Western Midstream Partners LP (WES) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning. My name is Joanna, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Western Midstream Partners Third Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions)

早安.我叫喬安娜，今天我將擔任你們的會議接線生。在此，我謹代表 Western Midstream Partners 歡迎各位參加 2025 年第三季財報電話會議。（操作說明）

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

謝謝。現在我將把會議交給投資者關係總監丹尼爾·詹金斯先生。請繼續。

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

謝謝。很高興您今天能參加 Western Midstream 2025 年第三季電話會議。我想提醒各位，今天的電話會議、隨附的幻燈片以及昨天的收益報告都包含有關前瞻性陳述和非GAAP調整的重要披露資訊。請參考 Western Midstream 最新的 10-K 表格和 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聲明存在重大差異的風險因素。相關參考資料已發佈在我們的網站上。

With me today are Oscar Brown, our Chief Executive Officer; Danny Holderman, our Chief Operating Officer; and Kristen Shults, our Chief Financial Officer. I will now turn the call over to Oscar.

今天陪同我的有：執行長奧斯卡·布朗；營運長丹尼·霍爾德曼；以及財務長克里斯汀·舒茲。現在我會把通話轉給奧斯卡。

Thank you, Daniel, and good morning, everyone. The third quarter was a strong financial and operational quarter for WES as lower operational costs and our cost reduction initiatives resulted in our second consecutive quarter of record adjusted EBITDA. While adjusted gross margin was relatively flat on a sequential quarter basis, we achieved the highest total natural gas throughput in our partnership's history that was partially driven by another quarter of record natural gas throughput in the Delaware Basin, strong sequential natural gas, crude oil and NGLs throughput in the DJ Basin and strong sequential throughput growth from our other assets, specifically at our Chipeta plant in Utah primarily due to Kinder Morgan's Altamont pipeline connection to our natural gas processing plant in early September. Kristen and Danny will provide additional operational and financial details shortly.

謝謝你，丹尼爾，大家早安。第三季度對 WES 而言是一個強勁的財務和營運季度，較低的營運成本和我們的成本削減措施使我們連續第二個季度實現了調整後 EBITDA 創紀錄的成長。雖然調整後的毛利率環比持平，但我們實現了合夥企業歷史上最高的天然氣總吞吐量，這部分得益於特拉華盆地天然氣吞吐量再次創下歷史新高，DJ盆地天然氣、原油和NGL吞吐量環比強勁增長，以及我們其他資產（特別是猶他州奇佩塔工廠）天然氣吞吐量環比強勁增長，這主要歸功於蒙特金德摩根公司阿爾塔在9月Kristen 和 Danny 很快就會提供更多營運和財務細節。

As previously announced, on October 15, we completed the acquisition of Aris Water Solutions, solidifying WES' position as a leading three-stream midstream flow assurance provider in the Delaware Basin. We are excited to welcome the Aris employees to the WES team, specifically as we expand our commercial capabilities and build upon Aris' legacy recycling and beneficial reuse assets and solutions. Teams from both organizations have been working diligently together to ensure a smooth integration process and we are confident in our ability to capture the targeted $40 million of annual run rate synergies. WES leadership has increased its engagement with federal and state regulators to discuss produced water challenges in the Delaware Basin and articulate how WES is well positioned to address these issues. Combined with the newly acquired Aris assets and team, WES is now a midstream leader in Texas and New Mexico for produced water gathering, transportation, disposal, recycling and beneficial reuse.

正如先前宣布的那樣，10 月 15 日，我們完成了對 Aris Water Solutions 的收購，鞏固了 WES 作為特拉華盆地領先的三流中游流量保障提供者的地位。我們非常高興地歡迎 Aris 的員工加入 WES 團隊，尤其是在我們擴大商業能力並鞏固 Aris 原有的回收和有益再利用資產和解決方案之際。兩個組織的團隊一直在努力合作，以確保順利的整合過程，我們有信心實現每年 4000 萬美元的協同效應目標。WES 領導層加強了與聯邦和州監管機構的溝通，討論特拉華盆地的採出水挑戰，並闡明 WES 如何能夠很好地解決這些問題。結合新收購的 Aris 資產和團隊，WES 現在是德克薩斯州和新墨西哥州中游行業在採出水收集、運輸、處置、回收和有益再利用方面的領導者。

Additionally and subsequent to quarter end, we executed an agreement for incremental disposal capacity to support the Pathfinder pipeline project in the Delaware Basin. This agreement expands WES' access to highly sought after pore space, optimizes the pipeline's planned route and enhances the overall returns of the project.

此外，在季度末之後，我們簽署了一項協議，增加處置能力，以支持特拉華盆地的 Pathfinder 管道項目。該協議擴大了 WES 對備受追捧的孔隙空間的獲取途徑，優化了管道的規劃路線，並提高了項目的整體收益。

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

接下來，我將把電話轉交給我們的營運長丹尼·霍爾德曼，讓他來討論我們第三季的營運表現。丹尼？

Thank you, Oscar, and good morning, everyone. Our third quarter natural gas throughput increased by 2% on a sequential quarter basis. This was primarily due to increased throughput from our other assets, specifically at our Chipeta plant in Utah and from higher South Texas volumes after second quarter plant turnaround activity subsided in the third quarter. We also experienced increased throughput from the DJ Basin due to a higher number of wells that came online early in the third quarter. Our throughput in the Delaware Basin increased slightly on a sequential quarter basis and resulted in another quarterly record even though fewer wells came to market than initially anticipated during the quarter.

謝謝你，奧斯卡，大家早安。第三季天然氣吞吐量季增2%。這主要是由於我們其他資產的產量增加，特別是猶他州奇佩塔工廠的產量增加，以及第二季工廠檢修活動在第三季減少後，南德州的產量增加。由於第三季初投產的油井數量較多，DJ盆地的產量也增加。儘管本季上市的油井數量少於預期，但我們在特拉華盆地的產量較上季略有成長，並再次創下季度紀錄。

All of this was partially offset by decreased throughput in the Powder River Basin as previously unloaded volumes subsided at the end of the second quarter. Our crude oil and NGLs throughput decreased by 4% on a sequential quarter basis, primarily due to decreased throughput from the Delaware Basin, which was partially offset by increased throughput in the DJ Basin. We also experienced decreased throughput from our equity investments. Additionally, our produced water throughput was flat on a sequential quarter basis. Our third quarter per Mcf adjusted gross margin for natural gas decreased by $0.05 on a sequential quarter basis, primarily due to lower excess natural gas liquids volumes in conjunction with lower overall pricing in the Delaware Basin.

所有這些都被粉河盆地吞吐量的下降部分抵消了，因為先前卸載的貨物量在第二季末有所減少。我們的原油和天然氣凝液產量較上季下降了 4%，主要是由於特拉華盆地產量下降，但 DJ 盆地產量的增加部分抵消了這一影響。我們的股權投資也出現了產量下降的情況。此外，我們的產水處理量按季度環比持平。第三季天然氣每千立方英尺調整後毛利率季減 0.05 美元，主要原因是德拉瓦盆地天然氣液體過剩量減少以及整體價格下降。

This decrease was partially offset by higher throughput in the DJ Basin, which has a higher than average per Mcf margin as compared to our other natural gas assets. Going forward, we expect our fourth quarter per Mcf adjusted gross margin to be slightly lower relative to the third quarter. Our third quarter per barrel adjusted gross margin for crude oil and NGLs increased by $0.08 on a sequential quarter basis primarily due to increased efficiency fees on certain contracts in the Delaware Basin. We expect our fourth quarter per barrel adjusted gross margin to be in line with our third quarter results. Our third quarter per barrel adjusted gross margin for produced water was unchanged and in line with our prior expectations coming into the quarter.

DJ盆地的產量較高，部分抵消了這一下降，與我們其他天然氣資產相比，DJ盆地的每千立方英尺利潤率高於平均水平。展望未來，我們預計第四季每千立方英尺調整後毛利率將比第三季略低。由於特拉華盆地某些合約的效率費用增加，我們第三季原油和天然氣凝液的每桶調整後毛利率比上季增加了 0.08 美元。我們預計第四季每桶調整後毛利率將與第三季業績持平。第三季每桶採出水的調整後毛利率不變，與我們季初的預期一致。

Our fourth quarter results will contain approximately 2.5 months of contribution from Aris, and we now expect our combined fourth quarter per barrel adjusted gross margin to range between $0.85 and $0.90. Focusing on the remainder of the year, we continue to expect our portfolio-wide average year-over-year throughput to increase by mid-single digits percentage growth for natural gas and low single digits 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. Regarding produced water and taking into account 2.5 months of contribution from Aris in the fourth quarter, we now expect our average year-over-year throughput to increase by approximately 40% compared to 2024 levels, which would imply average fourth quarter produced water throughput of approximately 2.6 million to 2.7 million barrels per day. In the Delaware Basin, we now expect low double-digit average year-over-year throughput growth for natural gas and low to mid-single-digit throughput growth for crude oil and NGLs.

第四季業績將包含Aris約2.5個月的貢獻，我們目前預計第四季調整後每桶毛利率將在0.85美元至0.90美元之間。展望今年剩餘時間，我們仍然預計天然氣業務整體平均同比吞吐量將實現中等個位數百分比成長，原油和液化天然氣業務平均同比吞吐量將實現低個位數百分比成長。為了進行同比比較，這些預期不包括 2024 年初完成的非核心資產出售相關的交易量。關於採出水，考慮到 Aris 在第四季度貢獻了 2.5 個月的產量，我們現在預計與 2024 年的水平相比，我們的平均同比吞吐量將增長約 40%，這意味著第四季度平均採出水吞吐量約為每天 260 萬至 270 萬桶。在特拉華盆地，我們現在預計天然氣年均吞吐量將實現兩位數的低成長，原油和天然氣凝液的吞吐量將實現個位數的低至中等成長。

During the third quarter, Delaware Basin throughput was relatively in line with our expectations coming into quarter. For fourth quarter, even though we expect natural gas throughput to increase, the rate of growth will be impacted slightly by intermittent volume curtailments due to downstream maintenance at times throughout October. Even though these curtailments will impact the rate of natural gas throughput growth, we expect them to have a minimal impact on our financial performance in the fourth quarter. And finally, we are forecasting crude oil and NGLs throughput rebounding sequentially due to the timing of wells coming to market. In the DJ Basin, we continue to expect average year-over-year throughput growth to be flat for natural gas, driven by steady onload activity, and we now expect low to mid-single digits throughput growth for crude oil and NGLs mostly due to the timing of wells that came to market in the third quarter.

第三季度，特拉華盆地的吞吐量基本上符合我們季度初的預期。第四季度，儘管我們預計天然氣輸送量將會增加，但由於10月份下游部分地區進行維護，間歇性減產將對成長率產生輕微影響。儘管這些減產措施會影響天然氣輸送量的成長率，但我們預期它們對我們第四季的財務表現影響甚微。最後，我們預測原油和天然氣凝液的產量將隨著油井投產時間的推移而逐步回升。在DJ盆地，我們繼續預期天然氣年均吞吐量成長將保持平穩，這主要得益於穩定的裝貨量；而我們現在預計原油和NGL的吞吐量成長將達到個位數低至中等水平，這主要是由於第三季度投產的油井的時機所致。

In the Powder River Basin, we expect average year-over-year throughput growth to be flat for both natural gas and crude oil and NGLs. During the first half of the year, we benefited from intermittent onloads as other processors in the basin experienced downtime due to asset maintenance or repairs. And as those facilities came back online in June, our throughput declined during the third quarter. Also due to commodity price weakness throughout 2025, we have seen slightly lower customer activity levels resulting in an expected continued decline of natural gas throughput in the fourth quarter. With that said, we are in close communication with our producing customers, and we are deferring certain expansion projects until incremental activity is seen on the acreage that we service.

在粉河盆地，我們預計天然氣、原油和凝析油的平均年吞吐量成長將保持穩定。今年上半年，由於盆地內其他加工廠因資產維護或維修而停工，我們受益於間歇性的上料。隨著這些設施在 6 月恢復運行，我們在第三季的產量有所下降。此外，由於 2025 年大宗商品價格疲軟，我們看到客戶活動水準略有下降，預計第四季天然氣輸送量將繼續下降。儘管如此，我們仍與生產客戶保持密切溝通，並將某些擴建項目推遲到我們所服務的土地上出現增量活動為止。

We also expect increased natural gas throughput from our other assets, specifically in the Uinta Basin during the fourth quarter, primarily driven by the previously referenced tie-in of Kinder Morgan's Altamont pipeline to our Chipeta plant that was completed in early September.

我們也預計，在第四季度，我們其他資產（特別是尤因塔盆地）的天然氣輸送量將會增加，這主要是由於先前提到的金德摩根的阿爾塔蒙特管道與我們奇佩塔工廠的連接已於 9 月初完成。

Turning our attention to 2026, we estimate that the Delaware Basin will continue to be the primary engine of throughput growth next year, especially when considering the produced water volumes associated with the Aris acquisition. Additionally, continued throughput growth in the northern portion of the acreage that we service in the Delaware Basin was one of the main drivers behind our decision to sanction North Loving II. Our continued focus on organic growth and the Aris acquisition are the main reasons why we still expect to grow average year-over-year throughput for all three product lines again in 2026. However, in the Powder River Basin, if commodity price weakness continues throughout the rest of 2025, we expect select rig drops or temporary rig relocations to continue into 2026. As such, this will likely result in slightly lower average year-over-year throughput in the PRB for 2026.

展望 2026 年，我們估計特拉華盆地明年仍將是吞吐量成長的主要引擎，尤其是在考慮到與 Aris 收購相關的產水量時。此外，我們在特拉華盆地服務區域的北部地區的吞吐量持續成長，是我們決定批准 North Loving II 專案的主要驅動因素之一。我們持續專注於內生成長以及收購 Aris 是我們仍期望 2026 年所有三條產品線的平均年產量再次成長的主要原因。然而，在粉紅河流盆地，如果大宗商品價格疲軟的局面持續到 2025 年剩餘時間，我們預計部分鑽井平台的撤離或臨時鑽井平台的搬遷將持續到 2026 年。因此，這可能會導致 2026 年 PRB 的平均同比吞吐量略有下降。

Based on lower activity levels in the DJ Basin in 2025 relative to 2024, we anticipate that overall throughput will decline modestly in 2026. However, we currently expect Oxy to start developing the Bronco CAP area in Weld County, Colorado at the beginning of 2026 with volumes flowing into the WES system starting in the first half of the year. Once we have results from the initial production of the Bronco CAP, we will be in a better position to provide a clear view of year-over-year trends in the basin in 2026 relative to 2025.

根據 2025 年 DJ 盆地的活動水平相對於 2024 年的較低水平，我們預計 2026 年總吞吐量將略有下降。不過，我們目前預計 Oxy 將於 2026 年初開始在科羅拉多州韋爾德縣開發 Bronco CAP 區域，屆時將有物料流入 WES 系統，時間從上半年開始。一旦我們獲得 Bronco CAP 的初步生產結果，我們將能夠更好地清晰地了解 2026 年盆地相對於 2025 年的逐年趨勢。

With that, I will turn the call over to Kristen to discuss our financial performance during the third quarter.

接下來，我將把電話交給克莉絲汀，由她來討論我們第三季的財務表現。

Thank you, Danny, and good morning, everyone. During the third quarter, we generated net income attributable to limited partners of $332 million and adjusted EBITDA of $634 million. Relative to the second quarter, our adjusted gross margin was relatively flat. This was driven by decreased throughput in the Powder River Basin and less gross margin contribution from excess natural gas liquid volumes in combination with lower overall pricing in the Delaware Basin, which was partially offset by increased throughput and gross margin contribution in the DJ Basin. Our operation and maintenance expense decreased by 5% or $12 million quarter-over-quarter. This was primarily due to less asset maintenance and repair expense and chemical expense quarter-over-quarter.

謝謝你，丹尼，大家早安。第三季度，我們實現了歸屬於有限合夥人的淨利潤 3.32 億美元，調整後 EBITDA 為 6.34 億美元。與第二季相比，我們的調整後毛利率基本上持平。這是由於粉河流域的吞吐量下降，以及過剩天然氣液體的毛利貢獻減少，再加上特拉華盆地的整體價格走低所致，而DJ盆地的吞吐量和毛利貢獻的增加部分抵消了這些影響。我們的營運和維護費用較上季減少了 5%，即 1,200 萬美元。這主要是由於資產維護和維修費用以及化學品費用環比減少所致。

This year, our employees have been keenly focused on company-wide cost reduction initiatives from which we are starting to see incredible results. Even with the increased throughput and higher utility costs in 2025 relative to last year, we expect our operation and maintenance expense and G&A to be relatively flat in 2025 relative to 2024 before considering additional costs resulting from the Aris acquisition. In fact, our operations teams achieved the highest level of asset operability in our partnership's history during the third quarter while still reducing operation and maintenance expense, which is an incredible feat.

今年，我們的員工一直高度重視公司範圍內的成本削減計劃，我們已經開始看到令人矚目的成果。即使 2025 年的吞吐量和公用事業成本相對於去年有所增加，我們預計在不考慮收購 Aris 帶來的額外成本的情況下，2025 年的運營和維護費用以及一般及行政費用相對於 2024 年將保持相對平穩。事實上，我們的營運團隊在第三季度實現了我們合作關係歷史上最高的資產可操作性水平，同時還降低了營運和維護費用，這是一項了不起的成就。

For the fourth quarter, while we are expecting to see continued benefits from the cost reduction efforts, we expect operation and maintenance expense and G&A to increase by 20% to 25% relative to the third quarter as we include 2.5 months of Aris activity. While we expect limited synergy capture to impact 2025 adjusted EBITDA, we are confident that we are well on our way towards capturing our target of $40 million of annual run rate cost synergies.

第四季度，雖然我們預計成本削減措施將繼續帶來效益，但由於計入了 2.5 個月的 Aris 業務活動，我們預計運營和維護費用以及一般及行政費用將比第三季度增加 20% 至 25%。雖然我們預期協同效應的實現對 2025 年調整後 EBITDA 的影響有限，但我們有信心，我們正朝著實現每年 4000 萬美元的成本協同效應目標穩步前進。

Turning to cash flow. Our third quarter cash flow from operating activities totaled $570 million, generating free cash flow of $397 million. Free cash flow after our second quarter 2025 distribution payment in August was $42 million. In October, 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 November 14 to unitholders of record on October 31. With the closing of the Aris acquisition in mid-October, we now expect approximately 2.5 months of contribution from Aris to our fourth quarter results, which slightly impacts our 2025 guidance ranges.

接下來談談現金流。我們第三季經營活動產生的現金流總計 5.7 億美元，其中自由現金流為 3.97 億美元。2025 年第二季分紅支付後，8 月的自由現金流為 4,200 萬美元。10 月份，我們宣布每單位季度分紅 0.91 美元，與上一季分紅一致，將於 11 月 14 日支付給 10 月 31 日登記在冊的單位持有人。隨著 10 月中旬 Aris 收購案的完成，我們現在預計 Aris 將為我們第四季度的業績貢獻約 2.5 個月，這將略微影響我們 2025 年的業績指引範圍。

We now expect WES to be towards the high end of our previously announced 2025 adjusted EBITDA guidance range of $2.35 billion to $2.55 billion, which we estimate will include approximately $45 million to $50 million of adjusted EBITDA from 2.5 months of contribution from the legacy Aris assets. Additionally, we now expect to be above the high end of our 2025 free cash flow guidance range of $1.275 billion to $1.475 billion with incremental free cash flow contribution from the legacy Aris assets.

我們現在預計 WES 的 2025 年調整後 EBITDA 將接近我們先前宣布的 23.5 億美元至 25.5 億美元指引範圍的高端，我們估計這將包括來自 Aris 遺留資產 2.5 個月貢獻的約 4500 萬美元至 5000 萬美元的調整後 EBITDA。此外，我們現在預計，隨著原有 Aris 資產帶來的額外自由現金流貢獻，2025 年自由現金流將超過我們先前預測的 12.75 億美元至 14.75 億美元區間的上限。

With regard to capital spending, as we mentioned on the second quarter call, we still expect to be towards the high end of our 2025 guidance range of $625 million to $775 million, which includes initial spending on North Loving II, approximately $20 million attributable to the legacy Aris assets, offset by select deferrals of expansion projects, specifically in the Powder River Basin. Looking ahead to 2026, we still expect capital expenditures to be at least $1.1 billion. Budgeting process for next year started in earnest in September, and we will continue to evaluate the appropriate amount of expansion capital needed based on producer forecast for both legacy WES assets and for the new Aris assets to support average year-over-year throughput growth across all three product lines again in 2026.

關於資本支出，正如我們在第二季度電話會議上提到的，我們仍然預計會接近我們 2025 年指導範圍 6.25 億美元至 7.75 億美元的高端，其中包括 North Loving II 的初始支出，約 2000 萬美元歸因於 Aris 的遺留資產，但會被部分擴建項目的推遲所抵消，尤其是在 Powder Riverin 地區。展望 2026 年，我們仍預期資本支出至少為 11 億美元。明年的預算編制工作已於 9 月正式啟動，我們將繼續根據生產商對傳統 WES 資產和新的 Aris 資產的預測，評估所需的適當擴張資本數額，以支持 2026 年所有三條產品線的平均年產量增長。

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

接下來，我會把電話交給奧斯卡，請他作總結發言。

Thanks, Kristen. Before we open it up to Q&A, I would like to emphasize that WES continues to be extremely well positioned to capitalize on our compelling growth opportunities and create long-term value for our unitholders. The acquisition of Aris positions WES as one of the leaders of produced water midstream solutions in the Delaware Basin and creates a strong platform for future growth and expansion. Based on recent headlines and general industry commentary, the challenges associated with produced water tied to crude oil and natural gas development in the Delaware Basin have become clear. In fact, as we have collaborated with federal and state regulators, the challenges regarding produced water continue to dominate much of the conversations with them.

謝謝你，克里斯汀。在進入問答環節之前，我想強調的是，WES 仍然處於非常有利的地位，能夠抓住我們極具吸引力的成長機會，並為我們的股東創造長期價值。收購 Aris 使 WES 成為特拉華盆地產出水中游解決方案的領導者之一，並為未來的成長和擴張創造了強大的平台。根據最近的新聞報導和行業普遍評論，特拉華盆地原油和天然氣開發過程中產生的水所帶來的挑戰已經變得顯而易見。事實上，在我們與聯邦和州監管機構合作的過程中，有關採出水的挑戰仍然是我們與他們進行的大部分對話的主要內容。

We believe that it will take an all-of-the-above approach to address the growing volume of produced water on a daily basis from Texas and Mexico. The combination with Aris better positions WES to provide produced water gathering, long-haul transport, disposal, recycling and reuse solutions to address these growing challenges, and we look forward to growing the recycling and various reuse opportunities that the Aris team has started.

我們認為，要解決德州和墨西哥每天不斷增加的採出水量，需要採取全面全面的方法。與 Aris 的合併使 WES 能夠更好地提供生產水收集、長途運輸、處置、回收和再利用解決方案，以應對這些日益嚴峻的挑戰，我們期待著發展 Aris 團隊已經開始的回收和各種再利用機會。

Furthermore, we are also excited to see the successful execution on the market assigning significant value to the produced water midstream services public offering in September. The strong market reaction certainly validates the inherent value of WES' sizable legacy produced water asset base and the value captured by our Aris acquisition and positions the combined entity for meaningful value creation considering our partnership is now one of the leading three-stream midstream service providers in the Delaware Basin. Finally, WES' strong balance sheet and investment-grade credit ratings provide the support and financial flexibility necessary to execute on our extensive growth plans.

此外，我們也欣喜地看到，9 月的採出水中游服務公開發行取得了成功，市場對其給予了高度評價。強勁的市場反應無疑驗證了 WES 龐大的傳統產出水資產基礎的內在價值，以及我們收購 Aris 所獲得的價值，並使合併後的實體能夠創造有意義的價值，因為我們的合作夥伴關係現在是特拉華盆地領先的三流中游服務提供商之一。最後，WES 強大的資產負債表和投資等級信用評級為我們執行廣泛的成長計畫提供了必要的支援和財務靈活性。

We are well positioned in the Delaware and DJ Basins, and even in a lower commodity price environment continue to see solid rig activity levels and benefit from strong long-term contracts. Even after taking the Aris acquisition into account and our strong 2026 organic growth plan, which includes capital for both the Pathfinder pipeline and the North Loving II natural gas processing plant, we still expect leverage to remain at or near 3x throughout 2026, which positions WES for continued growth and to potentially take advantage of market-driven opportunities. By maintaining low net leverage and generating steady amounts of cash flow, our partnership will be able to maintain our disciplined capital allocation framework, gradually increase distribution coverage and steadily generate incremental value for our unitholders over time. In closing, thank you to all our employees for their hard work and continued dedication to our partnership. The year is not quite over yet, and we have already accomplished a lot.

我們在特拉華盆地和丹佛盆地擁有良好的地理位置，即使在商品價格較低的環境下，我們仍然保持著穩定的鑽井活動水平，並受益於強勁的長期合約。即使考慮到對 Aris 的收購以及我們強勁的 2026 年有機增長計劃（其中包括 Pathfinder 管道和 North Loving II 天然氣處理廠的資金），我們仍然預計 2026 年全年槓桿率將保持在 3 倍或接近 3 倍，這將使 WES 能夠繼續增長並有可能抓住市場驅動的機會。透過維持較低的淨槓桿率和產生穩定的現金流，我們的合夥企業將能夠維持我們嚴謹的資本配置框架，逐步提高分配覆蓋率，並隨著時間的推移穩步為我們的單位持有人創造增量價值。最後，感謝我們所有員工的辛勤工作和對我們合作關係的持續奉獻。今年還沒完全結束，但我們已經取得了許多成就。

From the sanctioning of the Pathfinder pipeline in North Loving II to the acquisition of Aris, we have successfully set up WES to capitalize on future growth in the Delaware Basin. Additionally, by pairing our disciplined growth initiatives with our successful cost reduction efforts, we have simultaneously accomplished two opposing tasks, leading to increased stakeholder value and making this one of WES' most noteworthy years. I also want to extend a warm welcome to all of our new formerly Aris employees. We are excited about the opportunities that lie ahead and are confident that our combined team will accomplish a great deal with the expanded produced water business. Finally, our strong third quarter results put us on track to achieve many of our 2025 goals, and I look forward to updating the market on our progress during our fourth quarter earnings call in late February.

從北洛文二期探路者管道項目的批准到收購 Aris，我們已成功建立 WES，以充分利用特拉華盆地的未來成長。此外，透過將我們嚴謹的成長計劃與我們成功的成本削減措施相結合，我們同時完成了兩項相互矛盾的任務，從而提高了利益相關者的價值，並使今年成為 WES 最值得關注的一年。我還要熱烈歡迎所有新加入的、原先在 Aris 工作過的員工。我們對未來的機會感到興奮，並相信我們合併後的團隊將在擴大的採出水業務方面取得巨大成就。最後，我們強勁的第三季業績使我們朝著實現 2025 年的許多目標邁進了一步，我期待在 2 月下旬的第四季度財報電話會議上向市場匯報我們的進展。

With that, we'll open the call up for questions.

接下來，我們將開放提問環節。

(Operator Instructions) Keith Stanley, Wolfe Research.

（操作說明）Keith Stanley，Wolfe Research。

I wanted to start on the O&M expense, it's down quite a bit year-over-year. So WES, the prior few years has seen pretty big increases in O&M costs. Can you talk to where you are on implementation of the cost management initiative, if you think Q3 O&M is pretty sustainable ignoring Aris? And how much more you think you could achieve from here?

我想先談談營運維護費用，它比前一年下降了不少。因此，WES在前幾年經歷了營運和維護成本的大幅成長。能否談談成本管理計畫的實施進度？如果您不考慮 Aris，您認為第三季的營運和維護成本是否相當可持續？你認為你還能有多大的成就？

It's Oscar. Thanks for the question. We started this effort in March of this year to really focus in on sort of updating our processes, streamlining our efforts and looking for ways to zero base kind of everything we do and think through how we can be more cost competitive so we can support our organic growth and sort of win new business. So the teams have gone through everything at this point. And we still see there's more to do. So what you see in the third quarter here should be sustainable, and we do expect there's more to come. I'll turn it over to Danny just to give some examples of some of the work that's been done and what we've been able to achieve so far. But we do think this is a new level that we can operate at, and we do think we'll see improvements throughout 2026.

是奧斯卡。謝謝你的提問。今年三月，我們啟動了這項工作，旨在真正專注於更新我們的流程，簡化我們的工作，並尋找方法將我們所做的一切都歸零，思考如何才能更具成本競爭力，從而支持我們的自然增長並贏得新業務。至此，各隊已經完成了所有步驟。我們認為還有更多工作要做。所以，第三季我們所看到的這種趨勢應該是可持續的，而且我們預計未來還會有更多成長。接下來我將把發言權交給丹尼，讓他舉例說明我們已經完成的一些工作以及我們迄今為止的成就。但我們認為這是我們能夠達到的新水平，我們也相信在 2026 年將會看到進步。

Yes, Keith. This is Danny. Just feeding on what Oscar said. I don't want to represent what I'm going to say as everything because the entire company has been engaged in this. But the key things that you're seeing in Q3 are a lot of efforts by our teams to rationalize our maintenance programs and schedules to look at and rationalize our rental fleets that we may have gotten a bit too bulky when we were focused on bringing our operability up and looking at our contract workforce head count and rationalizing the work processes that they're doing and seeing what we can bring in-house.

是的，基斯。這是丹尼。只是重複奧斯卡說過的話。我不想把我要說的話當作全部，因為整個公司都參與了這件事。但您在第三季度看到的重點是，我們的團隊做了很多努力來合理化我們的維護計劃和時間表，審視並合理化我們的租賃車隊（在我們專注於提高營運能力時，我們的租賃車隊可能變得有點過於龐大），審視我們的合約員工人數，合理化他們的工作流程，看看我們可以把哪些工作轉移到內部完成。

We also did a fair amount of work debottlenecking facilities, so we could reduce offload costs associated with that, particularly in West Texas. And then our supply chain team has done a tremendous job updating our sourcing strategies and renegotiating contracts to get savings there. So like Oscar said, I think all of what you're seeing now is sustainable, and certainly more to come in those areas and some others to be named as they show up in future quarters.

我們也做了大量工作來消除設施瓶頸，從而降低相關的卸貨成本，尤其是在德州西部。此外，我們的供應鏈團隊在更新採購策略和重新談判合約方面也做得非常出色，從而節省了成本。正如奧斯卡所說，我認為你現在看到的一切都是可持續的，而且這些領域肯定會有更多發展，其他一些領域也會在未來幾季出現。

And I'd just add that all this occurred with, again, record operability. So really been able to run the business aggressively while achieving these cost savings. So we're pretty excited about that. And like I said, I think there's still more work to do, but we've got a great start.

我還要補充一點，所有這一切都是在記錄可操作性的前提下發生的。因此，我們能夠在積極開展業務的同時，實現這些成本節約。所以我們對此感到非常興奮。正如我所說，我認為還有很多工作要做，但我們已經有了一個好的開始。

That's great. I appreciate all the color there. My second question, it's a bit of a random one. But in the slides, this is language you've had in there, but I noticed it says low to mid-single-digit distribution growth before potential increases from major projects or M&A. So I just want to confirm, especially with the yield already pretty high. When you complete Pathfinder, which will be a major project or if you do more M&A, are discrete kind of distribution step-ups still on the table with those events?

那太棒了。我喜歡那裡的色彩。我的第二個問題有點隨意。但在幻燈片中，你用了這樣的措辭，但我注意到它說的是，在重大項目或併購可能帶來的增長之前，分銷增長率是個位數中低水平。所以我只是想確認一下，尤其是產量已經相當高了。當您完成 Pathfinder 專案（這將是一個重大專案）或進行更多併購時，是否仍會考慮採用離散的分紅方式？

Yes. It's Oscar. I think they are -- really, our goal was to give long-term guidance on what we think we can achieve through the years, and that sort of mid-single-digit number seems about right given our size and our footprint right now. We'll just take things as they come. If we've got some opportunities to step up the distribution, we will.

是的。是奧斯卡。我認為他們是——實際上，我們的目標是就我們認為未來幾年能夠取得的成就提供長期指導，考慮到我們目前的規模和影響力，這種個位數的中等數字似乎比較合適。我們順其自然吧。如果有機會加大分銷力度，我們會這麼做。

It's really the purpose of an MLP at the end of the day, but we are cognizant of the yield, and we talked about it a bit before on sort of balancing out where, at some point, if the yield creeps up even higher from here that we'd have to think about buybacks and items like that. It's always going to be comparing against the opportunities we have to deploy capital in a way that's accretive to distributable cash flow. So nothing's really changed in any of that. We do have to be cognizant, too, of sort of the outlook and the environment. So if we're looking at a flatter year going forward or a slowdown, we'll probably stick with our mid-single-digit growth rate, even if we have some good projects come online, if we see an uptick where we think it's sustainable and we bring on some of these projects or make an accretive acquisition, maybe we bump up a little bit from there. It's really at the discretion of the Board, of course. But that's our philosophy on that.

歸根究底，這才是 MLP 的真正目的，但我們也意​​識到收益率，之前我們也稍微討論過如何平衡，如果收益率在某個時候進一步上升，我們就必須考慮回購之類的措施。我們始終要將資金部署機會與能夠增加可分配現金流量的機會進行比較。所以，這一切其實都沒有改變。我們也必須意識到前景和環境的影響。因此，如果未來一年經濟形勢較為平穩或放緩，即使有一些不錯的項目上線，我們可能也會堅持個位數的中段增長率；但如果我們看到增長勢頭良好且可持續，並且我們引入了一些此類項目或進行了一項增值收購，那麼我們可能會在此基礎上略微提高增長率。當然，這完全由董事會決定。但這就是我們在這方面的理念。

Gabe Moreen, Mizuho.

加布·莫林，瑞穗。

Maybe if I can start on the Pathfinder project and some of the assets you made on the additional pore space. Can you just talk about what that does for the projects from an efficiency standpoint relative to the, I think, $400 million to $450 million cost you originally laid out? And then maybe if there's also an update on how third-party contracting may or may not be progressing?

也許我可以開始做探路者項目，以及你製作的一些關於額外孔隙空間的素材。能否從效率的角度談談，相對於您最初制定的 4 億至 4.5 億美元的成本，這對專案有什麼影響？那麼，是否也可以提供一些關於第三方承包進展的最新資訊呢？

Sure. Thanks, Gabe. So I'll start at the end. On the contracting side, we are progressing well. I think with the Aris acquisition, it did allow us -- took a little bit of pause because we couldn't work in coordination with the Aris' commercial team until we closed. That started now. They've had conversations about growing their system. Of course, we've been working with other producers on Pathfinder itself. So this pore space deal did a couple of things, obviously added some more capacity. I think that will just benefit the entire system.

當然。謝謝你，蓋布。那我就從結尾開始講吧。在合約簽訂方面，我們進展順利。我認為收購 Aris 確實讓我們——稍微停頓了一下，因為在交易完成之前，我們無法與 Aris 的商業團隊協調合作。這一切從現在開始。他們曾討論過如何發展壯大他們的系統。當然，我們也一直在與其他製作人合作開發《探路者》這款遊戲。所以，這種孔隙空間改造顯然做了兩件事，增加了一些容量。我認為這將有利於整個系統。

Now that we have both New Mexico and Texas, ultimately, those will connect up over time and we'll have more flexibility and frankly, probably a bit greater ability to grow New Mexico faster than Aris could have done on its own when you combine Pathfinder access and then sort of everything we're doing to expand some of our capacity. In terms of -- that's why we really brought up this transaction, even though it's sort of not material for the details to be disclosed. It did give us extra pore space and it also allowed us to reroute a small portion of the pipeline to save us some capital. So not ready yet to give the specific numbers, but we do believe with this transaction, we've improved the returns on Pathfinder for the SEC that we already have in place. And then for future growth on that pipeline.

現在我們同時擁有了新墨西哥州和德克薩斯州，最終，隨著時間的推移，它們將會連接起來，我們將擁有更大的靈活性，坦白說，結合 Pathfinder 的訪問權限以及我們為擴展部分容量所做的一切，我們或許能夠比 Aris 單獨發展新墨西哥州的速度更快。就此而言——這就是我們提出這項交易的原因，儘管其細節並不重要，無需披露。它確實為我們提供了額外的孔隙空間，也使我們能夠重新規劃管道的一小部分，從而節省一些資金。所以現在還不能給出具體數字，但我們相信，透過這筆交易，我們已經提高了 Pathfinder 為美國證券交易委員會帶來的收益。然後是為了該管道的未來成長。

So with that, I think the only other comment I'd make is just on contracting further on Pathfinder. Now that we've got again this combined company, more services and solutions, bigger footprint that I think it will sort of accelerate the dynamic that we'll have with other producers.

所以，除此之外，我想我唯一要補充的就是關於進一步簽訂 Pathfinder 合約的問題。現在我們再次合併了這家公司，擁有更多的服務和解決方案，更大的影響力，我認為這將加速我們與其他生產商之間的合作動態。

And finally, we still got about a year, by the way, to get this online. And finally, I'd just say the environment itself has shifted in our favor even though over just the last six months. So in addition to some of the market activity that we commented on in the script, we've seen higher regulatory activity. We've certainly engaged more with regulators. There's probably more regulation coming.

最後，順便說一句，我們還有大約一年的時間來完成這項線上工作。最後，我想說，儘管僅僅在過去的六個月裡，環境本身已經朝著對我們有利的方向發生了轉變。因此，除了我們在腳本中提到的一些市場活動之外，我們還看到了更高的監管活動。我們確實與監管機構進行了更多溝通。可能還會推出更多監管措施。

But it reminds me of sort of the gas business 20 or 30 years ago, whereas the regulations increased, it really pushed out smaller players, noninvestment-grade players that didn't have sort of the capability to deliver large projects and complete solutions that also comply with increasing regulatory pressure. So those things have moved in our direction. We've also witnessed now, not just seismicity but communication with producing wells and all kinds of other issues. So it's a real focus of the industry now. And we're also gratified that from a contracting perspective, the contracts you see at Aris in terms of very long-term dedications and then what we've been able to achieve so far, Pathfinder with minimum volume commitments, really it looks, again a lot like the gas business. So we're pretty happy with the trend, and I think we'll see continued strength in pricing as this becomes a bigger and bigger issue in the Delaware Basin.

但這讓我想起了二三十年前的天然氣行業，當時監管力度加大，確實把規模較小的企業，那些沒有能力交付大型項目和完整解決方案，同時又無法滿足日益增長的監管壓力的非投資級企業擠出了市場。所以這些事情都朝著我們預期的方向發展了。我們現在不僅目睹了地震活動，還目睹了與生產井的溝通以及各種其他問題。所以這現在是業界關注的焦點。我們也感到欣慰的是，從合約的角度來看，Aris 的合約都是非常長期的，而且我們迄今為止的成就，Pathfinder 的最低產量承諾，看起來確實很像天然氣行業。所以我們對這一趨勢相當滿意，而且我認為隨著特拉華盆地這個問題變得越來越嚴重，價格將會繼續走強。

Maybe I could follow up. You referenced kind of growing in New Mexico, and I know it's really early days. But as far as ambitions to bring more gas and oil infrastructure, with Aris footprint in New Mexico and kind of get three streams going, can you just talk about kind of how you plan to tackle that? Effort's going to be organic, inorganic, both. Just curious to hear your thoughts there.

或許我可以跟進一下。你提到了在新墨西哥州的發展，我知道現在還處於起步階段。但就引入更多天然氣和石油基礎設施的雄心壯志而言，考慮到 Aris 在新墨西哥州的業務佈局，以及要啟動三個項目，您能否談談您打算如何解決這個問題？努力的方向將是有機的、無機的，或者兩者兼具。只是好奇想聽聽你的看法。

Yes, we're definitely going to go after both. I think both organic, and if there's opportunities where we can do something accretive inorganically, we'll look at those, too. That massive footprint that Aris has, that helps a lot, right? So we've already had some strong gas lines going up and gathering pipelines going up into New Mexico, crossing the State line, but not in a huge way and not in a big footprint. And so this gives us sort of a big presence in people.

是的，我們肯定會兩個都爭取。我認為既要考慮有機成長，如果存在可以透過無機成長實現增值的機會，我們也會考慮。Aris 龐大的市場份額，這很有幫助，對吧？所以我們已經有一些大型天然氣管道和集氣管道正在建設中，進入新墨西哥州，跨越州界，但規模不大，佔地面積也不大。因此，這使我們在人們心中擁有了相當大的影響力。

And certainly, in water lines where we think we can build off of it. We've got some confidence because we've been successful on two and three streams in the Texas Delaware. We think something like 10 contracts in the last 18 months that were at least two streams, including water in Texas. So we don't see any reason why we shouldn't be able to achieve that in New Mexico. I do think it will take some time to work through that and sort of win on the organic side.

當然，在水管領域，我們認為可以以此為基礎進行開發。我們之所以有信心，是因為我們在德克薩斯州特拉華河的兩到三條支流上都取得了成功。我們認為在過去 18 個月中，大約有 10 份合約涉及至少兩條水流，其中包括德克薩斯州的水。因此，我們看不出有什麼理由說明為什麼我們在新墨西哥州無法實現這一點。我認為這需要一些時間才能解決這個問題，並在有機成長方面取得勝利。

So again, we'll keep the options open, but it's a key piece of the puzzle. And frankly, just about anybody can probably build gas lines since in New Mexico, if you've got sort of the footprint and the capabilities, but solving the water piece is becoming sort of a critical issue and a threshold issue for development. So we feel like that gives us some leverage in the marketplace and sort of the organic growth to New Mexico.

所以，我們會繼續保留各種選擇，但這確實是解決問題的關鍵一環。坦白說，在新墨西哥州，只要有足夠的場地和能力，幾乎任何人都可以建造天然氣管道，但解決水資源問題正成為一個關鍵問題，也是發展的門檻問題。因此，我們覺得這能為我們帶來一些市場優勢，並促進新墨西哥州的自然成長。

Jeremy Tonet, JPMorgan.

傑里米·託內特，摩根大通。

Just wanted to pick up with some of the points you brought up before as far as opportunistic inorganic deals that you might pursue. Is there any kind of holes in the portfolio you're looking to kind of solve for at this point? Or what are the parameters there is what WES might be interested?

我只是想就你之前提到的一些觀點，特別是你可能會追求的機會性非有機成長交易，再補充幾點。目前您的投資組合中是否有任何需要解決的漏洞？或者說，WES可能感興趣的參數是什麼？

Yes. So the financial parameters are unchanged. So I won't go through those. Those are very consistent over the years and certainly we've kind of validated this year. In terms of opportunities, I think always where we've got some angle footprint customer with something to build off of and generate some synergies will be our preference.

是的。因此，財務參數保持不變。所以我就不一一贅述了。這些結果多年來一直非常一致，而且今年我們也確實驗證了這一點。就機會而言，我認為我們始終會優先選擇那些我們擁有一定規模的客戶群，並能以此為基礎發展並產生協同效應的領域。

As we talked about, just with the last question, New Mexico is an obvious one where there could be opportunities. We're probably biased a bit towards gas opportunities from this point, given we've really just put together the best position we possibly could in the Delaware Basin on the water side. In terms of stepping out in other basins, it's a little bit harder for us if we don't have something to bring, but not impossible with the right sort of significant or stand-alone type business that we think we could leverage into additional growth. But we're staying disciplined. It's been an interesting market from our perspective. There's been a lot of assets out there. We've seen a lot of failed processes. So we'll be helpful as we move through all that. But Jeremy, really not too much has changed in our strategy and where we would go from here.

正如我們剛才在最後一個問題中提到的，新墨西哥州顯然是一個可能存在機會的地方。從目前來看，我們可能對天然氣機會有些偏向，因為我們已經在特拉華盆地的水岸上盡可能地建立了最好的地位。就進軍其他盆地而言，如果我們沒有可以帶來的東西，那就有點困難，但如果我們有合適的、重要的或獨立的業務類型，並且我們認為可以利用這些業務實現額外的增長，那麼這並非不可能。但我們會保持自律。從我們的角度來看，這是一個很有趣的市場。市面上有很多資產。我們已經看到了很多失敗的流程。所以，我們會在處理所有這些事情的過程中提供幫助。但傑里米，實際上我們的策略以及我們未來的發展方向並沒有太大變化。

Got it. That's helpful. And just want to turn towards 2026 a little bit at this point. Outside of the Aris acquisition. Just wondering if you could help us think through how the business is trending for 2026 at this point from what you see.

知道了。那很有幫助。現在我想稍微展望一下2026年。除了收購 Aris 之外。想請您根據目前所看到的，幫我們分析一下2026年的業務發展趨勢。

Yes. So I think from a volumetric standpoint, we touched on this a little bit in the prepared remarks that expecting overall product growth across all three products. There has been obviously a little bit of commodity price weakness in 2025. And so if we see that continuing through the rest of this year and really into 2026, that will impact some of those basins that are a little bit more commodity price sensitive like the PRB and the DJ.

是的。所以我認為，從銷售角度來看，我們在準備好的發言稿中也稍微提到了這一點，我們預計所有三個產品都將實現整體成長。2025年大宗商品價格明顯走弱。因此，如果我們看到這種情況持續到今年剩餘時間，甚至延續到 2026 年，這將對一些對商品價格比較敏感的盆地產生影響，例如 PRB 和 DJ 盆地。

So going back to our prepared remarks around that, too, just expecting at this point at least some decline there unless we see some commodity price improvement. But Delaware Basin, obviously, still doing really well. The acreage we're serving is a highly sought-after acreage with a lot of activity on it. The Aris acquisition will be huge. We're doubling the amount of water that we transport and dispose of today.

所以，回到我們之前準備好的發言，目前來看，除非大宗商品價格有所改善，否則預計至少會出現一些下滑。但很明顯，特拉華盆地仍然表現得非常好。我們服務的這片土地是備受追捧的地塊，上面有許多活動。收購Aris將是一項巨大的舉措。我們現在運輸和排放的水量是現在的兩倍。

So a lot of growth in that area, too. And then going back to the comments around cost cutting and the initiatives that we've got there, expect there to be savings that we can continue into 2026 and more that we'll continue to find.

所以，那方面也取得了很大的成長。回到先前關於削減成本和我們已經採取的舉措的評論，預計到 2026 年，我們將繼續節省開支，並且還會繼續尋找更多節省開支的途徑。

Spiro Dounis, Citi.

Spiro Dounis，花旗銀行。

I want to start with New Mexico. Just in terms of expanding more there on the gas side, how are you thinking about the AGI component? A lot of your peers have bolstered their AGI capabilities. So just curious if that's a barrier to entry or do you think something you could overcome?

我想先從新墨西哥州開始。就進一步拓展天然氣領域而言，您是如何考慮通用人工智慧（AGI）組件的？你們很多同行都提升了他們的通用人工智慧（AGI）能力。所以，我只是好奇這是否會成為進入門檻，或者你認為這是可以克服的障礙？

Yes. I think it's a real issue, right? There's a lot of sour gas in New Mexico. We certainly have the skill set to evaluate those and operate those as well as handle sour gas. So it's an understood challenge, I guess, operating in New Mexico.

是的。我覺得這確實是個問題，對吧？新墨西哥州有很多酸性天然氣。我們當然具備評估和操作這些設備以及處理酸性氣體的技能。所以，我想，在新墨西哥州開展業務確實面臨著一個可以理解的挑戰。

It's not -- New Mexico is not alone in that area. But in any case, there are a challenge. They take time to permit and they are assets that I think provide value. So I think if there's an opportunity for us inorganically there that is heavy on sour gas, of course, we would imagine that would probably come with some of those permits or wells. But if not, we certainly got the skills internally to work through that.

並非如此——新墨西哥州並非唯一面臨這種情況的州。但無論如何，挑戰依然存在。獲得許可需要時間，但我認為它們是有價值的資產。所以我認為，如果我們有機會以非有機方式開發富含酸性天然氣的礦產資源，當然，我們認為這可能會伴隨著一些許可證或油井的取得。但即便不行，我們公司內部也完全有能力解決這個問題。

Got it. That's great. Second question, maybe just going to synergies. Oscar, it sounds like you feel pretty confident in that $40 million. But maybe just looking beyond that, you continue to talk about being a three-stream operator. And I guess I just wonder commercially, when do you think we start to see some of that benefit play out on the commercial side?

知道了。那太棒了。第二個問題，或許直接討論綜效吧。奧斯卡，聽起來你對那4000萬美元很有信心啊。但或許拋開這些不談，你仍然在談論成為三流業者。我想知道，從商業角度來看，您認為我們什麼時候才能在商業方面看到這些好處顯現出來？

Yes, we're certainly having those conversations already. So it's really hard to control. It's kind of like M&A. You've got a counterparty there and a customer that has their own timetables and things that they are focused on. So we'll continue to work those.

是的，我們當然已經在進行這些討論了。所以真的很難控制。這有點像併購。你有一個交易對手和一個客戶，他們都有自己的時間表和關注。所以我們會繼續努力。

I don't have sort of a specific time frame. I do think it will take a little time. I mean for us on the organic side, we would have to find opportunities where we would -- it's a new area for us. It would be a new build-out sort of situation. So they would just have to mesh with whether it's expiring dedications or new development area or somewhere where our timing could match customers.

我沒有具體的時間安排。我認為這需要一些時間。我的意思是，對於我們這些從事有機食品的人來說，我們必須找到機會——這對我們來說是一個全新的領域。這將是一個全新的建設項目。所以他們只需要根據到期的專屬用地、新的開發區域或其他任何能夠滿足客戶需求的地點來調整時間安排。

So that could take a little time. But we certainly are going to leverage the Aris systems and relationships. We've got some overlap in those relationships to see what we can do on that side. So we haven't, in sort of the three-stream area, we certainly haven't projected or promised sort of specifics on sort of amount or timetable that we think we're going to be successful there. There's also some likely synergies and opportunities to accelerate growth with the combined Aris and WES team.

所以可能需要一些時間。但我們肯定會充分利用 Aris 的系統和關係。我們在這些關係中有一些重疊之處，看看我們能在這方面做些什麼。所以，在三股潮流領域，我們當然沒有預測或承諾任何具體的金額或時間表，來表明我們認為我們會在那裡取得成功。Aris 和 WES 團隊合併後，可能會產生一些協同效應，並帶來加速成長的機會。

We've kept all their commercial team to add to ours and really work together to -- just to accelerate the growth on the water side. And again, having something that resembles like a giant gas header system with a beautiful pipeline right in the middle is pretty powerful. So it shouldn't take an incredibly long time for -- on the water side, the revenue synergies to show up, again, probably not ready to quantify them, but we imagine we see something going next year.

我們保留了他們所有的商業團隊，並將他們納入我們的團隊，真正攜手合作，以加速水務業務的成長。再說一遍，擁有一個類似巨型天然氣集氣系統的東西，中間還有一條漂亮的管道，這非常強大。因此，在水務方面，收入綜效應該不會花太長時間才能顯現出來，雖然可能還不能量化，但我們預計明年就會有所進展。

And really the last piece, so the $40 million we are extremely confident, and the Aris team has been wonderful. We kind of hit the ground sprinting, not just running with the integration. So that's gone really, really well. But really, those -- that $40 million was really all overhead. We also think there's going to be some great opportunities on the operating side for synergies that we can realize probably starting around the first or second quarter.

最後一點，我們對這 4000 萬美元非常有信心，Aris 團隊的表現非常出色。我們一開始就全力衝刺，而不是慢慢進行整合。所以這件事進展得非常順利。但實際上，那 4000 萬美元全都是管理費。我們也認為，在營運方面將會出現一些巨大的綜效機會，我們可能從第一季或第二季開始就能實現這些機會。

Right now, both teams are sort of operating side by side. And we're just sharing and reviewing how we do business and how we execute every day and pulling best practices for both sides. We are definitely going to take some of the things that Aris has been doing really well and apply that to the rest of our business. We've got some opportunities as well to share practices with them. But the time line on that side, and again, we haven't quantified that, it's not part of the $40 million.

目前，兩隊基本上處於並肩作戰的狀態。我們只是在分享和回顧我們的業務運作方式和日常執行方式，並為雙方總結最佳實踐。我們一定會借鑒 Aris 做得非常出色的一些做法，並將其應用到我們業務的其他方面。我們也有一些機會與他們分享經驗。但那邊的進度，我們還沒有量化，也不包含在 4000 萬美元的預算之內。

But we hope to have a reasonable update in February on some of the ideas and opportunities there. So pretty confident we're going to exceed the $40 million. So sort of stay tuned as we get our arms around the business.

但我們希望在二月能就其中的一些想法和機會給予比較準確的更新。所以我們很有信心會超過 4000 萬美元。所以請繼續關注，我們會逐步掌控這項業務。

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

目前沒有其他問題了。奧斯卡布朗先生，我把電話交還給您。

Thank you so much for your interest in Western Midstream and your participation on this earnings call. We're really gratified that we've really already begun 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's to improve our overall cost structure and process efficiency executing on growth opportunities. In fact, the former enables success in the latter, and we now have great momentum towards improving our competitiveness in the midstream marketplace.

非常感謝您對西部中游公司的關注以及您參與本次財報電話會議。我們非常欣慰地看到，透過同時做好兩件非常困難的事情——改善整體成本結構和流程效率，抓住成長機會——我們謹慎的成長策略已經初見成效。事實上，前者能夠促成後者的成功，我們現在在提高我們在中游市場的競爭力方面擁有巨大的動力。

We're quite proud of delivering record operating and financial quarterly results once again, and when combined with the successful closing and integration of Aris as well as our major Pathfinder pipeline and North Loving II gas plant projects set Western Midstream up for delivering predictable growth over the next few years.

我們非常自豪地再次取得了創紀錄的營運和財務季度業績，再加上成功完成對 Aris 的收購和整合，以及我們主要的 Pathfinder 管道和 North Loving II 天然氣廠項目，Western Midstream 將在未來幾年實現可預測的增長。

I also want to express my gratitude to all our employees for their hard work so far this year in delivering these results while operating safely and sustainably. We look forward to seeing everybody, analysts and investors, on the road at upcoming conferences through the end of the year.

我還要感謝我們所有員工今年以來的辛勤工作，在安全、永續營運的前提下取得了這些成果。我們期待在今年年底前的各個會議上與各位分析師和投資者見面。

And with that, we'll close the call. Thanks again.

通話到此結束。再次感謝。

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了。