And then maybe you talked to volumes being up across the board in 26. I know it's still early, but maybe just a quick breakout of where most of that growth will be. I assume Delaware, but is DJ still kind of in that flattish range and then maybe anywhere else you guys are expecting growth.

知道了。這很有道理。然後也許您談到了 26 年交易量全面上升的情況。我知道現在還為時過早，但這可能只是大部分成長的快速突破。我認為是特拉華州，但 DJ 是否仍處於平穩範圍內，然後也許你們預期其他地方也會出現成長。

Yeah, so for next year for 2026, agree with you, we'd expect the Delaware to continue to increase from a throughput perspective, and the DJ, we'll see how the rest of this year turns out in terms of wells coming online, and then obviously we're still waiting for a producer's forecast. A lot's going to change in the next 4 months even and into January and February with updated producers' forecasts. So we'll get some more. Thoughts and guidance around what 2026 will look like, maybe closer to the Q3 end of this year and next year.

是的，所以對於明年，也就是 2026 年，我同意你的看法，我們預計特拉華州的產量會繼續增加，至於 DJ，我們會看看今年剩餘時間油井上線的情況，然後顯然我們還在等待生產商的預測。隨著生產商預測的更新，未來 4 個月甚至 1 月和 2 月，很多事情都會改變。所以我們會得到更多。關於 2026 年將會是什麼樣子的想法和指導，可能更接近今年第三季末和明年。

Got it. I appreciate your time. Thanks everybody.

知道了。感謝您抽出時間。謝謝大家。

Thank Thank you.

謝謝謝謝。

Elvira Scotto at RBC Capital Markets.

加拿大皇家銀行資本市場的 Elvira Scotto。

Hey, great, thank you. Good morning, everyone. I guess a couple of questions from me. On -- just on North Loving II, can you provide a little more detail on how you see that plant ramping when it comes online, given that you've kind of shifted from doing a lot of offloads before FIDing a plant?

嘿，太好了，謝謝。大家早安。我想問幾個問題。關於 North Loving II 項目，您能否提供一些更詳細的信息，說明您如何看待該工廠投產後的產能提升，因為您已經不再像以前那樣在工廠最終確定前進行大量的卸載？

Hey, this is Elvira, this is Jon. No, I think it's a great question. Like Oscar mentioned, we still continue to have a lot of interconnectivity on the offload side and are utilizing those to the extent we have volumes above the system. You saw the note that the plant reached full operational capacity already.

嘿，這是 Elvira，這是 Jon。不，我認為這是一個很好的問題。正如奧斯卡所提到的，我們在卸載方面仍然保持著大量的互連性，並且在系統容量範圍內充分利用這些互連性。您看到了該工廠已達到滿載運轉的通知。

And so we're very positive that as North Loving II comes on, we're going to have a significant amount of volume day one upon that plant coming on.

因此，我們非常有信心，隨著 North Loving II 的投產，我們將在工廠投產的第一天就獲得大量的產量。

I think Oscar mentioned that we were just able to make this decision based on the strength of our underlying contracts and frankly, the success of the organic business that we've had over the last 12 to 18 months with just new deals that continue to add additional volumes to our system. So across the strength of the existing contracts and those new ones, it gave us the line of sight to not only have the confidence to build the plant, but to know that there will be a substantial amount of volumes day 1 of it coming online.

我認為奧斯卡提到，我們能夠做出這一決定只是基於我們基礎合約的實力，坦率地說，我們在過去 12 到 18 個月中通過新交易不斷為我們的系統增加額外交易量而取得的有機業務的成功。因此，透過現有合約和新合約的優勢，我們不僅有信心建造這座工廠，而且確信工廠投產第一天就會有大量產量。

Okay. Great. That's helpful. And then just a little bit on capital allocation. So how do you think about organic growth versus additional bolt-on opportunities? And then given this expanding your footprint in New Mexico, for continued growth in New Mexico, do you expect that to be more organic? Or do you think you'll need to do some more bolt-ons there?

好的。偉大的。這很有幫助。然後稍微談一下資本配置。那麼您如何看待有機成長與額外的附加機會？那麼，考慮到您在新墨西哥州的業務範圍的擴大，為了在新墨西哥州繼續發展，您是否預計這會更加有機？或者您認為您需要在那裡做更多的附加工作嗎？

Good question. I think M&A, as we talked about before, really does have to compete with organic growth from both the returns perspective, but we also think from a risk perspective, organic is always, in our minds, a bit derisked relative to acquisitions.

好問題。我認為，正如我們之前所討論的，從回報角度來看，併購確實必須與有機成長競爭，但我們也認為，從風險角度來看，在我們看來，有機成長相對於收購而言風險較低。

So it has to be really competitive. And I think in the case of Aris, we've sort of achieved all those goals and really checked every box in terms of our M&A framework and what we shoot for and sort of the perfect deal, if you will. In terms of where we go from here, same thing, again, we continue to see a significant amount of organic opportunity across all our core basins. So we expect some more success there. It does make us a little more picky on the M&A side.

所以它必須具有真正的競爭力。我認為，就 Aris 而言，我們已經實現了所有目標，並且真正滿足了我們的併購框架和目標的每一個要求，可以說是完美的交易。就我們下一步的發展而言，同樣的事情是，我們繼續在所有核心盆地中看到大量的有機機會。因此我們期待在那裡取得更多成功。這確實讓我們在併購方面變得更加挑剔。

And of course, again, everything we do has to sort of sustain and grow the distribution. So we've got some pretty good guardrails on how we think about value on acquisitions. And that's why it's really important that when we do these things, we have a real opportunity to add value to a transaction and have synergies as we do in the Aris deal.

當然，我們所做的一切都必須以維持和擴大分銷為目的。因此，我們在如何考慮收購價值方面有一些非常好的保障。這就是為什麼當我們做這些事情時，我們有真正的機會為交易增加價值並產生協同效應，就像我們在 Aris 交易中所做的那樣，這一點非常重要。

So it will be a mix, I think, in terms of New Mexico specifically. I think we have real organic opportunity as a result of this added footprint. But certainly, if there's an opportunity to do something that hit all our metrics as this deal does, we'd be open-minded to adding capacity in any of our streams, but particularly gas, I would say.

所以我認為，就新墨西哥州而言，這將是一個混合體。我認為，由於這增加的足跡，我們擁有真正的有機機會。但可以肯定的是，如果有機會做一些事情來達到我們所有的指標，就像這筆交易一樣，我們會願意增加任何業務的產能，尤其是天然氣。

Thank you.

謝謝。

And Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Wave Suki at Capital One. Your line is open. Wait, your line is open. Please unmute your phone line.

謝謝你。下一個問題來自Capital One的Wave Suki。您的線路已開通。稍等一下，您的線路已開通。請取消電話線路靜音。

Okay, can you all hear me.

好的，你們聽得到我說話嗎？

Okay? We can hear you now.

好的？我們現在可以聽到你的聲音了。

Wonderful. Thank you. I apologize. And I apologize if you're already addressed this question, on the call. But going back to Eris, as you all are well aware, there, there's some sort of non-traditional things in here with mineral extraction, and I'm thinking about the. Industrial water, business, in particular, are these all areas y'all plan on retaining, expanding, these things that you might consider, outsourcing or jettisoning maybe at some point, maybe give us some color on the, some of these other pieces of the areas business if you don't mind.

精彩的。謝謝。我很抱歉。如果您在電話中已經回答過這個問題，我深表歉意。但回到鬩神星，大家都很清楚，這裡有一些非傳統的東西，包括礦物開採，我正在考慮。工業用水，特別是業務，這些都是你們計畫保留、擴展的領域嗎？這些是你們可能會考慮外包或拋棄的事情，也許在某個時候，如果你不介意的話，可以給我們介紹一下該領域其他一些業務。

You bet. Actually Eris's efforts in the consortium and their other techno technology, including industrial water, were some of the more appealing parts, exciting parts of the business for the very long term. Obviously the more options we have in solving our producers' water issues in the Delaware Basin, the better. And so initially, obviously we've been as an industry focused on disposal and then recycle.

當然。實際上，Eris 在財團中的努力以及他們的其他技術（包括工業用水）是長期業務中更具吸引力、更令人興奮的部分。顯然，我們在解決特拉華盆地生產商的水問題時擁有的選擇越多越好。因此，最初，我們顯然是一個專注於處置和回收的行業。

And now other uses for water are becoming really important, so advanced treatment technologies are going to be really key.

現在，水的其他用途也變得非常重要，因此先進的處理技術將變得非常關鍵。

So, we're pretty excited about all those features. We see real opportunities in the long term on even industrial water, but again, our core, our and so forth is sort of the midstream business, the traditional midstream business. And supporting our oil and gas producing customers, so that's our focus, but I will say I do believe we can bring a lot more resources to this technology effort than they really had access to on a standalone basis. And so we're very excited about it. We think these opportunities are going to be beneficial in the long run.

因此，我們對所有這些功能感到非常興奮。從長遠來看，我們看到工業用水領域也存在真正的機遇，但同樣，我們的核心業務是中游業務，傳統的中游業務。為我們的石油和天然氣生產客戶提供支持，這是我們的重點，但我想說，我確實相信我們可以為這項技術工作帶來比他們單獨能夠獲得的更多的資源。因此我們對此感到非常興奮。我們認為從長遠來看這些機會將是有益的。

Great, thanks so much. Congrats. There you go.

太好了，非常感謝。恭喜。就這樣。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you. There are no further questions at this time, Mr. Oscar Brown, I turn the call back over to you.

謝謝。現在沒有其他問題了，奧斯卡布朗先生，我將電話轉回給您。

Thank you so much and thanks everyone for your interest in the Western stream and your participation on this earnings call. We're really gratified that we've already been able to see the results of our prudent growth strategy by doing two things that are very hard to do at the same time, and that is improve our overall cost structure and process efficiency by executing our growth opportunities.

非常感謝，也感謝大家對西部流的關注以及參加本次財報電話會議。我們非常高興，透過同時做兩件非常困難的事情，我們已經能夠看到我們審慎成長策略的成果，那就是透過抓住成長機會來改善我們的整體成本結構和流程效率。

In fact, the former truly enables the success of the latter, and we've only just begun on this journey. We look forward to welcoming stakeholders to the West Partnership later this year.

事實上，前者真正促成了後者的成功，而我們的旅程才剛開始。我們期待今年稍後歡迎利益相關者加入西部夥伴關係。

Thank you again to everyone on the West team for an incredible start to the next phase of our partnerships evolution.

再次感謝西方團隊的每一位成員，為我們的合作關係發展的下一階段帶來了令人難以置信的開端。

There's so much to do, and you've already proven that you're all up to the challenge. We look forward to seeing investors and analysts at the upcoming conferences later this month, and with that, we'll close the call.

有很多事情要做，而你已經證明自己有能力應對挑戰。我們期待在本月稍後即將召開的會議上見到投資者和分析師，然後我們將結束電話會議。

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

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。您現在可以斷開連線。