NASDAQ:EXE Chesapeake Energy Q3 2023 Earnings Report $6.15 -0.18 (-2.84%) As of 04/16/2025 03:58 PM Eastern Earnings HistoryForecast B&G Foods EPS ResultsActual EPS$1.09Consensus EPS $0.57Beat/MissBeat by +$0.52One Year Ago EPSN/AB&G Foods Revenue ResultsActual Revenue$682.00 millionExpected Revenue$884.68 millionBeat/MissMissed by -$202.68 millionYoY Revenue GrowthN/AB&G Foods Announcement DetailsQuarterQ3 2023Date10/31/2023TimeN/AConference Call DateWednesday, November 1, 2023Conference Call Time9:00AM ETUpcoming EarningsB&G Foods' Q1 2025 earnings is scheduled for Tuesday, May 6, 2025, with a conference call scheduled on Wednesday, May 7, 2025 at 4:30 PM ET. Check back for transcripts, audio, and key financial metrics as they become available.Conference Call ResourcesConference Call AudioConference Call TranscriptSlide DeckPress Release (8-K)Quarterly Report (10-Q)Earnings HistoryCompany ProfileSlide DeckFull Screen Slide DeckPowered by B&G Foods Q3 2023 Earnings Call TranscriptProvided by QuartrNovember 1, 2023 ShareLink copied to clipboard.There are 12 speakers on the call. Operator00:00:00Morning, and welcome to the Chesapeake Energy Corporation Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. All participants will be in listen only mode. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Chris Ayers, Vice President of Investor Relations and Treasurer. Operator00:00:31Please go ahead. Speaker 100:00:33Thank you, Anthony. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining our call today to discuss Chesapeake's Q3 2023 financial and operating results. Hopefully, you've had a chance to review our press release and the updated investor presentations that we posted to our website yesterday. During this morning's call, we will be making forward looking statements, which consist of statements that cannot be confirmed by reference Existing information, including statements regarding beliefs, goals, expectations, forecasts, projections, future performance And the assumptions underlying such statements, please note there are a number of factors that will cause actual results to differ materially from our forward looking statements, including the factors identified and discussed in our press release yesterday and in other SEC filings. Please recognize that as except required by applicable law, we undertake no duty to update any forward looking statements and you should not We may also refer to some non GAAP measures, which help facilitate comparisons across periods and peers. Speaker 100:01:41For any non GAAP measure, we use a reconciliation to the nearest corresponding GAAP measure, which can be found on our website. With me on the call today are Nick D'Alaso, Mohit Singh and Josh Vietz. Nick will give a brief overview of our results and then we will open up the teleconference to Q and A. So with that, thank you again. Now we'll turn over to Nick. Speaker 200:02:02Good morning. Thank you for joining the call. I'll start off by Discussing a few of our Q3 highlights and then I'll get right to your questions. We delivered another strong quarter advancing our strategy to deliver sustainable value to shareholders through cycles. As you've seen from our Q3 results, we came in on the low end of capital and the high end of production, despite the 60% deferral of planned 3rd quarter turn in lines And the extension of elective curtailments in the Marcellus. Speaker 200:02:29In the Marcellus this quarter, our rig fleet set a new company record averaging 13.67 feet per day, marking a 16% improvement over the prior quarter. Overall, we drilled 4 of the top 10 fastest Marcellus wells in our company's history. That's a pretty significant accomplishment given our long and successful history in the basin. Importantly, our decreased cycle times have also been by achieving a lower cost per foot, which means we will now be able to drill another well per rig year at a lower cost compared to what we projected at the beginning of the year. This is a great example of efficiency offsetting inflation. Speaker 200:03:07In the Haynesville, we delivered another robust quarter of base production with strong wedge volumes. Additionally, our sustained efforts to debottleneck our midstream has resulted in lower line pressures and higher production. We've realized a 15% quarter over quarter reduction in interrupted volumes attributable to midstream disruptions. The combination of our improved base production and effort to optimize gas flow assurance has led us to increasing our Q4 production guidance by 30 1,000,000 cubic feet a day or approximately 2.5%. Our strong operational performance serves as the backbone to our commitment to deliver superior capital returns for shareholders. Speaker 200:03:45We continue to execute our peer leading return program in the quarter, repurchasing $130,000,000 in shares and delivering our base dividend. Through the Q3, we have returned approximately $725,000,000 to shareholders through our buyback and dividend programs. We also announced another important step on our path to be LNG ready with today's LNG supply announcement with Vitol. Similar to our past agreement with Gunvor, under today's heads of agreement with Vitol, Chesapeake will supply up to 1,000,000 tons per annum of LNG to Vitol with the purchase price index to JKM. As we continue exploring these types of agreements, we see an appreciation of the premium rock returns and runway of our ADDvantage portfolio and the strength of our financial position. Speaker 200:04:32Our approach to executing our LNG strategy has Consistent and benefits from production that is physically linked to LNG markets, access to international prices And downside protection through cancellation optionality. Our portfolio balance sheet and approach represents a clear competitive advantage among our gas peers, And we continue to complete LNG agreements as we see export capacity come online over the next few years. Before opening the call for questions, I'd like to touch on our trajectory headed into 2024. We expect to maintain our current rig count of 5 rigs in And 4 rigs in the Marcellus for the 1st part of the year. Should gas prices firm up in line with the current 2025 strip, We believe there may be an opportunity to add an additional rig in the Haynesville during the second half of the year, which would positively impact volumes in 2025. Speaker 200:05:24As you look to model our business in 2024, a fair starting point is to assume our annual production should be in line with our 4th quarter run rate The 3.2 Bcf a day in the Marcellus and Haynesville. Our CapEx for the full year should approximate $1,600,000,000 Assuming an additional Haynesville rig in the second half of the year. We're now pleased to address your questions. Operator, if you want to assemble the queue. Operator00:05:48We will now begin the question and answer session. Our first question will come from Doug Leggate with Bank of America. You may now go ahead. Speaker 300:06:15Hey, good morning, everyone. Thanks for taking my questions. Nick, I wonder if I could pick up on the 2024 Outlook here, because for quite some time now, you've talked about managing your production to maintain production capacity. I don't know if I'm I'm messing up the description of that. But as you think about the capital required in 2024 To maintain, let's say, your exit rate and then set yourself up into 2025, what do you think that cadence on production and not associated capital looks like Ex Eagle Ford, obviously. Speaker 200:06:50Well, I'll start here and Josh may have some more color to add. But essentially, Doug, we're starting the year With maintaining the production where it is today, 5 rigs in the Haynesville, 4 rigs in the Marcellus, that's going to keep us where we are today at about 3.2 Bcf a day. We are paying attention to the fact that the export capacity for LNG should come online By the end of the year, setting up for unmet demand in 2025. If that looks like it's going to play out and the strip looks like it's going to hold up, That we would add a rig in the second half of the year. And so the $1,600,000,000 of CapEx that I gave you a minute ago does assume that add a rig in the second half of the year in Haynesville. Speaker 200:07:33If we didn't have that rig, we would just stay at that level of production. It should be a little bit less. Speaker 300:07:40Okay. That makes a ton of sense. Thanks. Nick, I don't expect you to answer this question Directly, but I wonder if I could ask you to frame your views on just broader industry consolidation. For Chesapeake, you've talked were in Hainesville with you in July. Speaker 300:07:57You said there was no there were no conversations happening. Mohit countered that a little bit Our bus tour basically saying, well, actually, there's a lot of conversations happening. That was just 2 months later. So how do you see the landscape on Chesapeake's role, whether it be private or public? Speaker 200:08:14Well, I think you touched on some themes there that are pretty interesting. And we've been very We believe in consolidation in the industry. So we've been pleased to see Exxon and Chevron do the deals that they've done. We think those are constructive for the industry. And the dialogue for M and A does come in ebbs and flows. Speaker 200:08:34And there are times in the market where it seems like more people are So we don't feel compelled to do anything. And we certainly don't feel compelled to do anything on a near term timetable. But at the same time, we believe in consolidation. We believe in the merits of attempting to have consolidation make the industry A more profitable, more productive place. And we've been also very consistent in talking about how we would define that for ourselves. Speaker 200:09:14And so for us, we go back to our non negotiables. And just to remind everybody, that means that we in the context of consolidation, we don't want to overpay. We will look for accretion in the transaction. We will protect our balance sheet. We will look for a good emissions profile or one we can quickly make better. Speaker 200:09:33And what that really means at the end of the day is that you have to make your company better through consolidation, not just bigger. And that's not an easy thing to do. That's a pretty high bar. So we believe in consolidation, and we'll continue to pay attention. Speaker 300:09:52Priscilla, just a quick add on to that very quickly, Nick. Is there any interest in being outside of the 2 basins that you're in? Or when you say you're happy with your portfolio, Would that imply there for any consolidation you would pursue would be focused on those 2 basins? Speaker 200:10:07Well, you got a couple Questions embedded in there, and I think the answers won't be surprising to anyone. We like the basins we're in. We like the assets that we're in, Because we know that they are at the top of the heap for natural gas supply and demand fundamentals and delivering against that Supply and demand fundamentals for many years. So we're happy being in the Marcellus and the Haynesville. We've been asked over time, would we look outside of those basins? Speaker 200:10:34And My answer there is our nonnegotiables are a high bar. If you wanted to apply those nonnegotiables to a place we don't operate today, ABBAR is even higher. So we continue to say that is an unlikely answer Speaker 400:10:48for us. Speaker 200:10:50Makes sense. But we do like where we operate today, and we think that we have a competitive advantage to be in both of those basins. Speaker 300:10:59Thanks, Nick. Bob, I'll see you in a couple of weeks. Speaker 200:11:02Great. Operator00:11:05Our next question will come from Zach Parham with JPMorgan. Speaker 200:11:08You Speaker 500:11:11Thanks for taking my question. Just wanted to ask on the outperformance in the Haynesville. You've outperformed your guidance each quarter this year. You increased the 4Q guide. Looking at state data, well productivity seems to be trending positively. Speaker 500:11:24Can you just give us a bit more Seems to be trending positively. Can you just give us a bit more color on what's driving that outperformance in the Haynesville and how sustainable you think that is going forward? Speaker 600:11:36Yes. Good morning, Zach. This is Josh. We've been really happy with the way the performance has showed up in the Haynesville this year. And of course, going back To last year, we knew we had some bottlenecks within the midstream. Speaker 600:11:48And so we've done a ton of work over the last year to really sure that up. And largely what that's been attributed to is simply working with our midstream providers to introduce additional interconnects between gathering systems, Helping support treating capacity expansion. And so those are things that are just simply will be sustainable Through the years and it's allowing us to continue to mitigate midstream induced downtime. So we'll continue to work with our midstream providers to allow that to improve over time. Well productivity has been strong through the course of the year. Speaker 600:12:27We've seen some modest increases in well performance. One of the things that's actually allowed us to do is to the 2nd frac crew that we're bringing in. We've allowed ourselves to push that back by a couple of months. We'll bring that Speaker 500:12:53Thanks for that color. And then just one clarification on 2024. You talked about $1,600,000,000 in CapEx, assuming that additional Haynesville rig comes back in the second half next year. Does that include the spend on the momentum pipe, which I think is Around $100,000,000 next year? Speaker 200:13:11Good question, Zach. No, that does not include momentum. We're trying to just give you a number to think about our regular way E and P business. Okay. Thank you. Operator00:13:24Our next question will come from Uman Choudhary with Goldman Sachs. You may now disconnect. Speaker 700:13:29Hi, good morning. Thank you for taking my questions. Would love your thoughts on the 2024 macro outlook of Financial Gas. And to follow-up on Doug's question around your activity levels in the Hainesville, you plan Add a rig in the back half of the year. Any thoughts or any color you can give in terms of where you think the spending level would be, production outlook would be for the year. Speaker 200:14:00Sure, Hmong. Yes. So macro, I'll start with that. We've got a lot of uncertainty in front of us here with winter just starting. And storage levels have been high, Relatively high throughout 2023. Speaker 200:14:14They look a little bit better today than they did a couple of months ago, but the big variable in front of us now is the winter. What we're all excited about in the industry is the step change that will come to the fundamentals when we have the incremental export capacity come online. We still think that happens around the end of 2024. We will watch that very, very closely. That's the signal we're really focused on from a macro perspective is will we have That connectivity to markets that are underserved such that there is a call on U. Speaker 200:14:45S. Gas. If that happens, we believe we have important asset to meet that call in Haynesville, and we would expect to add a rig if that looks like it's coming in line with that projection. But to be clear, our 1.6% number that we gave you as an approximation for our 2024 CapEx, which albeit it's very early to be giving you that number, that is a that's an early estimate and we'll set a budget still As we go through the end of the year here and get ready to start next year as we really see where winter plays out, That would assume that we bring a rig on in the second half of the year in the Haynesville. So if that macro view changes And we don't believe that LNG is going to come online timely or the storage environment changes because we have either a really cold or a really warm We could certainly change that answer. Speaker 200:15:44But as of now, we're thinking about a business that would start off the year exactly where it is today And that has the flexibility to add a rig in the second half of the year. And so the starting point number we've given you for capital would assume we do just that. But just to reiterate, we have all the flexibility in the world to change our answer around whether or not that rig comes on in the second half of the year Or any other changes to our capital program. We have plenty of flexibility and we can be very responsive to what we believe the fundamentals are asking our industry to deliver in the way of supply. Speaker 700:16:17That's very helpful. Thank you. And my as my follow-up question, I wanted to understand a little bit about the midstream Set up in the Haynesville, the production in the Haynesville has been declining and but you also have made progress in terms of adding more capacity in the Haynesville. So do you feel like you have sufficient capacity as we look to 2025 to grow molecules in the Haynesville? That's question number 1. Speaker 700:16:41And Can you also remind us on the progress on the momentum pipeline? Is it on track to come online in the Q4 of next year? Speaker 200:16:50Yes. Let me answer the first part of that and then I'll have Moa talk about momentum. As for capacity, we feel very comfortable we can deliver what we're Planning for here. Remember that 2024 volumes in the Haynesville will be lower than we were in 2022 and 2023, We're at the during 2022 and the beginning of 2023, we experienced some of those bottlenecks. We've removed those bottlenecks, so we can restore production Back to those previous levels with that incremental rig, we feel very good about that and feel very good that if we ever chose to grow Beyond that in the future, we have the relationships and the infrastructure in place to be able to do it. Speaker 800:17:28Humang, this is Mohit. On the second part of your question about momentum, as we've said previously, we are very excited about the project and what it means for our flow assurance. We look at the volumes that we are producing in Haynesville and are trying to build a transport portfolio, which allows us to take it to Perryville or down south To Gilles and the intent this is part of our BLNG ready strategy where we get production to Gilles and that's where we can have Connectivity to different liquefaction facilities. So momentum has it remains a critical part of our strategy and we it's on track. We expect it to go into service probably late next year or early 2025, which is all still on track. Speaker 800:18:14We still like the project and it remains a key part of our LNG strategy. Speaker 700:18:21That's very helpful. Thank you guys. Operator00:18:26Our next question will come from Bert Dons with Truist. You may now go ahead. Pardon me, Bert, your line is open for questions. Speaker 900:18:48Your total company LNG pricing exposure, predominantly to an international index Instead of a domestic one, is that an intentional shift or was this just kind of timing and maybe you have some Henry Hub linked agreements down the line to even out And maybe the second part of that is, is there any reason you haven't signed an open ended agreement where you kind of Speaker 200:19:16Sure. Bert, the first part of your about LNG and Mo will add in and then you'll have to just redirect us if we missed part of your question. But you were asking about percentage of international price Exposure, we've been pretty consistent there to talk about 15% to 20%. I guess to clarify based on a question we got last night, when we talk about 15% to 20% Of our production that we target for international pricing, that's our net production. Generally, when companies announce these deals, they are announced under gross marketed production, which is obviously more. Speaker 200:19:55So just to think about that, you need to consider what our Average net revenue interest is across our production is a pretty good approximation for how to net that down. So we've got a little bit of ways to go to get there. We're not done yet. And we like that we're not done yet. We think there's plenty more interesting deals to be had in the LNG space. Speaker 200:20:17And as to why we've done what we've done with a trader rather than try to market it ourselves, Speaker 800:20:24Yes. I think it's going Speaker 200:20:24to take a pretty significant presence in LNG marketing to be really successful At marketing volumes, this is a market that is the participants in this market are very, very large. The majors participate in this market and the big commodities traders participate in this market on a daily basis. And I think in order to be competitive there, you need to be part of a pool of volumes that can be traded around in a very fluid way. And to be a producer that may ultimately have 3,000,000 or 4,000,000 or 5,000,000 tons per annum on the water, We think it's relatively small and would be a challenge to be competitive in that marketplace. That said, we're always eager to be creative in how we think about the best ways for us to Access international markets and achieve international pricing. Speaker 200:21:25We like what we've done so far. This market is evolving and evolving rapidly, and we'll continue think about the best ways for us to participate. Speaker 900:21:35I appreciate that. And then just a Small detail on the presentation. You kind of shifted your deflation expectations. I think prior you were using 1Q over 1Q and you've shift To first half over first half, so I guess the first part is what was the shift there? And then the second part is of The 50% that you have locked in, are those locked in at fixed prices or those maybe have some sort of escalator deal or something linked to commodity prices? Speaker 900:22:04Thanks. Speaker 600:22:06Yes, Bert, this is Josh. Yes, we did extend the expectation for inflation for the full First half of twenty twenty four. We've just continued to increase our confidence in that expectation as we've been able to shore up contracts. And so when we do reference that 50% of contracts, by and large, those are all fixed pricing. We do have some contracts that will It's a relatively small amount of our total spend. Speaker 600:22:44And that's why I think we feel pretty good about actually Seeing and preventing any additional inflation in the second half of the year because the majority of the spend is locked in at fixed Pricing for the large part of 2024. Speaker 900:23:00I appreciate it. Thanks guys. Operator00:23:04Our next question will come from Scott Hanold with RBC Capital Markets. You may now go ahead. Speaker 1000:23:12Yes, thanks. If I could ask a question on 2024. Nick, I think the prior Commentary around it talked about optionality of bringing the Haynesville rig in the 1st part of the year and then maybe a Haynesville and a Marcellus in mid year. And it sounds like I guess your view on the market, the gas market for 2024 hasn't changed too much. In fact, you said that the inventory overhang went down a little bit. Speaker 1000:23:36So I'm just kind of curious Why sort of pushing back some of that production recovery into next year? Speaker 200:23:49Sorry, yes, I wouldn't really view it as pushing it back, Scott. We've said during the year, and we could change the timing of that still a little bit. I mean, if we come out of this winter in a really strong market, We could bring a Haynesville rig on sooner. So we're trying to be pretty flexible in how we communicate this. As of right now, we think we're pretty happy with where our Marcellus position sits relative to the production we can generate And the capacity of the market to take that production in the Northeast, if that changes, we could easily add a rig there too. Speaker 200:24:24So we're pretty Flexible around all of that. And in order to give you a CapEx number, we gave you a scenario, which is to bring a Haynesville rig on it mid year. And that easily could change, and it frankly probably will change. There's a lot we need to understand about where this market is headed. Speaker 1000:24:44Okay. So fundamentally, no major changes to your view on 2024 at this point versus, say, where you were 2 months ago? Speaker 200:24:52That's correct. Got it. Speaker 1000:24:53Okay. And as my follow-up question, could you talk about the differentials in the Marcellus Strategies you guys are using to help mitigate some of the blowouts and you talked about extending your elective deferrals just When do you think that might end? Speaker 800:25:15Yes. So Scott, this is Mohit. We remain active in our hedging program. So the guidance I would give you is we are about 75% to 80% basis hedged in both our businesses for the winter. And then when you start coming into next year, it's more around 60 So again, that's trying to take that uncertainty out from the future outcomes and that's a combination of financial and physical hedges that we have Put into place. Speaker 800:25:44And Scott, just to Speaker 600:25:44build on to that as well as far as kind of current outlook. We are Starting to see some improvements in pricing up in the Northeast right now. That's allowed us to start bringing on wells. We brought on about 12 wells through the first The month of the quarter, you were looking at opportunities right now to start taking some of the base that we've curtailed after the last couple of months and bring that back in to the markets here over the next couple of weeks. So we are definitely starting to see some improvements there, and I think that just The outlook that we provided for Q4 production in the asset. Speaker 600:26:21Yes. Speaker 200:26:21And I'll just add a little bit further specifics there. 1st of month pricing For November, it was materially improved and is encouraging around the pickup in demand that you generally see at this time of year. The elective curtailments usually end around now sometime in early to mid November. That's a cash market decision, Super hard to predict on a daily basis. So they generally will fall away as you go through November as to whether it's the beginning of November or the end of November. Speaker 200:26:53That's a function of weather. Speaker 1000:26:55Got it. Thank you. Operator00:27:00Our next question will come from Charles Meade with Johnson Rice. You may now go ahead. Speaker 1100:27:07Good morning, Nick, Mohit and Josh and the rest of the Chesapeake team there. Nick, I want to thank you for your Really succinct and explicit comments about 24. That's great. I think it probably took a while with us in sales for But I want to ask you a question about your LNG strategy. So I noticed that this Vital deal, Just like the Governor deal doesn't have the there's a block missing and a piece missing with the liquefaction. Speaker 1100:27:40And so I'm curious if you can Elaborate a bit on your thinking. Is this kind of an intentional bet that you guys, the Board is making That liquefaction facilities will eventually be overbuilt in the next, call it, 5 years? Or Is it more along the lines of you want to do what you can now and figure out the rest later? Speaker 800:28:03Hey Charles, this is Mohit. Thanks for the question. The way I would like you to think about this is really there's a willing seller in Chesapeake, there's a willing buyer in Vitol And what we are taking to these liquefaction facilities then is a pre wired deal where we have a buyer and a seller already agreeing upon the terms. So there is option value that's embedded in such an arrangement. When you go talk to different LNG facilities, they might need 1 or 2 MTPA to get to FID. Speaker 800:28:35So it creates a little bit of a competitive tension with different facilities as we go talk to them and figure out which one Meets our requirements and Vitol's requirements and the ones that we think about primarily are what's Pricing, what toll are you having to pay is number 1. Number 2 is, is it accessible to our production? So can we get our equity volumes to those facilities through Transport Solutions? Number 3 would be what kind of accounting treatment you getting whether it's derivative versus non derivative and credit requirements is another one. And then last but not the least is about the FID timing and probability of getting to FID. Speaker 800:29:17So when you put all that together, it Works for us in this situation, but that's not to say that this is how we will do the remaining ones too. I mean we are clearly looking at a lot of LNG transactions And we might do it differently in the next one that we announced. Speaker 1100:29:33Mohit, that's helpful. Thank you for that. And then a 2nd follow-up on, I guess, A and D opportunities. I know this is will be an ongoing discussion for you guys. But There was a major player in the Haynesville, BP. Speaker 1100:29:52There's been a lot of turmoil there lately. And I think just Yesterday, there was an article saying that maybe they were going to be looking for partners in some of the U. S. Onshore assets. And My thinking, if someone says they're looking for partners, they might be open to offers as well. Speaker 1100:30:09But I recognize that you guys can't talk a lot. It's relatively new and you can't talk about anything that's ongoing. But perhaps, Josh or Nick, you could You could tell me my impression is that those BP assets are really high quality assets. They're the old HK, petrol assets and that Those locations would be able to compete favorably in your portfolio. Is that the way you guys see it? Speaker 800:30:40Hey, Charles. This is Mohit again. Again, we don't want to speculate on rumors. But one thing I'm sensitive to, I do have a BP legacy since I came to Chesapeake from BP, so I know the team and those assets really, really well. Think your general comment around the quality of the assets is very competitive. Speaker 800:30:59I would agree with that. But maybe we'll leave it there and just If something were to happen there, then again, as we do, we always take a look across the lease line to see what else might be available. Operator00:31:11That's what I was looking for. Thank you, Mohit. Our final question will come from Noel Parks with Tuohy Brothers. You may now go ahead. Speaker 400:31:24Hi, good morning. Speaker 200:31:29Good morning, all. Speaker 400:31:31So, I wanted to ask you about Infrastructure and future investment there. With LNG coming into the picture, it seems like a lot of producers Are looking at what level they might consider maintenance or expansion infrastructure investment. And I'm just wondering, is there anything either directly spurred by LNG or otherwise? Are there any Non obvious factors that would affect your decisions going forward about on balance sheet versus JV Structures With Infrastructure Investments, I'm thinking about tax considerations or incentive considerations Or are things like that pretty much back burner when you're looking at your down the road planning? Speaker 200:32:25I'll take a shot at answering that, Noel. I think the way we think about infrastructure When you're looking to create access to new markets and premium markets, you often are going to need Either expansions or new construction of infrastructure. When I think about what we've done with the NG3 pipeline with momentum, that was an opportunity to Support a project that we thought was a competitive project that would improve the marketability of our production. We also thought that the economics of that development were very attractive to us because you could invest at the Pre construction stage and have great line of sight into the fact that that project would be successful since our equity production would Be a big driver of causing it to be successful. So that kind of return opportunity is very compelling to us, And it helps to underwrite a project that's accretive to our entire portfolio of Haynesville production. Speaker 200:33:29So that's a great project for us. When we think about how or where or why we might participate in infrastructure, It's when you have that kind of differential opportunity to earn return for your shareholders. If you can participate in infrastructure that Without participating in it, you don't have access to a premium market. Sure, you can consider that. If you can participate it in a place where there's an outsized return That you're uniquely capable of earning, that's great too. Speaker 200:33:58If it's otherwise just to own infrastructure Style producing returns of, call it, high single, low double digits, for fully developed assets, probably less interested in that. I hope I've answered your question there, but strategically, we think about if we're willing to make an investment in infrastructure, it should be for a differential return. Speaker 400:34:23Great. Thanks. Yes, that totally gets to what I was wondering. And I was wondering with the either the ZITOL or the, injury transfer Gunther Are there any right of first refusal or similar conditions when it comes To potential to add more volumes down the road or are both parties essentially just reagents to Contract with whomever they want going forward. Speaker 800:35:00Yes. So the terms of the arrangements with both Pete Tolle, Ganvar, Energy Transfer are confidential. Knowles can't get into all the specifics, but what I will tell you is We are delivering the LNG FOB and then it's that's where the custody transfer is happening and Then we will ask the buyer to take it to whichever end user it makes sense for them. Speaker 200:35:25Great. But just to be clear, those agreements that We have are limited to the volumes we've announced. We don't have a broader partnership with any of those counterparties at this point. It's 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 tonnes per annum with Gunvor and 1,000,000 tonnes per annum with Vitol. So beyond that, we are free to contract with anybody should we choose to do additional contracts. Speaker 400:35:49Great. And just one sort of cleanup item. I just wondered in retrospect looking back, do you have a sense that what happened with Freeport and the volumes that Did not go out on that because of that outage. Do you think that that impact has fully worked its way through Either storage or through the market's perception of where supply demand fundamentals really are right now? Or do you think that somebody do that still an overhang or still sort of flying under the radar as we head into another withdrawal season? Speaker 200:36:30That's a good question. I think it's probably pretty well worked through. I think the fundamentals at this point are all about What the draw will be weather related this winter, what the trajectory of production is from The capital reductions you've seen U. S. Onshore through 2023 and then the timing of new export capacity Those are your 3 big variables and those are going to be your biggest drivers. Speaker 400:37:00Great. Thanks a lot. Operator00:37:05This concludes our question and answer session. Would like to turn the conference back over to Nick Deloso for any closing remarks. Speaker 200:37:13Well, thanks, everyone. We really appreciate everybody's time And questions this morning, as always, our team is available today and any other day to answer any further follow-up questions. We'll be at a few conferences between now and the end of the year and look forward to seeing everybody out on the road. Have a good day. Operator00:37:33The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.Read moreRemove AdsPowered by Conference Call Audio Live Call not available Earnings Conference CallB&G Foods Q3 202300:00 / 00:00Speed:1x1.25x1.5x2xRemove Ads Earnings DocumentsSlide DeckPress Release(8-K)Quarterly report(10-Q) B&G Foods Earnings HeadlinesExpand Energy Provides 2025 First Quarter Earnings Conference Call InformationApril 16 at 4:01 PM | globenewswire.comExpand Energy upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at BarclaysApril 15 at 10:15 PM | markets.businessinsider.comNow I look stupid. Real stupid... I thought what happened 25 years ago was a once- in-a-lifetime event… but how wrong I was. Because here we are, a quarter of a century later, almost to the exact day, and it’s happening again. April 17, 2025 | Porter & Company (Ad)Expand Energy: Fairly Priced For Data Center And LNG GrowthApril 13, 2025 | seekingalpha.comQ2 EPS Forecast for Chesapeake Energy Boosted by AnalystApril 12, 2025 | americanbankingnews.comQ1 EPS Estimates for EXE Boosted by Capital One FinancialApril 12, 2025 | americanbankingnews.comSee More Chesapeake Energy Headlines Get Earnings Announcements in your inboxWant to stay updated on the latest earnings announcements and upcoming reports for companies like B&G Foods? Sign up for Earnings360's daily newsletter to receive timely earnings updates on B&G Foods and other key companies, straight to your email. Email Address About B&G FoodsB&G Foods (NYSE:BGS) is a holding company, which engages in the manufacture, sale, and distribution of shelf-stable frozen food, and household products in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Its products include frozen and canned vegetables, hot cereals, fruit spreads, canned meats and beans, bagel chips, spices, seasonings, hot sauces, and wine vinegar. Its brands include Back to Nature, Bear Creek, Cream of Wheat, Green Giant, Mrs. Dash, and Ortega. 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There are 12 speakers on the call. Operator00:00:00Morning, and welcome to the Chesapeake Energy Corporation Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. All participants will be in listen only mode. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Chris Ayers, Vice President of Investor Relations and Treasurer. Operator00:00:31Please go ahead. Speaker 100:00:33Thank you, Anthony. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining our call today to discuss Chesapeake's Q3 2023 financial and operating results. Hopefully, you've had a chance to review our press release and the updated investor presentations that we posted to our website yesterday. During this morning's call, we will be making forward looking statements, which consist of statements that cannot be confirmed by reference Existing information, including statements regarding beliefs, goals, expectations, forecasts, projections, future performance And the assumptions underlying such statements, please note there are a number of factors that will cause actual results to differ materially from our forward looking statements, including the factors identified and discussed in our press release yesterday and in other SEC filings. Please recognize that as except required by applicable law, we undertake no duty to update any forward looking statements and you should not We may also refer to some non GAAP measures, which help facilitate comparisons across periods and peers. Speaker 100:01:41For any non GAAP measure, we use a reconciliation to the nearest corresponding GAAP measure, which can be found on our website. With me on the call today are Nick D'Alaso, Mohit Singh and Josh Vietz. Nick will give a brief overview of our results and then we will open up the teleconference to Q and A. So with that, thank you again. Now we'll turn over to Nick. Speaker 200:02:02Good morning. Thank you for joining the call. I'll start off by Discussing a few of our Q3 highlights and then I'll get right to your questions. We delivered another strong quarter advancing our strategy to deliver sustainable value to shareholders through cycles. As you've seen from our Q3 results, we came in on the low end of capital and the high end of production, despite the 60% deferral of planned 3rd quarter turn in lines And the extension of elective curtailments in the Marcellus. Speaker 200:02:29In the Marcellus this quarter, our rig fleet set a new company record averaging 13.67 feet per day, marking a 16% improvement over the prior quarter. Overall, we drilled 4 of the top 10 fastest Marcellus wells in our company's history. That's a pretty significant accomplishment given our long and successful history in the basin. Importantly, our decreased cycle times have also been by achieving a lower cost per foot, which means we will now be able to drill another well per rig year at a lower cost compared to what we projected at the beginning of the year. This is a great example of efficiency offsetting inflation. Speaker 200:03:07In the Haynesville, we delivered another robust quarter of base production with strong wedge volumes. Additionally, our sustained efforts to debottleneck our midstream has resulted in lower line pressures and higher production. We've realized a 15% quarter over quarter reduction in interrupted volumes attributable to midstream disruptions. The combination of our improved base production and effort to optimize gas flow assurance has led us to increasing our Q4 production guidance by 30 1,000,000 cubic feet a day or approximately 2.5%. Our strong operational performance serves as the backbone to our commitment to deliver superior capital returns for shareholders. Speaker 200:03:45We continue to execute our peer leading return program in the quarter, repurchasing $130,000,000 in shares and delivering our base dividend. Through the Q3, we have returned approximately $725,000,000 to shareholders through our buyback and dividend programs. We also announced another important step on our path to be LNG ready with today's LNG supply announcement with Vitol. Similar to our past agreement with Gunvor, under today's heads of agreement with Vitol, Chesapeake will supply up to 1,000,000 tons per annum of LNG to Vitol with the purchase price index to JKM. As we continue exploring these types of agreements, we see an appreciation of the premium rock returns and runway of our ADDvantage portfolio and the strength of our financial position. Speaker 200:04:32Our approach to executing our LNG strategy has Consistent and benefits from production that is physically linked to LNG markets, access to international prices And downside protection through cancellation optionality. Our portfolio balance sheet and approach represents a clear competitive advantage among our gas peers, And we continue to complete LNG agreements as we see export capacity come online over the next few years. Before opening the call for questions, I'd like to touch on our trajectory headed into 2024. We expect to maintain our current rig count of 5 rigs in And 4 rigs in the Marcellus for the 1st part of the year. Should gas prices firm up in line with the current 2025 strip, We believe there may be an opportunity to add an additional rig in the Haynesville during the second half of the year, which would positively impact volumes in 2025. Speaker 200:05:24As you look to model our business in 2024, a fair starting point is to assume our annual production should be in line with our 4th quarter run rate The 3.2 Bcf a day in the Marcellus and Haynesville. Our CapEx for the full year should approximate $1,600,000,000 Assuming an additional Haynesville rig in the second half of the year. We're now pleased to address your questions. Operator, if you want to assemble the queue. Operator00:05:48We will now begin the question and answer session. Our first question will come from Doug Leggate with Bank of America. You may now go ahead. Speaker 300:06:15Hey, good morning, everyone. Thanks for taking my questions. Nick, I wonder if I could pick up on the 2024 Outlook here, because for quite some time now, you've talked about managing your production to maintain production capacity. I don't know if I'm I'm messing up the description of that. But as you think about the capital required in 2024 To maintain, let's say, your exit rate and then set yourself up into 2025, what do you think that cadence on production and not associated capital looks like Ex Eagle Ford, obviously. Speaker 200:06:50Well, I'll start here and Josh may have some more color to add. But essentially, Doug, we're starting the year With maintaining the production where it is today, 5 rigs in the Haynesville, 4 rigs in the Marcellus, that's going to keep us where we are today at about 3.2 Bcf a day. We are paying attention to the fact that the export capacity for LNG should come online By the end of the year, setting up for unmet demand in 2025. If that looks like it's going to play out and the strip looks like it's going to hold up, That we would add a rig in the second half of the year. And so the $1,600,000,000 of CapEx that I gave you a minute ago does assume that add a rig in the second half of the year in Haynesville. Speaker 200:07:33If we didn't have that rig, we would just stay at that level of production. It should be a little bit less. Speaker 300:07:40Okay. That makes a ton of sense. Thanks. Nick, I don't expect you to answer this question Directly, but I wonder if I could ask you to frame your views on just broader industry consolidation. For Chesapeake, you've talked were in Hainesville with you in July. Speaker 300:07:57You said there was no there were no conversations happening. Mohit countered that a little bit Our bus tour basically saying, well, actually, there's a lot of conversations happening. That was just 2 months later. So how do you see the landscape on Chesapeake's role, whether it be private or public? Speaker 200:08:14Well, I think you touched on some themes there that are pretty interesting. And we've been very We believe in consolidation in the industry. So we've been pleased to see Exxon and Chevron do the deals that they've done. We think those are constructive for the industry. And the dialogue for M and A does come in ebbs and flows. Speaker 200:08:34And there are times in the market where it seems like more people are So we don't feel compelled to do anything. And we certainly don't feel compelled to do anything on a near term timetable. But at the same time, we believe in consolidation. We believe in the merits of attempting to have consolidation make the industry A more profitable, more productive place. And we've been also very consistent in talking about how we would define that for ourselves. Speaker 200:09:14And so for us, we go back to our non negotiables. And just to remind everybody, that means that we in the context of consolidation, we don't want to overpay. We will look for accretion in the transaction. We will protect our balance sheet. We will look for a good emissions profile or one we can quickly make better. Speaker 200:09:33And what that really means at the end of the day is that you have to make your company better through consolidation, not just bigger. And that's not an easy thing to do. That's a pretty high bar. So we believe in consolidation, and we'll continue to pay attention. Speaker 300:09:52Priscilla, just a quick add on to that very quickly, Nick. Is there any interest in being outside of the 2 basins that you're in? Or when you say you're happy with your portfolio, Would that imply there for any consolidation you would pursue would be focused on those 2 basins? Speaker 200:10:07Well, you got a couple Questions embedded in there, and I think the answers won't be surprising to anyone. We like the basins we're in. We like the assets that we're in, Because we know that they are at the top of the heap for natural gas supply and demand fundamentals and delivering against that Supply and demand fundamentals for many years. So we're happy being in the Marcellus and the Haynesville. We've been asked over time, would we look outside of those basins? Speaker 200:10:34And My answer there is our nonnegotiables are a high bar. If you wanted to apply those nonnegotiables to a place we don't operate today, ABBAR is even higher. So we continue to say that is an unlikely answer Speaker 400:10:48for us. Speaker 200:10:50Makes sense. But we do like where we operate today, and we think that we have a competitive advantage to be in both of those basins. Speaker 300:10:59Thanks, Nick. Bob, I'll see you in a couple of weeks. Speaker 200:11:02Great. Operator00:11:05Our next question will come from Zach Parham with JPMorgan. Speaker 200:11:08You Speaker 500:11:11Thanks for taking my question. Just wanted to ask on the outperformance in the Haynesville. You've outperformed your guidance each quarter this year. You increased the 4Q guide. Looking at state data, well productivity seems to be trending positively. Speaker 500:11:24Can you just give us a bit more Seems to be trending positively. Can you just give us a bit more color on what's driving that outperformance in the Haynesville and how sustainable you think that is going forward? Speaker 600:11:36Yes. Good morning, Zach. This is Josh. We've been really happy with the way the performance has showed up in the Haynesville this year. And of course, going back To last year, we knew we had some bottlenecks within the midstream. Speaker 600:11:48And so we've done a ton of work over the last year to really sure that up. And largely what that's been attributed to is simply working with our midstream providers to introduce additional interconnects between gathering systems, Helping support treating capacity expansion. And so those are things that are just simply will be sustainable Through the years and it's allowing us to continue to mitigate midstream induced downtime. So we'll continue to work with our midstream providers to allow that to improve over time. Well productivity has been strong through the course of the year. Speaker 600:12:27We've seen some modest increases in well performance. One of the things that's actually allowed us to do is to the 2nd frac crew that we're bringing in. We've allowed ourselves to push that back by a couple of months. We'll bring that Speaker 500:12:53Thanks for that color. And then just one clarification on 2024. You talked about $1,600,000,000 in CapEx, assuming that additional Haynesville rig comes back in the second half next year. Does that include the spend on the momentum pipe, which I think is Around $100,000,000 next year? Speaker 200:13:11Good question, Zach. No, that does not include momentum. We're trying to just give you a number to think about our regular way E and P business. Okay. Thank you. Operator00:13:24Our next question will come from Uman Choudhary with Goldman Sachs. You may now disconnect. Speaker 700:13:29Hi, good morning. Thank you for taking my questions. Would love your thoughts on the 2024 macro outlook of Financial Gas. And to follow-up on Doug's question around your activity levels in the Hainesville, you plan Add a rig in the back half of the year. Any thoughts or any color you can give in terms of where you think the spending level would be, production outlook would be for the year. Speaker 200:14:00Sure, Hmong. Yes. So macro, I'll start with that. We've got a lot of uncertainty in front of us here with winter just starting. And storage levels have been high, Relatively high throughout 2023. Speaker 200:14:14They look a little bit better today than they did a couple of months ago, but the big variable in front of us now is the winter. What we're all excited about in the industry is the step change that will come to the fundamentals when we have the incremental export capacity come online. We still think that happens around the end of 2024. We will watch that very, very closely. That's the signal we're really focused on from a macro perspective is will we have That connectivity to markets that are underserved such that there is a call on U. Speaker 200:14:45S. Gas. If that happens, we believe we have important asset to meet that call in Haynesville, and we would expect to add a rig if that looks like it's coming in line with that projection. But to be clear, our 1.6% number that we gave you as an approximation for our 2024 CapEx, which albeit it's very early to be giving you that number, that is a that's an early estimate and we'll set a budget still As we go through the end of the year here and get ready to start next year as we really see where winter plays out, That would assume that we bring a rig on in the second half of the year in the Haynesville. So if that macro view changes And we don't believe that LNG is going to come online timely or the storage environment changes because we have either a really cold or a really warm We could certainly change that answer. Speaker 200:15:44But as of now, we're thinking about a business that would start off the year exactly where it is today And that has the flexibility to add a rig in the second half of the year. And so the starting point number we've given you for capital would assume we do just that. But just to reiterate, we have all the flexibility in the world to change our answer around whether or not that rig comes on in the second half of the year Or any other changes to our capital program. We have plenty of flexibility and we can be very responsive to what we believe the fundamentals are asking our industry to deliver in the way of supply. Speaker 700:16:17That's very helpful. Thank you. And my as my follow-up question, I wanted to understand a little bit about the midstream Set up in the Haynesville, the production in the Haynesville has been declining and but you also have made progress in terms of adding more capacity in the Haynesville. So do you feel like you have sufficient capacity as we look to 2025 to grow molecules in the Haynesville? That's question number 1. Speaker 700:16:41And Can you also remind us on the progress on the momentum pipeline? Is it on track to come online in the Q4 of next year? Speaker 200:16:50Yes. Let me answer the first part of that and then I'll have Moa talk about momentum. As for capacity, we feel very comfortable we can deliver what we're Planning for here. Remember that 2024 volumes in the Haynesville will be lower than we were in 2022 and 2023, We're at the during 2022 and the beginning of 2023, we experienced some of those bottlenecks. We've removed those bottlenecks, so we can restore production Back to those previous levels with that incremental rig, we feel very good about that and feel very good that if we ever chose to grow Beyond that in the future, we have the relationships and the infrastructure in place to be able to do it. Speaker 800:17:28Humang, this is Mohit. On the second part of your question about momentum, as we've said previously, we are very excited about the project and what it means for our flow assurance. We look at the volumes that we are producing in Haynesville and are trying to build a transport portfolio, which allows us to take it to Perryville or down south To Gilles and the intent this is part of our BLNG ready strategy where we get production to Gilles and that's where we can have Connectivity to different liquefaction facilities. So momentum has it remains a critical part of our strategy and we it's on track. We expect it to go into service probably late next year or early 2025, which is all still on track. Speaker 800:18:14We still like the project and it remains a key part of our LNG strategy. Speaker 700:18:21That's very helpful. Thank you guys. Operator00:18:26Our next question will come from Bert Dons with Truist. You may now go ahead. Pardon me, Bert, your line is open for questions. Speaker 900:18:48Your total company LNG pricing exposure, predominantly to an international index Instead of a domestic one, is that an intentional shift or was this just kind of timing and maybe you have some Henry Hub linked agreements down the line to even out And maybe the second part of that is, is there any reason you haven't signed an open ended agreement where you kind of Speaker 200:19:16Sure. Bert, the first part of your about LNG and Mo will add in and then you'll have to just redirect us if we missed part of your question. But you were asking about percentage of international price Exposure, we've been pretty consistent there to talk about 15% to 20%. I guess to clarify based on a question we got last night, when we talk about 15% to 20% Of our production that we target for international pricing, that's our net production. Generally, when companies announce these deals, they are announced under gross marketed production, which is obviously more. Speaker 200:19:55So just to think about that, you need to consider what our Average net revenue interest is across our production is a pretty good approximation for how to net that down. So we've got a little bit of ways to go to get there. We're not done yet. And we like that we're not done yet. We think there's plenty more interesting deals to be had in the LNG space. Speaker 200:20:17And as to why we've done what we've done with a trader rather than try to market it ourselves, Speaker 800:20:24Yes. I think it's going Speaker 200:20:24to take a pretty significant presence in LNG marketing to be really successful At marketing volumes, this is a market that is the participants in this market are very, very large. The majors participate in this market and the big commodities traders participate in this market on a daily basis. And I think in order to be competitive there, you need to be part of a pool of volumes that can be traded around in a very fluid way. And to be a producer that may ultimately have 3,000,000 or 4,000,000 or 5,000,000 tons per annum on the water, We think it's relatively small and would be a challenge to be competitive in that marketplace. That said, we're always eager to be creative in how we think about the best ways for us to Access international markets and achieve international pricing. Speaker 200:21:25We like what we've done so far. This market is evolving and evolving rapidly, and we'll continue think about the best ways for us to participate. Speaker 900:21:35I appreciate that. And then just a Small detail on the presentation. You kind of shifted your deflation expectations. I think prior you were using 1Q over 1Q and you've shift To first half over first half, so I guess the first part is what was the shift there? And then the second part is of The 50% that you have locked in, are those locked in at fixed prices or those maybe have some sort of escalator deal or something linked to commodity prices? Speaker 900:22:04Thanks. Speaker 600:22:06Yes, Bert, this is Josh. Yes, we did extend the expectation for inflation for the full First half of twenty twenty four. We've just continued to increase our confidence in that expectation as we've been able to shore up contracts. And so when we do reference that 50% of contracts, by and large, those are all fixed pricing. We do have some contracts that will It's a relatively small amount of our total spend. Speaker 600:22:44And that's why I think we feel pretty good about actually Seeing and preventing any additional inflation in the second half of the year because the majority of the spend is locked in at fixed Pricing for the large part of 2024. Speaker 900:23:00I appreciate it. Thanks guys. Operator00:23:04Our next question will come from Scott Hanold with RBC Capital Markets. You may now go ahead. Speaker 1000:23:12Yes, thanks. If I could ask a question on 2024. Nick, I think the prior Commentary around it talked about optionality of bringing the Haynesville rig in the 1st part of the year and then maybe a Haynesville and a Marcellus in mid year. And it sounds like I guess your view on the market, the gas market for 2024 hasn't changed too much. In fact, you said that the inventory overhang went down a little bit. Speaker 1000:23:36So I'm just kind of curious Why sort of pushing back some of that production recovery into next year? Speaker 200:23:49Sorry, yes, I wouldn't really view it as pushing it back, Scott. We've said during the year, and we could change the timing of that still a little bit. I mean, if we come out of this winter in a really strong market, We could bring a Haynesville rig on sooner. So we're trying to be pretty flexible in how we communicate this. As of right now, we think we're pretty happy with where our Marcellus position sits relative to the production we can generate And the capacity of the market to take that production in the Northeast, if that changes, we could easily add a rig there too. Speaker 200:24:24So we're pretty Flexible around all of that. And in order to give you a CapEx number, we gave you a scenario, which is to bring a Haynesville rig on it mid year. And that easily could change, and it frankly probably will change. There's a lot we need to understand about where this market is headed. Speaker 1000:24:44Okay. So fundamentally, no major changes to your view on 2024 at this point versus, say, where you were 2 months ago? Speaker 200:24:52That's correct. Got it. Speaker 1000:24:53Okay. And as my follow-up question, could you talk about the differentials in the Marcellus Strategies you guys are using to help mitigate some of the blowouts and you talked about extending your elective deferrals just When do you think that might end? Speaker 800:25:15Yes. So Scott, this is Mohit. We remain active in our hedging program. So the guidance I would give you is we are about 75% to 80% basis hedged in both our businesses for the winter. And then when you start coming into next year, it's more around 60 So again, that's trying to take that uncertainty out from the future outcomes and that's a combination of financial and physical hedges that we have Put into place. Speaker 800:25:44And Scott, just to Speaker 600:25:44build on to that as well as far as kind of current outlook. We are Starting to see some improvements in pricing up in the Northeast right now. That's allowed us to start bringing on wells. We brought on about 12 wells through the first The month of the quarter, you were looking at opportunities right now to start taking some of the base that we've curtailed after the last couple of months and bring that back in to the markets here over the next couple of weeks. So we are definitely starting to see some improvements there, and I think that just The outlook that we provided for Q4 production in the asset. Speaker 600:26:21Yes. Speaker 200:26:21And I'll just add a little bit further specifics there. 1st of month pricing For November, it was materially improved and is encouraging around the pickup in demand that you generally see at this time of year. The elective curtailments usually end around now sometime in early to mid November. That's a cash market decision, Super hard to predict on a daily basis. So they generally will fall away as you go through November as to whether it's the beginning of November or the end of November. Speaker 200:26:53That's a function of weather. Speaker 1000:26:55Got it. Thank you. Operator00:27:00Our next question will come from Charles Meade with Johnson Rice. You may now go ahead. Speaker 1100:27:07Good morning, Nick, Mohit and Josh and the rest of the Chesapeake team there. Nick, I want to thank you for your Really succinct and explicit comments about 24. That's great. I think it probably took a while with us in sales for But I want to ask you a question about your LNG strategy. So I noticed that this Vital deal, Just like the Governor deal doesn't have the there's a block missing and a piece missing with the liquefaction. Speaker 1100:27:40And so I'm curious if you can Elaborate a bit on your thinking. Is this kind of an intentional bet that you guys, the Board is making That liquefaction facilities will eventually be overbuilt in the next, call it, 5 years? Or Is it more along the lines of you want to do what you can now and figure out the rest later? Speaker 800:28:03Hey Charles, this is Mohit. Thanks for the question. The way I would like you to think about this is really there's a willing seller in Chesapeake, there's a willing buyer in Vitol And what we are taking to these liquefaction facilities then is a pre wired deal where we have a buyer and a seller already agreeing upon the terms. So there is option value that's embedded in such an arrangement. When you go talk to different LNG facilities, they might need 1 or 2 MTPA to get to FID. Speaker 800:28:35So it creates a little bit of a competitive tension with different facilities as we go talk to them and figure out which one Meets our requirements and Vitol's requirements and the ones that we think about primarily are what's Pricing, what toll are you having to pay is number 1. Number 2 is, is it accessible to our production? So can we get our equity volumes to those facilities through Transport Solutions? Number 3 would be what kind of accounting treatment you getting whether it's derivative versus non derivative and credit requirements is another one. And then last but not the least is about the FID timing and probability of getting to FID. Speaker 800:29:17So when you put all that together, it Works for us in this situation, but that's not to say that this is how we will do the remaining ones too. I mean we are clearly looking at a lot of LNG transactions And we might do it differently in the next one that we announced. Speaker 1100:29:33Mohit, that's helpful. Thank you for that. And then a 2nd follow-up on, I guess, A and D opportunities. I know this is will be an ongoing discussion for you guys. But There was a major player in the Haynesville, BP. Speaker 1100:29:52There's been a lot of turmoil there lately. And I think just Yesterday, there was an article saying that maybe they were going to be looking for partners in some of the U. S. Onshore assets. And My thinking, if someone says they're looking for partners, they might be open to offers as well. Speaker 1100:30:09But I recognize that you guys can't talk a lot. It's relatively new and you can't talk about anything that's ongoing. But perhaps, Josh or Nick, you could You could tell me my impression is that those BP assets are really high quality assets. They're the old HK, petrol assets and that Those locations would be able to compete favorably in your portfolio. Is that the way you guys see it? Speaker 800:30:40Hey, Charles. This is Mohit again. Again, we don't want to speculate on rumors. But one thing I'm sensitive to, I do have a BP legacy since I came to Chesapeake from BP, so I know the team and those assets really, really well. Think your general comment around the quality of the assets is very competitive. Speaker 800:30:59I would agree with that. But maybe we'll leave it there and just If something were to happen there, then again, as we do, we always take a look across the lease line to see what else might be available. Operator00:31:11That's what I was looking for. Thank you, Mohit. Our final question will come from Noel Parks with Tuohy Brothers. You may now go ahead. Speaker 400:31:24Hi, good morning. Speaker 200:31:29Good morning, all. Speaker 400:31:31So, I wanted to ask you about Infrastructure and future investment there. With LNG coming into the picture, it seems like a lot of producers Are looking at what level they might consider maintenance or expansion infrastructure investment. And I'm just wondering, is there anything either directly spurred by LNG or otherwise? Are there any Non obvious factors that would affect your decisions going forward about on balance sheet versus JV Structures With Infrastructure Investments, I'm thinking about tax considerations or incentive considerations Or are things like that pretty much back burner when you're looking at your down the road planning? Speaker 200:32:25I'll take a shot at answering that, Noel. I think the way we think about infrastructure When you're looking to create access to new markets and premium markets, you often are going to need Either expansions or new construction of infrastructure. When I think about what we've done with the NG3 pipeline with momentum, that was an opportunity to Support a project that we thought was a competitive project that would improve the marketability of our production. We also thought that the economics of that development were very attractive to us because you could invest at the Pre construction stage and have great line of sight into the fact that that project would be successful since our equity production would Be a big driver of causing it to be successful. So that kind of return opportunity is very compelling to us, And it helps to underwrite a project that's accretive to our entire portfolio of Haynesville production. Speaker 200:33:29So that's a great project for us. When we think about how or where or why we might participate in infrastructure, It's when you have that kind of differential opportunity to earn return for your shareholders. If you can participate in infrastructure that Without participating in it, you don't have access to a premium market. Sure, you can consider that. If you can participate it in a place where there's an outsized return That you're uniquely capable of earning, that's great too. Speaker 200:33:58If it's otherwise just to own infrastructure Style producing returns of, call it, high single, low double digits, for fully developed assets, probably less interested in that. I hope I've answered your question there, but strategically, we think about if we're willing to make an investment in infrastructure, it should be for a differential return. Speaker 400:34:23Great. Thanks. Yes, that totally gets to what I was wondering. And I was wondering with the either the ZITOL or the, injury transfer Gunther Are there any right of first refusal or similar conditions when it comes To potential to add more volumes down the road or are both parties essentially just reagents to Contract with whomever they want going forward. Speaker 800:35:00Yes. So the terms of the arrangements with both Pete Tolle, Ganvar, Energy Transfer are confidential. Knowles can't get into all the specifics, but what I will tell you is We are delivering the LNG FOB and then it's that's where the custody transfer is happening and Then we will ask the buyer to take it to whichever end user it makes sense for them. Speaker 200:35:25Great. But just to be clear, those agreements that We have are limited to the volumes we've announced. We don't have a broader partnership with any of those counterparties at this point. It's 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 tonnes per annum with Gunvor and 1,000,000 tonnes per annum with Vitol. So beyond that, we are free to contract with anybody should we choose to do additional contracts. Speaker 400:35:49Great. And just one sort of cleanup item. I just wondered in retrospect looking back, do you have a sense that what happened with Freeport and the volumes that Did not go out on that because of that outage. Do you think that that impact has fully worked its way through Either storage or through the market's perception of where supply demand fundamentals really are right now? Or do you think that somebody do that still an overhang or still sort of flying under the radar as we head into another withdrawal season? Speaker 200:36:30That's a good question. I think it's probably pretty well worked through. I think the fundamentals at this point are all about What the draw will be weather related this winter, what the trajectory of production is from The capital reductions you've seen U. S. Onshore through 2023 and then the timing of new export capacity Those are your 3 big variables and those are going to be your biggest drivers. Speaker 400:37:00Great. Thanks a lot. Operator00:37:05This concludes our question and answer session. Would like to turn the conference back over to Nick Deloso for any closing remarks. Speaker 200:37:13Well, thanks, everyone. We really appreciate everybody's time And questions this morning, as always, our team is available today and any other day to answer any further follow-up questions. We'll be at a few conferences between now and the end of the year and look forward to seeing everybody out on the road. Have a good day. Operator00:37:33The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.Read moreRemove AdsPowered by