PDC Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCE) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

So always continue to look for those opportunities that we think are important to continue to grow the inventory and make it sustaining. And let’s say this, as we test the 40 contingent locations, if those do work in a manner that fits with us and the price for gas comes together, then we’re probably adding another couple three years to our inventory with a one-rig pace. And also that it by itself is sustaining for us. So, we like how that fits and presents itself. And then, of course, on the inventory building side from sort of the acquisition standpoint, we have a very methodical discipline process that we’ll look at opportunities where it has to fit all of our criteria to bring on some additional locations through our processes that creates long-term value for shareholders.

So, we continue to look at that, but we’re patient. We do have a longer runway, especially with the contingent locations coming in. And so we’ll continue to be thoughtful how we look at this and always follow our methodical acquisition approach.

Gabe Daoud: That’s brief color. Thanks a lot Lance, thank you guys.

Operator: And our next question comes from Arun Jayaram of JPMorgan. Your line is open.

Arun Jayaram: Yes. Good morning. I wanted to see if you can provide a little bit more insights on your 2023 program at the Wattenberg Field. I think you, guys, have highlighted just over 200 TILs this year. Can you give us a sense of between the four areas that you highlighted on Slide 8, the general mix of activity between the black oil North-South line of retrograde condensate part of the field?

Scott Meyers: Yes. I mean, I could just jump in here. And actually, I’d jump to Slide 9. And the reason why I jumped to Slide 9, you can see that almost all of our wells that we’ll be turning on in 2023 are DUCs as they enter 2023. So when you look at it, you can see that we’re hitting all the areas. I’d say, probably 90% of our turn-in-lines are going to be from those DUCs. So, I think it’s pretty representative across the different areas that we have.

Arun Jayaram: That’s helpful. And just my follow-up. On Slide 12, you provided a lot of detail around your representative of your expected productivity over the next kind of five years. I was wondering if you could give us a sense of your oil productivity, you expect to be relatively flat per foot. But as we think about like your longer-term growth rate of the company, do you expect to be completing more footage over this kind of five-year window? And is a higher mix of, call it, wells in the Guanella, the CAP area, is that what’s driving the overall higher productivity as we get into 2025 and 2026?

Scott Meyers: Yes, I would say there could be some small increases in footage, but what we’re really trying to point out here as we’re going through this, is when you really look at the Guanella CAP, a lot of it’s going to be in that light oil and the retrograde gas. And especially when we’re in those retrograde gas, it’s really just adding a lot of natural gas and NGL liquids to the portfolio mix. The oil is staying relatively consistent. So from one standpoint, you could say, “Hey, look, they’re getting a €“ they are looking like a gassier company from a percent of mix of total, but oil is staying relatively consistent.” So what you could see, once we get there in 2024 to 2025, oil being more flattish in gas, and NGL is growing a little bit higher percentage.

But we want to make sure we’re clear. The oil is going to still be there, and it’s not oil is going down and gas and NGLs are going up. It is that oil is being maintaining its production oil gas and NGLs are probably growing a little bit per well, which still leads to great economics.