Q4 2025 Ovintiv Inc Earnings Call

February 24, 2026

Speaker #2: At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. Members of the investment community will have the opportunity to ask questions, and can join the queue at any time by pressing star one.

Speaker #2: For members of the media attending in a listen-only mode today, you may quote statements made by any of the Ovintiv representatives. However, members of the media who wish to quote others who are speaking on this call today we advise you to contact those individuals directly to obtain their consent.

Speaker #2: Please be advised that this conference call may not be recorded or broadcast without the express consent of Ovintiv. I would now like to turn the conference call over to Jason Verhaest from Investor Relations.

Operator: Please be advised that this conference call may not be recorded or rebroadcast without the express consent of Ovintiv. I would now like to turn the conference call over to Jason Verhaest from investor relations. Please go ahead, Mr. Verhaest.

Speaker #2: Please go ahead, Mr. Verhaest. Thanks, Joanna, and welcome everyone to our fourth quarter year-end 2025 conference call. This call is being webcast, and the slides are available on our website at ovintiv.com.

Jason Verhaest: Thanks, Joanna, welcome everyone to our Q4 year-end 2025 conference call. This call is being webcast, and the slides are available on our website at ovintiv.com. Please take note of the advisory regarding forward-looking statements at the beginning of our slides and in the disclosure documents filed on EDGAR and SEDAR+. Following prepared remarks, we will be available to take your questions. I will now turn the call over to our President and CEO, Brendan McCracken.

Speaker #2: Please take note of the advisory regarding forward-looking statements at the beginning of our slides and in the disclosure documents filed on Edgar and Cedar Plus.

Speaker #2: Following prepared remarks, we will be available to take your questions. I will now turn the call over to our President and CEO, Brendan McCracken.

Speaker #3: Thanks, Jason. Good morning, everybody, and thank you for joining us. We are excited today to update the market on our latest results and the culmination of several years of strategic transformation at Ovintiv.

Brendan McCracken: Thanks, Jason. Good morning, everybody, and thank you for joining us. We are excited today to update the market on our latest results and the culmination of several years of strategic transformation at Ovintiv. With relentless focus and discipline, our team has remade our portfolio, reset our balance sheet, grown profitability, and built one of the deepest inventory positions in our industry. We have done all that while delivering superior returns on invested capital, both through the drill bit but also through smart transactions. All along, we've been guided by a very simple formula. Superior and durable returns will accrue to the company that builds a deep inventory in the best resource, creates a competitive execution advantage through its culture and expertise, and has the discipline to allocate capital to the highest returns and get those returns on a full cycle basis all the way to the bottom line.

Speaker #3: With relentless focus and discipline, our team has remade our portfolio, reset our balance sheet, grown profitability, and built one of the deepest inventory positions in our industry.

Speaker #3: We have done all that while delivering superior returns on invested capital. Both through the drill bit but also through smart transactions. All along, we've been guided by a very simple formula: superior and durable returns will accrue to the company that builds a deep inventory in the best resource, creates a competitive execution advantage through its culture and expertise, and has the disciplined allocate capital to the highest returns.

Speaker #3: And get those returns on a full cycle basis all the way to the bottom line. Year to date, in 2026, we have closed the Novista acquisition and reached an agreement to sell our Anadarco assets.

Brendan McCracken: Year to date, in 2026, we have closed the NuVista acquisition and reached an agreement to sell our Anadarko assets. This means our portfolio transformation is complete. It leaves us with a very focused and high-quality portfolio in two of the best plays in North America, the Permian and the Montney. Proceeds from the Anadarko sale will go to the balance sheet, marking the achievement of our debt target and rightsizing our capital structure. The enhanced resilience of the business means that we can return more cash to shareholders. The new shareholder return framework that we unveiled today does just that. Several years ago, we made the strategic decision to focus our portfolio and build high-quality inventory depth in the Permian and the Montney. Approximately 80% of the remaining sub $50 breakeven oil locations in North America are located in those two basins.

Speaker #3: This means our portfolio transformation is complete. And it leaves us with a very focused and high-quality portfolio in two of the best plays in North America, the Permian and the Monte.

Speaker #3: Proceeds from the Anadarco sale will go to the balance sheet. Marking the achievement of our debt target and right-sizing our capital structure. The enhanced resilience of the business means that we can return more cash to shareholders, and the new shareholder return framework that we unveiled today does just that.

Speaker #3: Several years ago, we made the strategic decision to focus our portfolio and build high-quality inventory depth in the Permian and the Monte. Approximately 80% of the remaining sub-$50 breakeven oil locations in North America are located in those two basins.

Speaker #3: Bolstering our positions in these plays where we have competitive advantage means we can continue to deliver durable returns for many years to come. Since 2023, we've increased our Permian and Monte drilling inventory by more than 3,200 locations at an average cost of $1.4 million per net 10,000-foot location.

Brendan McCracken: Bolstering our positions in these plays, where we have competitive advantage, means we can continue to deliver durable returns for many years to come. Since 2023, we've increased our Permian and Montney drilling inventory by more than 3,200 locations at an average cost of $1.4 million per net 10,000 foot location. We did it without diluting our shareholders or stressing our balance sheet. This inventory life expansion has been unmatched by our peers and leaves us with one of the most valuable inventory positions in the industry. Our sequencing between inventory additions and debt reduction was carefully managed. We recognized the importance of reducing debt, and we balanced that objective with timely transactions that our team generated to put our shareholders into premium inventory for the right price. This greatly extended our premium inventory duration.

Speaker #3: And we did it without diluting our shareholders or stressing our balance sheet. This inventory life expansion has been unmatched by our peers. And leaves us with one of the most valuable inventory positions in the industry.

Speaker #3: Our sequencing between inventory additions and debt reduction was carefully managed. We recognized the importance of reducing debt and we balanced that objective with timely transactions that our team generated to put our shareholders into premium inventory for the right price.

Speaker #3: This greatly extended our premium inventory duration. We have now cleared both of these hurdles and that represents a material de-risking event for our shareholders.

Brendan McCracken: We have now cleared both of these hurdles, and that represents a material de-risking event for our shareholders. As North American shale continues to mature, a very clear competitive advantage is emerging for companies like ours that have already set their inventory position up for success, have a clean balance sheet, and can access premium price markets and have a demonstrated track record that translates to leading-edge efficiency and returns. That combination of attributes is truly differentiated. Following the close of the Anadarko sale, which we expect will happen early in Q2, our net debt will be roughly $3.6 billion. This brings our leverage more in line with our peer group and opens the door for us to allocate a greater portion of our free cash flow to shareholder returns.

Speaker #3: As North American Shale continues to mature, a very clear competitive advantage is emerging for companies like ours. That have already set their inventory position up for success.

Speaker #3: Have a clean balance sheet and can access premium-priced markets and have a demonstrated track record that translates to leading-edge efficiency and returns. That combination of attributes is truly differentiated.

Speaker #3: Following the close of the Anadarco sale, which we expect will happen early in the second quarter, our net debt will be roughly $3.6 billion.

Speaker #3: This brings our leverage more in line with our peer group and opens the door for us to allocate a greater portion of our free cash flow to shareholder returns.

Speaker #3: The chart on the left of slide six details the sources and uses of cash to get us to the $3.6 billion. If you'll recall, we funded the Novista acquisition with a balanced mix of cash and equity.

Brendan McCracken: The chart on the left of slide six details the sources and uses of cash to get us to the $3.6 billion. If you'll recall, we funded the NuVista acquisition with a balanced mix of cash and equity. The cash component was largely funded by a term loan. With the proceeds from the Anadarko sale, we plan to first pay out the term loan and our 2028 notes, and then allocate the rest to our credit facility and commercial paper balance. Our remaining long-term debt profile will have no maturities before 2030. We expect to realize $40 million of annualized interest savings from the repayment of the 2028 notes. This is in addition to the $25 million of annual savings we will realize from paying out our 2026 notes earlier this year.

Speaker #3: The cash component was largely funded by a term loan. With the proceeds from the Anadarko sale, we plan to first pay out the term loan and our 2028 notes.

Speaker #3: And then allocate the rest to our credit facility and commercial paper balance. Our remaining long-term debt profile will have no maturities before 2030. We expect to realize $40 million of annualized interest savings from the repayment of the 2028 notes.

Speaker #3: This is an addition to the $25 million of annual savings we will realize from paying out our 2026 notes earlier this year. We remain committed to our investment-grade credit rating and we expect the Anadarco sale and subsequent de-leveraging to be credit positive.

Brendan McCracken: We remain committed to our investment-grade credit rating. We expect the Anadarko sale and subsequent deleveraging to be credit positive. With the Anadarko sale set to close in early Q2, we are in a position to increase our shareholder returns. We continue to believe that our equity is significantly undervalued. Share buybacks continue to screen as an attractive return on investment. Our new framework will allow us to be more opportunistic in addressing this valuation discount. In 2026, under the revised framework, we will plan to return at least 75% of our free cash flows to shareholders. Longer term, we have set the expected range from 50% to 100%. This wider range is intended to allow flexibility to accommodate commodity price volatility and avoid procyclical buybacks.

Speaker #3: With the Anadarco sale set to close in early Q2, we are in a position to increase our shareholder returns. We continue to believe that our equity is significantly undervalued.

Speaker #3: And share buybacks continue to screen as an attractive return on investment. Our new framework will allow us to be more opportunistic in addressing this valuation discount.

Speaker #3: In 2026, under the revised framework, we will plan to return at least 75% of our free cash flows to shareholders. Longer term, we have set the expected range from 50% to 100%.

Speaker #3: This wider range is intended to allow flexibility to accommodate commodity price volatility and avoid procyclical buybacks. To be clear, our 2026 buyback target will be based off our full-year free cash flow, as we plan to make up for the pause that we had initially planned for this first quarter.

Brendan McCracken: To be clear, our 2026 buyback target will be based off our full year free cash flow, as we plan to make up for the pause that we had initially planned for this Q1. We plan to commence buybacks immediately. In conjunction with our new framework, our board of directors has authorized a share buyback program totaling $3 billion. I'll now turn the call over to Corey to discuss our year-end results and 2026 guidance.

Speaker #3: We plan to commence buybacks immediately. In conjunction with our new framework, our board of directors has authorized a share buyback program totaling $3 billion.

Speaker #3: I'll now turn the call over to Corey to discuss our year-end results and 2026 guidance.

Speaker #4: Thanks, Brendan. Our 2025 results demonstrate another year of execution excellence and strong financial performance. Our full-year cash flow was $3.8 billion. We generated free cash flow of more than $1.6 billion, of which over $600 million was returned directly to our shareholders.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): Thanks, Brendan. Our 2025 results demonstrate another year of execution excellence and strong financial performance. Our full-year cash flow was $3.8 billion. We generated free cash flow of more than $1.6 billion, of which over $600 million was returned directly to our shareholders. Our focus on capital efficiency enabled us to produce more with less capital. Our initial guidance for 2025 had us delivering total volumes of 605,000 BOE per day for $2.2 billion of capital. Throughout the course of the year, we lowered our capital by $50 million and produced an additional 10,000 BOE per day of total volumes. Importantly, we also continued to make progress on debt reduction, ending the year with less than $5.2 billion of net debt, a decrease of more than $240 million.

Corey Code: Thanks, Brendan. Our 2025 results demonstrate another year of execution excellence and strong financial performance. Our full-year cash flow was $3.8 billion. We generated free cash flow of more than $1.6 billion, of which over $600 million was returned directly to our shareholders. Our focus on capital efficiency enabled us to produce more with less capital. Our initial guidance for 2025 had us delivering total volumes of 605,000 BOE per day for $2.2 billion of capital. Throughout the course of the year, we lowered our capital by $50 million and produced an additional 10,000 BOE per day of total volumes. Importantly, we also continued to make progress on debt reduction, ending the year with less than $5.2 billion of net debt, a decrease of more than $240 million.

Speaker #4: Our focus on capital efficiency enabled us to produce more with less capital. Our initial guidance for 2025 had us delivering total volumes of $605,000 BOE per day for $2.2 billion of capital.

Speaker #4: Throughout the course of the year, we lowered our capital by $50 million and produced an additional 10,000 BOE per day of total volumes. Importantly, we also continue to make progress on debt reduction, ending the year with less than $5.2 billion of net debt, a decrease of more than $240 million.

Speaker #4: Our solid execution in 2025 has set us up for continued success in 2026. Our strong operational performance during the fourth quarter delivered oil and condensate volumes averaging approximately $209,000 barrels per day at the high end of our guidance range and our capital investment of $465 million came in at the midpoint of our guidance.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): Our solid execution in 2025 has set us up for continued success in 2026. Our strong operational performance during Q4 delivered oil and condensate volumes averaging approximately 209,000 barrels per day at the high end of our guidance range, and our capital investment of $465 million came in at the midpoint of our guidance. We also matched or beat our per unit cost guide on every item, continuing to build on our track record as an industry-leading operator. Our Q4 cash flow per share at $3.81, beat consensus estimates by about 10%, and our free cash flow totaled $580 million. All in all, we delivered another strong quarter, both operationally and financially, which allowed us to enter 2026 with significant momentum.

Corey Code: Our solid execution in 2025 has set us up for continued success in 2026. Our strong operational performance during Q4 delivered oil and condensate volumes averaging approximately 209,000 barrels per day at the high end of our guidance range, and our capital investment of $465 million came in at the midpoint of our guidance. We also matched or beat our per unit cost guide on every item, continuing to build on our track record as an industry-leading operator. Our Q4 cash flow per share at $3.81, beat consensus estimates by about 10%, and our free cash flow totaled $580 million. All in all, we delivered another strong quarter, both operationally and financially, which allowed us to enter 2026 with significant momentum.

Speaker #4: We also met or beat our per-unit cost guide on every item, continuing to build on our track record as an industry-leading operator. Our fourth-quarter cash flow per share, at $3.81, beat consensus estimates by about 10%, and our free cash flow totaled $508 million.

Speaker #4: All in all, we delivered another strong quarter both operationally and financially, which allowed us to enter 2026 with significant momentum. Maximizing capital efficiency and free cash flow remains a primary focus for our teams this year.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): Maximizing capital efficiency and free cash flow remains a primary focus for our teams this year. We're executing an oil-directed maintenance or stay flat program with level-loaded activity in both the Permian and the Montney. The resulting oil and condensate run rates for each asset are roughly 120,000 bbl/d and about 85,000 bbl/d, respectively. Our 2026 program, including one quarter of Anadarko operations, will deliver 209,000 bbl/d of oil and condensate over 2 BCF/d of natural gas and total production volumes of 620,000 to 645,000 BOE/d for about $2.3 billion of capital investment.

Corey Code: Maximizing capital efficiency and free cash flow remains a primary focus for our teams this year. We're executing an oil-directed maintenance or stay flat program with level-loaded activity in both the Permian and the Montney. The resulting oil and condensate run rates for each asset are roughly 120,000 bbl/d and about 85,000 bbl/d, respectively. Our 2026 program, including one quarter of Anadarko operations, will deliver 209,000 bbl/d of oil and condensate over 2 BCF/d of natural gas and total production volumes of 620,000 to 645,000 BOE/d for about $2.3 billion of capital investment.

Speaker #4: We're executing an oil-directed maintenance or state flat program with level-loaded activity in both the Permian and the Mont. The resulting oil and condensate run rates for each asset are roughly $120,000 barrels per day and about $85,000 barrels per day, respectively.

Speaker #4: Our 2026 program, including one quarter of Anadarko operations, will deliver 209,000 barrels per day of oil and condensate, over 2 BCF a day of natural gas, and total production volumes of 620,000 to 645,000 BOE per day for about $2.3 billion of capital investment.

Speaker #4: When compared to the preliminary 2026 production outlook of 715,000 BOE per day that we provided in November, the sale of the Anadarko reduces volumes by about 70,000 BOE per day, and the timing of the Novista acquisition closing reduces those volumes by about 10,000 BOE per day. Margin improvement in 2026 is driven by lower LOE, production and mineral taxes, and interest expense.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): When compared to the preliminary 2026 production outlook of 715,000 BOE per day we provided in November, the sale of the Anadarko reduces volumes by about 70,000 BOEs per day, and the timing of the NuVista acquisition closing reduces those volumes by about 10,000 BOEs per day. We expect to see margin improvement in 2026, driven by lower LOE, production and mineral taxes, and interest expense. Our TNP costs will increase this year as a result of greater Montney weighting in our portfolio, additional Montney processing capacity, and increased market access in both plays, which enhances our netbacks. In Q1, we expect production to average approximately 670,000 BOEs per day, including about 223,000 barrels per day of oil and condensate. This will be the high point for the year.

Corey Code: When compared to the preliminary 2026 production outlook of 715,000 BOE per day we provided in November, the sale of the Anadarko reduces volumes by about 70,000 BOEs per day, and the timing of the NuVista acquisition closing reduces those volumes by about 10,000 BOEs per day. We expect to see margin improvement in 2026, driven by lower LOE, production and mineral taxes, and interest expense. Our TNP costs will increase this year as a result of greater Montney weighting in our portfolio, additional Montney processing capacity, and increased market access in both plays, which enhances our netbacks. In Q1, we expect production to average approximately 670,000 BOEs per day, including about 223,000 barrels per day of oil and condensate. This will be the high point for the year.

Speaker #4: Our TNP costs will increase this year as a result of greater Montney weighting in our portfolio. Additional Montney processing capacity and increased market access in both plays, which enhances our net backs.

Speaker #4: In the first quarter, we expect production to average approximately $670,000 BOEs per day including about $223,000 barrels per day of oil and condensate. This will be the high point for the year.

Speaker #4: This includes roughly three or four thousand BOE per day of cold weather impacts that we experienced across the US assets in January. Our capital spend will also be the highest in the first quarter at about $625 million.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): This includes roughly 3 or 4,000 BOE per day of cold weather impacts that we experienced across the US assets in January. Our capital spend will also be the highest in Q1 at about $625 million, largely due to $50 million of capital allocated to the Anadarko and some drilling activity in the Montney that we inherited from NuVista. I'll now turn the call over to Greg, who will speak to our operational highlights.

Corey Code: This includes roughly 3 or 4,000 BOE per day of cold weather impacts that we experienced across the US assets in January. Our capital spend will also be the highest in Q1 at about $625 million, largely due to $50 million of capital allocated to the Anadarko and some drilling activity in the Montney that we inherited from NuVista. I'll now turn the call over to Greg, who will speak to our operational highlights.

Speaker #4: Largely due to $50 million of capital allocated to the Anadarko and some drilling activity in the Montney that we inherited from Novista. I'll now turn the call over to Greg, who'll speak to our operational highlights.

Speaker #5: Thanks, Cory. Let's dig into each of our two asset-level development programs. Starting in the Permian, capital efficiency and free cash generation remain the top priorities as we work to drive efficiency in every aspect of our operation.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): Thanks, Corey. Let's dig into each of our two asset level development programs. Starting in the Permian, capital efficiency and free cash generation remain the top priorities as we work to drive efficiency in every aspect of our operation. Ovintiv is consistently one of the highest productivity, lowest cost operators in the basin. We recently received third-party recognition of our basin leadership from JPMorgan by being awarded the 2025 Order of Merit for Midland Basin Performance. Ovintiv had the highest 3-month cumulative oil per foot again in 2025 and was the only operator who improved performance in each of the last 3 years. There are several factors that have contributed to our type curve improvement over that period of time, and one of the bigger factors has been our use of surfactants in our completion designs.

Greg Givens: Thanks, Corey. Let's dig into each of our two asset level development programs. Starting in the Permian, capital efficiency and free cash generation remain the top priorities as we work to drive efficiency in every aspect of our operation. Ovintiv is consistently one of the highest productivity, lowest cost operators in the basin. We recently received third-party recognition of our basin leadership from JPMorgan by being awarded the 2025 Order of Merit for Midland Basin Performance. Ovintiv had the highest 3-month cumulative oil per foot again in 2025 and was the only operator who improved performance in each of the last 3 years. There are several factors that have contributed to our type curve improvement over that period of time, and one of the bigger factors has been our use of surfactants in our completion designs.

Speaker #5: Ovintiv is consistently one of the highest productivity, lowest cost operators in the basin. We recently received third-party recognition of our basin leadership from JP Morgan.

Speaker #5: By being awarded the 2025 Order of Merit for Midland Basin Performance. Ovintiv had the highest three-month cumulative oil per foot again in 2025 and was the only operator who improved performance in each of the last three years.

Speaker #5: There are several factors that have contributed to our tight curve improvement over that period of time. And one of the bigger factors has been our use of surfactants in our completion designs.

Speaker #5: We have been studying surfactants for a number of years, both in the lab and in the field, and we pump them in about 300 Permian wells since 2019.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): We have been studying surfactants for a number of years, both in the lab and in the field, and we pumped them in about 300 Permian wells since 2019. Compared to a similar group of analog or non-surfactant test treated wells, we see a 9% improvement in oil productivity. We believe surfactants account for roughly half of the type curve improvement we've observed in our Permian assets since 2022. We tested different chemical formulas across our acreage, and although performance varies by zone and by county, there is meaningful oil recovery benefit from these low-cost additives, which are highly economic. We will continue to hone our approach and trial different products across the acreage, but we are very pleased with the results we've achieved so far. Our Permian team continues to set the efficient frontier when it comes to drilling and completions performance.

Greg Givens: We have been studying surfactants for a number of years, both in the lab and in the field, and we pumped them in about 300 Permian wells since 2019. Compared to a similar group of analog or non-surfactant test treated wells, we see a 9% improvement in oil productivity. We believe surfactants account for roughly half of the type curve improvement we've observed in our Permian assets since 2022. We tested different chemical formulas across our acreage, and although performance varies by zone and by county, there is meaningful oil recovery benefit from these low-cost additives, which are highly economic. We will continue to hone our approach and trial different products across the acreage, but we are very pleased with the results we've achieved so far. Our Permian team continues to set the efficient frontier when it comes to drilling and completions performance.

Speaker #5: Compared to a similar group of analog or non-surfactant test-treated wells, we see a 9% improvement in oil productivity. We believe surfactants account for roughly half of the tight curve improvement we've observed in our Permian assets since 2022.

Speaker #5: We've tested different chemical formulas across our acreage and although performance varies by zone and by county, there is meaningful oil recovery benefit from these low-cost additives which are highly economic.

Speaker #5: We will continue to hone our approach and trial different products across the acreage, but we are very pleased with the results we've achieved so far.

Speaker #5: Our Permian team continues to set the efficient frontier when it comes to drilling and completions performance. We take great pride in our development approach and our ability to stack multiple innovations together to create industry-leading results.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): We take great pride in our development approach and our ability to stack multiple innovations together to create industry-leading results. On completions, part of our success is from utilizing our real-time frac optimization. Every job we pump is optimized in real-time using proprietary algorithms, leveraging our vast private Permian dataset. This also allows us to make real-time decisions, which improve well recovery and reduce costs, leading to better pad economics. We also made efficiency gains this year through use of continuous pumping. We pumped for 7 straight days on our first trial, leading to a 20% improvement in completed feet per day. Our full year average completed feet per day was about 4,250. This was more than 10% faster than our 2024 program average.

Greg Givens: We take great pride in our development approach and our ability to stack multiple innovations together to create industry-leading results. On completions, part of our success is from utilizing our real-time frac optimization. Every job we pump is optimized in real-time using proprietary algorithms, leveraging our vast private Permian dataset. This also allows us to make real-time decisions, which improve well recovery and reduce costs, leading to better pad economics. We also made efficiency gains this year through use of continuous pumping. We pumped for 7 straight days on our first trial, leading to a 20% improvement in completed feet per day. Our full year average completed feet per day was about 4,250. This was more than 10% faster than our 2024 program average.

Speaker #5: On completions, part of our success is from utilizing our real-time frac optimization. Every job we pump is optimized in real-time using proprietary algorithms leveraging our vast private Permian data set.

Speaker #5: This also allows us to make real-time decisions which improve well recovery and reduce costs, leading to better pad economics. We also made efficiency gains this year through use of continuous pumping.

Speaker #5: We pumped for seven straight days on our first trial, leading to a 20% improvement in completed feet per day. Our full-year average completed feet per day was about 10% faster than our 2024 program average.

Speaker #5: On the drilling front, we have developed several in-house AI tools which have allowed us to reduce cycle times, minimize failures, and accelerate efficiency gains.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): On the drilling front, we have developed several in-house AI tools, which have allowed us to reduce cycle times, minimize failures and accelerate efficiency gains. Our 2025 drilling speed averaged more than 2,000 feet per day for the second consecutive year. Our pacesetter well was over 3,000 feet per day, so we'll look to continue improving on what we believe are basin-leading results. These cycle time improvements are driving lower well costs. Our 2026 expected drilling and completion cost is among the best in the industry at less than $600 per foot, which is about $25 per foot lower than last year. The 136 net wells we brought online in the Permian in 2025 continue to meet or slightly exceed our 2025 type curve.

Greg Givens: On the drilling front, we have developed several in-house AI tools, which have allowed us to reduce cycle times, minimize failures and accelerate efficiency gains. Our 2025 drilling speed averaged more than 2,000 feet per day for the second consecutive year. Our pacesetter well was over 3,000 feet per day, so we'll look to continue improving on what we believe are basin-leading results. These cycle time improvements are driving lower well costs. Our 2026 expected drilling and completion cost is among the best in the industry at less than $600 per foot, which is about $25 per foot lower than last year. The 136 net wells we brought online in the Permian in 2025 continue to meet or slightly exceed our 2025 type curve.

Speaker #5: Our 2025 drilling speed averaged more than 2,000 feet per day for the second consecutive year. Our pace setter well was over 3,000 feet per day.

Speaker #5: So, we'll look to continue improving on what we believe are our basin-leading results. These cycle time improvements are driving lower well costs. Our 2026 expected drilling and completion cost is among the best in the industry at less than $600 per foot.

Speaker #5: Which is about $25 per foot lower than last year. The $136 net wells we brought online in the Permian in 2025 continue to meet or slightly exceed our 2025 tight curve.

Speaker #5: This tight curve was unchanged across the year, and it remains unchanged in 2026. This year, we plan to run a load-leveled program with five rigs and one to two frac crews to bring on about 130 net wells.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): This type curve was unchanged across the year, and it remains unchanged in 2026. This year, we plan to run a low-level program with 5 rigs and 1 to 2 frac crews to bring on about 130 net wells. We plan to hold oil and condensate production at roughly 120,000 barrels per day. While our Permian economics are driven by oil, it's important to note that we now have about 150 million cubic feet per day of firm transport, leaving the basin for our Permian natural gas volumes. This means that roughly 55% of our 2026 gas production will be priced at the Gulf Coast instead of Waha. Last year, our unhedged Permian gas price realization averaged $1.55 per Mcf, about 179% of Waha.

Greg Givens: This type curve was unchanged across the year, and it remains unchanged in 2026. This year, we plan to run a low-level program with 5 rigs and 1 to 2 frac crews to bring on about 130 net wells. We plan to hold oil and condensate production at roughly 120,000 barrels per day. While our Permian economics are driven by oil, it's important to note that we now have about 150 million cubic feet per day of firm transport, leaving the basin for our Permian natural gas volumes. This means that roughly 55% of our 2026 gas production will be priced at the Gulf Coast instead of Waha. Last year, our unhedged Permian gas price realization averaged $1.55 per Mcf, about 179% of Waha.

Speaker #5: We plan to hold oil and condensate production at roughly 120,000 barrels per day. While our Permian economics are driven by oil, it's important to note that we now have about 150 million cubic feet per day of firm transport leaving the basin for our Permian natural gas volumes.

Speaker #5: This means that roughly 55% of our 2026 gas production will be priced at the Gulf Coast instead of Oahu. Last year, our unhedged Permian gas price realization averaged $1.55 per Mcf.

Speaker #5: About $179% of Oahu. Moving north to the Montney, we remain very pleased with the tremendous depth and quality we have added to our acreage in the heart of the Alberta oil window over the last year.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): Moving north to the Montney, we remain very pleased with the tremendous depth and quality we have added to our acreage in the heart of the Alberta oil window over the last year. We are very excited to have the NuVista assets in our portfolio, and we are already working to integrate them into our business as safely and efficiently as possible. As a reminder, we plan to deliver well cost savings of $1 million per well across the acquired assets through the application of our industry-leading approach to drilling, completion, and production operations. We demonstrated our ability to capture similar cost synergies last year as we integrated the Paramount assets into our business. The swift achievement of those synergies is a real testament to the culture and capability of our Montney team. We couldn't be more pleased with how those assets have performed.

Greg Givens: Moving north to the Montney, we remain very pleased with the tremendous depth and quality we have added to our acreage in the heart of the Alberta oil window over the last year. We are very excited to have the NuVista assets in our portfolio, and we are already working to integrate them into our business as safely and efficiently as possible. As a reminder, we plan to deliver well cost savings of $1 million per well across the acquired assets through the application of our industry-leading approach to drilling, completion, and production operations. We demonstrated our ability to capture similar cost synergies last year as we integrated the Paramount assets into our business. The swift achievement of those synergies is a real testament to the culture and capability of our Montney team. We couldn't be more pleased with how those assets have performed.

Speaker #5: We are very excited to have the Novista assets in our portfolio and we are already working to integrate them into our business as safely and efficiently as possible.

Speaker #5: As a reminder, we plan to deliver well-cost savings of $1 million per well across the acquired assets through the application of our industry-leading approach to drilling, completion, and production operations.

Speaker #5: We demonstrated our ability to capture similar cost synergies last year, as we integrated the Paramount assets into our business. The swift achievement of those synergies is a real testament to the culture and capability of our Montney team.

Speaker #5: We couldn't be more pleased with how those assets have performed. We quickly achieved our well-cost savings target of $1.5 million per well. Took 14 days out of the drilling cycle time and successfully tested the upside potential of the asset with a higher density development.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): We quickly achieved our well cost savings target of $1.5 million per well, took 14 days out of the drilling cycle time, and successfully tested the upside potential of the asset with a higher density development. At our fifteen of sixteen pad, we added a third bench and increased density to 14 wells per section. We're seeing initial productivity rates that are exceeding our expectations. These results have unlocked roughly 130 upside locations across our Montney acreage. This year, we plan to run six rigs and one to two frac spreads to bring on about 135 net turn-in-lines. We plan to focus roughly a third of our activity on the newly acquired NuVista acreage, a third on the legacy Paramount lands. A third will be split between our legacy Pipestone and Cutbank Ridge areas.

Greg Givens: We quickly achieved our well cost savings target of $1.5 million per well, took 14 days out of the drilling cycle time, and successfully tested the upside potential of the asset with a higher density development. At our fifteen of sixteen pad, we added a third bench and increased density to 14 wells per section. We're seeing initial productivity rates that are exceeding our expectations. These results have unlocked roughly 130 upside locations across our Montney acreage. This year, we plan to run six rigs and one to two frac spreads to bring on about 135 net turn-in-lines. We plan to focus roughly a third of our activity on the newly acquired NuVista acreage, a third on the legacy Paramount lands. A third will be split between our legacy Pipestone and Cutbank Ridge areas.

Speaker #5: At our 15 of 16 pad, we added a third bench and increased density to 14 wells per section and we're seeing initial productivity rates that are exceeding our expectations.

Speaker #5: These results have unlocked roughly 130 upside locations across our Montney acreage. This year, we plan to run six rigs and one to two frac spreads to bring on about 135 net turn-in-lines.

Speaker #5: We plan to focus roughly a third of our activity on the newly acquired Novista acreage. A third on the legacy Paramount lands. And a third will be split between our legacy pipestone and cut bank ridge areas.

Speaker #5: Current production from the Montney is in line with our previously communicated run rate of about 85,000 barrels per day of oil and condensate. We are maintaining a repeatable tight curve.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): Current production from the Montney is in line with our previously communicated run rate of about 85,000 bbl/d of oil and condensate. We are maintaining a repeatable type curve, and although individual wells in the play will display a range of oil mix, the aggregated program delivers very predictable results. Due to some planned plant turnarounds, Montney production in Q2 is expected to be at the lower end of our full year guidance range of 83,000 to 87,000 bbl/d and 1.75 to 1.85 BCF/d of natural gas. We are working with our midstream providers to minimize the downtime as much as possible. In 2026, we expect our DNC cost to average less than $500/foot.

Greg Givens: Current production from the Montney is in line with our previously communicated run rate of about 85,000 bbl/d of oil and condensate. We are maintaining a repeatable type curve, and although individual wells in the play will display a range of oil mix, the aggregated program delivers very predictable results. Due to some planned plant turnarounds, Montney production in Q2 is expected to be at the lower end of our full year guidance range of 83,000 to 87,000 bbl/d and 1.75 to 1.85 BCF/d of natural gas. We are working with our midstream providers to minimize the downtime as much as possible. In 2026, we expect our DNC cost to average less than $500/foot.

Speaker #5: And although individual wells in the play will display a range of oil mix, the aggregated program delivers very predictable results. Due to some planned plant turnarounds, Montney production in the second quarter is expected to be at the lower end of our full-year guidance range of 83 to 87,000 barrels per day.

Speaker #5: And 1.75 to 1.85 BCF per day of natural gas. While we are working with our midstream providers to minimize the downtime as much as possible.

Speaker #5: In 2026, we expect our DNC cost to average less than $500 per foot. This is about $25 per foot less than our 2025 well cost.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): This is about $25 per foot less than our 2025 well cost. Part of the decrease year-over-year is thanks to faster cycle times, as well as greater use of domestic sand in our 2026 completions. Roughly half of our 2026 Montney wells will be completed with locally sourced sand. Overall, the asset is performing very well, and the low cost, high productivity nature of the wells has meant we've consistently been able to generate highly competitive economics from the play throughout the commodity price cycle. I'll now turn the call back to Brendan.

Greg Givens: This is about $25 per foot less than our 2025 well cost. Part of the decrease year-over-year is thanks to faster cycle times, as well as greater use of domestic sand in our 2026 completions. Roughly half of our 2026 Montney wells will be completed with locally sourced sand. Overall, the asset is performing very well, and the low cost, high productivity nature of the wells has meant we've consistently been able to generate highly competitive economics from the play throughout the commodity price cycle. I'll now turn the call back to Brendan.

Speaker #5: Part of the decrease year over year is thanks to faster cycle times as well as greater use of domestic sand in our 2026 completions.

Speaker #5: Roughly half of our 2026 Montney wells will be completed with locally sourced sand. Overall, the asset is performing very well and the low-cost, high-productivity nature of the wells has meant we've consistently been able to generate highly competitive economics from the play throughout the commodity price cycle.

Speaker #5: I'll now turn the call back to Brendan.

Speaker #6: Thanks, Greg. Over the last few years, we've worked hard to high-grade and focus our portfolio. Build extensive inventory depth, drive profitability, and reduce our leverage.

Brendan McCracken: Thanks, Greg. Over the last few years, we've worked hard to high grade and focus our portfolio, build extensive inventory depth, drive profitability, and reduce our leverage. Over that time, our team has delivered outstanding results. Those results demonstrate that our strategy is working, and our execution excellence is translating into increased value for our shareholders. We've been very intentional about building a high quality business. We've demonstrated along the way that we are disciplined stewards of our shareholders' capital. We will continue to be relentless about making our business more profitable and more valuable every day, but we've reached a new period of stability, and we are excited to unlock the full value of what we've built. This concludes our prepared remarks. Operator, we're now ready to turn the line back for questions.

Speaker #6: Over that time, our team has delivered outstanding results. Those results demonstrate that our strategy is working. And our execution excellence is translating into increased value for our shareholders.

Speaker #6: We've been very intentional about building a high-quality business. We've demonstrated along the way that we are disciplined stewards of our shareholders' capital. We will continue to be relentless about making our business more profitable and more valuable every day.

Speaker #6: But we've reached a new period of stability. And we are excited to unlock the full value of what we've built. This concludes our prepared remarks.

Speaker #6: Operator, we're now ready to turn and line back for questions.

Speaker #1: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, as a reminder, you can join the Q2 Ask a Question by pressing star one. We will now begin the question and answer session and go to the first caller.

Operator: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, as a reminder, you can join the queue to ask a question by pressing star one. We will now begin the question and answer session and go to the first caller. First question comes from Arun Jayaram at JP Morgan. Please go ahead.

Speaker #1: First question comes from Arun Jayaram at JPMorgan. Please go ahead.

Speaker #5: Yeah, good morning, Brendan and team. I was wondering if you could maybe elaborate on the change to your shareholder returns program in '26, where you're increasing the mix to 75% from 50%.

Arun Jayaram: Good morning, Brendan and team. I was wondering if you could maybe elaborate on the change to your shareholder returns program in 2026, where you're increasing the mix to 75% from 50%. Thoughts, Brendan, how we should think about the mix of shareholder returns post 2026 relative to the 50% to 100% long-term range?

Speaker #5: And thoughts, Brendan, how we should think about the mix of shareholder returns post-2026 relative to the 50 to 100% long-term range?

Speaker #6: Yeah, thanks, Arun. Good morning. Yeah, so today we see a lot of value in our equity. And when we close the end of ARCA, we expect to be at about 3.6 billion dollars of debt.

Brendan McCracken: Thanks, Arun. Good morning. Today we see a lot of value in our equity, and when we close the Anadarko, we expect to be at about $3.6 billion of debt. That's really the reason for shifting to the upper end of the range this year. Then longer term, we've set a wider range. Really, the thinking here is, you know, we want this framework to be durable through the commodity price cycle. In particular, we want to avoid setting up a procyclical framework. What I mean by that is, when commodity prices are high, you probably should expect us to be more towards the low end of that 50% to 100% range.

Speaker #6: And so that's really the reason for shifting to the upper end of the range this year. And then, longer term, we've set a wider range.

Speaker #6: And really the thinking here is we want this framework to be durable through the commodity price cycle. And in particular, we want to avoid setting up a procyclical framework.

Speaker #6: And what I mean by that is when commodity prices are high, you probably should expect us to be more towards the low end of that 50 to 100% range.

Brendan McCracken: That, what that allows us to do is, you know, be banking that windfall, if you will, when commodity prices are well above mid-cycle, be banking that windfall permanently into the capital structure. On the flip side, in periods of lower commodity prices, you know, below the mid-cycle level, that could push us to the higher end of the range, where we're likely to see more valuable, more value in the equity. That's the only thinking behind the longer term 50 to 100 range, and we'll have the ability to flex around that. You know, when we see value like we do in the equity today, then the upper end of the range is appealing.

Speaker #6: And what that allows us to do is be banking that windfall, if you will, when commodity prices are well above mid-cycle, be banking that windfall permanently into the capital structure.

Speaker #6: And then on the flip side, in periods of lower commodity prices, below the mid-cycle level, that could push us to the higher end of the range where we're likely to see more valuable value in the equity.

Speaker #6: So that's the only thinking behind the longer-term 50 to 100 range. And we'll have the ability to flex around that. But when we see value like we do in the equity today, then the upper end of the range is appealing.

Speaker #5: Great. Brendan, my follow-up, we were very interested in the surfactant program and perhaps we're surprised that you guys have been doing it for so long.

Arun Jayaram: Great. Brendan, my follow-up, we were, you know, very interested in the surfactant program, and perhaps we're surprised that you guys have been doing it for so long. I was wondering if you could maybe unpack some of the details on the program, which looks to be driving some productivity gains versus control wells. It looks like you're using surfactants more on the completion end or the front end of the well lifecycle. Maybe talk about the cost benefit and wondering if you have tested surfactants in terms of moderating your base declines, as a couple of your peers have highlighted thus far?

Speaker #5: So I was wondering if you could maybe unpack some of the details on the program, what looks to be driving some productivity gains versus control wealth.

Speaker #5: And it looks like you're using surfactants more in the completion end or the front end of the well lifecycle. Maybe talk about the cost-benefit, and I'm wondering if you have tested surfactants in terms of moderating your base declines, as a couple of your peers have highlighted thus far.

Speaker #6: Yeah, no, love the question, Arun. And yeah, there's a lot going on in the company today. So glad you dug in on that surfactant piece.

Brendan McCracken: Yeah, no, love the question, Arun. Yeah, there's a, there's a lot going on in the, in the company today, so glad you dug in on that surfactant piece. I'll maybe just set up a couple comments here and then kick it over to Greg on the details. You know, this is just another example of the stacked innovation that we've been talking about. You know, really, for a few years now, we've been emphasizing 3 key features in our completion design that we think are adding value, adding to our type curves, and we've been calling it fluid chemistry. We were kind of deliberately trying to keep it quiet on exactly what we were doing since we felt like we had kind of gotten out ahead of others in this space.

Speaker #6: I'll maybe just set up a couple of comments here and then kick it over to Greg on the details. But this is just another example of the stacked innovation that we've been talking about.

Speaker #6: And really for a few years now, we've been emphasizing three key features in our completion design that we think are adding value, adding to our type curves.

Speaker #6: And we’ve been calling it fluid chemistry. We were kind of deliberately trying to keep it quiet on exactly what we were doing because we felt like we had kind of gotten out ahead of others in this space.

Brendan McCracken: And that's what you're seeing us show off today with 300 results already. That's, you know, really helped us push us to the top of the leaderboard on premium productivity. That's kind of a bit of the background and, you know, I'll kick it to Greg here to talk about some of the specifics.

Speaker #6: And that's what you're seeing us show off today with 300 results already. That's really helped us push us to the top of the leaderboard on Permian productivity.

Speaker #6: So that's kind of a bit of the background. And but I'll kick it to Greg here to talk about some of the specifics.

Speaker #5: Yeah, thanks, Brendan. And thanks, Arun, for the question. And yes, you highlighted it correctly. We are focusing our surfactant program on the initial completions.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): Yeah. Thanks, Brendan, and thanks, Arun, for the question. Yes, you highlighted it correctly. We are focusing our surfactant program on the initial completions. This is something we've been working on for a number of years, and the team continues to make breakthroughs and build our confidence in this space. Maybe just a little bit about what we're doing. These surfactants that we're pumping, you know, they're liquid additives that we include in our frac fluid that are designed to improve oil recovery from the reservoir downhole.

Greg Givens: Yeah. Thanks, Brendan, and thanks, Arun, for the question. Yes, you highlighted it correctly. We are focusing our surfactant program on the initial completions. This is something we've been working on for a number of years, and the team continues to make breakthroughs and build our confidence in this space. Maybe just a little bit about what we're doing. These surfactants that we're pumping, you know, they're liquid additives that we include in our frac fluid that are designed to improve oil recovery from the reservoir downhole.

Speaker #5: This is something we've been working on for a number of years. And the team continues to make breakthroughs and build our confidence in this space.

Speaker #5: So maybe just a little bit about what we're doing. So these surfactants that we're pumping, they're liquid additives that we include in our frac fluid.

Speaker #5: They're designed to improve oil recovery from the reservoir down hole. So once you pump them down hole, they change the surface tension of the fluids, which allows more of the oil to be released from the rock, flow into the fracture, and then out the wellbore, increasing recovery not just in the short, but in the longer term as we've demonstrated over the last several years.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): Once you pump them downhole, they change the surface tension of the fluids, which allows more of the oil to be released from the rock, flow into the fracture and then out the wellbore, increasing recovery, not just in the short, but in the longer term, as we've demonstrated over the last several years. You know, we've been working for a number of years on this, both in the lab and in the field. We've done core testing in the labs, as well as field trials, to try to determine which surfactants work best in which zones. We've been working to optimize the concentrations that we pump, so the amount of surfactant per ratio of fluid, both to optimize the effectiveness but also optimize the cost of these surfactants.

Greg Givens: Once you pump them downhole, they change the surface tension of the fluids, which allows more of the oil to be released from the rock, flow into the fracture and then out the wellbore, increasing recovery, not just in the short, but in the longer term, as we've demonstrated over the last several years. You know, we've been working for a number of years on this, both in the lab and in the field. We've done core testing in the labs, as well as field trials, to try to determine which surfactants work best in which zones. We've been working to optimize the concentrations that we pump, so the amount of surfactant per ratio of fluid, both to optimize the effectiveness but also optimize the cost of these surfactants.

Speaker #5: We've been working for a number of years on this, both in the lab and in the field. So we've done core testing in the labs.

Speaker #5: As well as field trials to try to determine which surfactants work best and which zones. We've been working to optimize the concentrations that we pump.

Speaker #5: So the amount of surfactant per ratio of fluid. Both to optimize the effectiveness, but also optimize the cost of these surfactants. And so far, we pumped, as we said in the prepared remarks, surfactants in around 300 wells, generating that 9% uplift.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): So far, you know, we pumped, as we said in the prepared remarks, surfactants in around 300 wells, generating that 9% uplift. That's been a progression over time. We started out in the early years with some field trials, gained confidence, and more recently, last year, we pumped surfactants in about 75% of the completions we pumped in the Midland Basin and saw very good results with that. We would anticipate pumping a similar amount this year in 2026. Been very pleased with the results on our completions. We've also tested it to some degree in producing wells. Haven't seen quite the effectiveness there, and so that is a very small part of the program. The team continues to experiment with this and will continue going forward.

Greg Givens: So far, you know, we pumped, as we said in the prepared remarks, surfactants in around 300 wells, generating that 9% uplift. That's been a progression over time. We started out in the early years with some field trials, gained confidence, and more recently, last year, we pumped surfactants in about 75% of the completions we pumped in the Midland Basin and saw very good results with that. We would anticipate pumping a similar amount this year in 2026. Been very pleased with the results on our completions. We've also tested it to some degree in producing wells. Haven't seen quite the effectiveness there, and so that is a very small part of the program. The team continues to experiment with this and will continue going forward.

Speaker #5: But that's been a progression over time. So we started out in the early years with some field trials. Gained confidence. And more recently, last year, we pumped surfactants in about 75% of the completions we pumped in the middle and basin.

Speaker #5: And saw very good results with that. We would anticipate pumping a similar amount this year, in 2026. So we've been very pleased with the results on our completions.

Speaker #5: We've also tested it to some degree in producing wells. Haven't seen quite the effectiveness there. And so that is a very small part of the program.

Speaker #5: But the continued the team continues to experiment with this. And we'll continue going forward. But we do believe it's a very effective way to improve recovery in the near and long term from these wells.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): We do believe it's a very effective way to improve recovery in the near and long term from these wells, and we think it has been and will continue to be a big reason for our outperformance in the Permian.

Greg Givens: We do believe it's a very effective way to improve recovery in the near and long term from these wells, and we think it has been and will continue to be a big reason for our outperformance in the Permian.

Speaker #5: And we think it's going to it has been, and will continue to be a big reason for our outperformance in the Permian. Great. Thanks a lot.

Dennis Fong: Great. Thanks a lot.

Arun Jayaram: Great. Thanks a lot.

Speaker #6: Thanks, Arun.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): Thanks, Ben.

Greg Givens: Thanks, Ben.

Speaker #1: Thank you. The next question comes from Lloyd Byrne with Jefferies. Please go ahead.

Operator: Thank you. The next question comes from Lloyd Byrne with Jefferies. Please go ahead.

Lloyd Byrne: Hey, good morning, guys. Congrats on the transformation. I know it's been a long process. Maybe I wanted to ask about the surfactants a little bit as well, and maybe Greg can talk a little bit about costs per well, and how are you seeing that go forward? I know you're just in the early stages, but if you have 9% improvement, are the costs going up as well?

Speaker #7: Hey, good morning, guys. Congrats on the transformation. I know it's been a long process. Maybe I wanted to ask about the surfactants a little bit as well.

Speaker #7: And maybe Greg can talk about a little bit about costs per well. And how are you seeing that go forward? I know you're just in the early stages.

Speaker #7: But if you have 9% improvement, are the costs going up as well?

Speaker #6: Hey, Lloyd. Yeah, so this is an interesting question. So when we first started this work several years ago, there was some really expensive chemistry out there.

Brendan McCracken: Hey, Lloyd. Yeah, we, you know, this is an interesting question. When we first started this work several years ago, there was some really, you know, expensive chemistry out there that was a real barrier to pumping it more broadly just because of the risk/reward feature. What our lab work has really let us do is trial, you know, hundreds and hundreds of different chemistries here, which allows us to then create substitutes that have now kind of almost completely displaced some of those original chemistries that were in the market several years ago. Greg commented on, you know, one of the things we've been fine-tuning is the amount of surfactant that we've been pumping, but the other feature has been substituting, you know, cheaper and cheaper alternatives.

Speaker #6: That was a real barrier to pumping it more broadly just because of the risk-reward feature. And with our lab work is really let us do is trial hundreds and hundreds of different chemistries here, which allows us to then create substitutes that have now kind of almost completely displaced some of those original chemistries that were in the market several years ago.

Speaker #6: So Greg commented on one of the things we've been fine-tuning is the amount of surfactant that we've been pumping. But the other feature has been substituting cheaper and cheaper alternatives.

Speaker #6: So we've been a little reluctant to be specific about some of this here because we're trying to protect what we think is an advantage.

Brendan McCracken: We've been a little reluctant to be specific about some of this here because we're trying to protect what we think is an advantage, but you know, it's in the hundreds of thousands of dollars a well is probably a good way to think about it.

Speaker #6: But it's in the hundreds of thousands of dollars a well. Is probably a good way to think about it.

Speaker #7: Okay. Thanks. And then just as a follow-up, you've kind of moved from four basins to two basins. And just kind of opportunity does that give you to cut costs maybe from an organizational structure as well?

Lloyd Byrne: Okay, thanks. Just as a follow-up, you've kind of moved from four basins to two basins, just what kind of opportunity does that give you to cut costs, maybe from an organizational structure as well?

Speaker #6: Yeah, so really appreciate that, Lloyd. And with this latest transaction, what we pointed to is $100 million of synergies. But we also pointed to several synergies that we didn't quantify at this time.

Brendan McCracken: Yeah. You know, really appreciate that, Lloyd. You know, with this latest transaction, what we've pointed to is $100 million of synergies, but we also pointed to several, you know, synergies that we didn't quantify at this time. You know, we think those are gonna show up on the infrastructure side. We saw that with the Paramount integration. Really now we're kind of stitching together our legacy infrastructure, the Paramount infrastructure, and then now the NuVista infrastructure. All three of those overlap, so there's gonna be some of those synergies realized, and we look forward to updating the market on those as we get deeper into the year. Then there's gonna be some organizational synergy here, too.

Speaker #6: And we think those are going to show up on the infrastructure side. We saw that with the Paramount integration. And really, now we're kind of stitching together our legacy infrastructure, the Paramount infrastructure, and then now the Nuvista infrastructure.

Speaker #6: All three of those overlap, and so there's going to be some of those synergies realized. We look forward to updating the market on those as we get deeper into the year.

Speaker #6: And then there's going to be some organizational synergy here too. Everyone on our team has done just a tremendous job working safely through a lot of change at our company.

Brendan McCracken: You know, everyone on our team has done just a tremendous job working safely through a lot of change at our company, and created a lot of shareholder value, so I do wanna recognize their effort and the results that they have delivered. We've taken big steps to simplify the portfolio. We will be redesigning our organization to match that new portfolio. We expect to have those changes completed shortly after the Anadarko divestiture. We'll update the market on the impact of those, you know, once we get there.

Speaker #6: And created a lot of shareholder value. And so I do want to recognize their effort and the results that they have delivered. And we've taken big steps to simplify the portfolio.

Speaker #6: And so we will be redesigning our organization to match that new portfolio. And we expect to have those changes completed shortly after the Anadarco Divestiture and we'll update the market on the impact of those once we get there.

Speaker #7: Great. Congratulations again.

Lloyd Byrne: Great. Congratulations again.

Speaker #6: Thanks, Lloyd.

Brendan McCracken: Thanks, Lloyd.

Speaker #1: Thank you. The next question comes from Neil Dingman with William Blair. Please go ahead.

Operator: Thank you. The next question comes from Neal Dingman with William Blair. Please go ahead.

Speaker #5: Morning, guys. Next quarter, Brendan, my question is just on the I just wanted looking at looks at activity. Looking like maybe am I right, about a third of activity coming from the Nuvista one-third, Paramount, and the one-third, the prior position.

Neal Dingmann: Morning, guys. Nice quarter. Brendan, my question is just on the Montney. I'm just wondering, looking at the activity, looking like maybe, am I right, about a third of activity coming from the NuVista, one third Paramount, and then one third the prior position? I'm just wondering, if so, do you anticipate sort of similar activity across the board like that? You know, are those well results pretty similar across the board?

Speaker #5: And I'm just wondering if so, do you anticipate sort of similar activity across the board like that? And are those well results? Pretty similar across the board.

Speaker #6: Yeah, Neil, you got it, Neil. That's about the activity cadence going forward is going to be that one-third, one-third, one-third. And just a quick comment on the driver for that.

Brendan McCracken: Yeah, Neil, you got it nailed. That's about the activity cadence going forward is gonna be that one third, one third, one third. Just a quick comment on the driver for that. That's really an outcome of our reoccupation strategy. Folks will remember that's the strategy we pursue both in the Permian and the Montney to maximize value from our acreage as we manage the interactions between cubes. You know, a lot has been made over the last several years about the interwell effect of co-development or cube development, but there is also intercube effect as we drill a new cube beside an existing cube. That is a governing feature of our development programs.

Speaker #6: That's really an outcome of our re-occupation strategy. And folks will remember that's the strategy we pursue both in the Permian and the Montney—to maximize value from our acreage as we manage the interactions between cubes.

Speaker #6: So, a lot has been made over the last several years about the interwell effect of co-development or cube development. But there is also the intercube effect as we drill a new cube beside an existing cube.

Speaker #6: And so that is a governing feature of our development programs. And so that in no small part drives that allocation of activity as we just continue to mow the yard across our acreage position in both the Motoney and the Permian.

Brendan McCracken: That, in no small part, drives that allocation of activity as we just continue to mow the yard, across our acreage position in both the Montney and the, and the Permian. That's, that's the big driver of that piece there.

Speaker #6: So that's the big driver of that piece there.

Speaker #5: That makes sense. And maybe just a second one on that same vein. For you, either you or Greg, just maybe more in the Permian development.

Neal Dingmann: That makes sense. Maybe just a second one on that, on that same vein for you, either you or Greg, just maybe more in the Permian development. Can I assume that the development will continue to consist mostly exclusively of cube development? If so, you know, is well spacing staying relatively the same there, or is there any changes?

Speaker #5: Can I assume that the development will continue to consist mostly exclusively of cube development? And if so, is well spacing staying relatively the same there?

Speaker #5: Is there any changes?

Speaker #6: Yeah. Thanks for the question, Neil. Yeah, in the Permian, we continue to optimize and make small tweaks over time to our well spacing to account for the existing cubes or parent wells in an area.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): Yeah, thanks for the question, Neil. Yeah, in the Permian, we continue to optimize and make small tweaks over time to our well spacing to account for, you know, the existing cubes or parent wells in an area. Overall, we're still using the same approach. We complete the entire cube at the same time, come back 18 months later and complete the offset cube, getting, you know, all of the zones at the same time at a fairly similar spacing. That's allowing us to get very consistent results year-over-year. We're not saving any, you know, lesser zones to come back later when they would be disadvantaged. We're getting the whole cube at the same time. That's working quite well for us. No major changes there.

Greg Givens: Yeah, thanks for the question, Neil. Yeah, in the Permian, we continue to optimize and make small tweaks over time to our well spacing to account for, you know, the existing cubes or parent wells in an area. Overall, we're still using the same approach. We complete the entire cube at the same time, come back 18 months later and complete the offset cube, getting, you know, all of the zones at the same time at a fairly similar spacing. That's allowing us to get very consistent results year-over-year. We're not saving any, you know, lesser zones to come back later when they would be disadvantaged. We're getting the whole cube at the same time. That's working quite well for us. No major changes there.

Speaker #6: But overall, we're still using the same approach. We complete the entire cube. At the same time, come back 18 months later and complete the offset cube, getting all of the zones at the same time.

Speaker #6: At a fairly similar spacing and that's allowing us to get very consistent results year over year. So we're not saving any lesser zones to come back later when they would be disadvantaged.

Speaker #6: We're getting the whole cube at the same time. And that's working quite well for us. So no major changes there.

Speaker #5: Good to hear. Thanks, Greg.

Neal Dingmann: Good to hear. Thanks, Greg.

Speaker #7: Thanks, Neil.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): Thanks, Neil.

Greg Givens: Thanks, Neil.

Speaker #1: Thank you. The next question comes from Neil Meadows with Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.

Operator: Thank you. The next question comes from Neil Mehta with Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.

Speaker #8: Yeah. Thanks so much. And Brendan, congratulations on, again, this transformation over the last five years. And maybe that's kind of the key question for me, which is, have you gotten the portfolio to the optimal level where I think when you took over, you were in six areas.

Neil Mehta: Yeah, thanks so much. Brendan, congratulations on again, this transformation over the last 5 years. Maybe that's kind of the key question for me, which is, have you gotten the portfolio to the optimal level where you... I think when you took over, you were in 6 areas, now you're at 2. Are you in your sweet spot? Does that mean that, you know, there's a pause on M&A as you digest all this, and the incremental dollar really is to the buyback? Or is there another leg to the story that you're still exploring?

Neel Mehta: Yeah, thanks so much. Brendan, congratulations on again, this transformation over the last 5 years. Maybe that's kind of the key question for me, which is, have you gotten the portfolio to the optimal level where you... I think when you took over, you were in 6 areas, now you're at 2. Are you in your sweet spot? Does that mean that, you know, there's a pause on M&A as you digest all this, and the incremental dollar really is to the buyback? Or is there another leg to the story that you're still exploring?

Speaker #8: Now you're at two. Are you in your sweet spots? Does that mean that there's a pause on M&A as you digest all this? And the incremental dollar really is to the buyback?

Speaker #8: Or is there another leg to the story that you're still exploring?

Speaker #6: Yeah. Thanks, Neil. Yeah. The portfolio transition here is complete. So we've clearly planted our flag in the Motoney and the Permian where we have competitive advantage and where we see the best resource.

Brendan McCracken: Thanks, Neil. The portfolio transition here is complete. We've clearly planted our flag in the Montney and the Permian, where we have competitive advantage and where we see the best resource. We've built one of the longest duration inventory positions while we did that. We really believe that stability has real value for our investors, and we look forward to continuing to unlock the full value from what we built.

Speaker #6: And we've built one of the longest duration inventory positions well, we did that. And so we really believe that stability has a real value for our investors.

Speaker #6: And we look forward to continuing to unlock the full value from what we built.

Speaker #8: Okay. Appreciate that. And then just a follow-up is, just on the shape of both production and CapEx through the year, I guess Q1 is a little bit heavier, but that's I'm guessing that's part of that's just the pro forma portfolio.

Neil Mehta: Okay, appreciate that. Just a follow-up is, just on the shape of both production and CapEx through the year. Guess Q1's a little bit heavier, but that's, I'm guessing that's part of that's just the pro forma portfolio. Q2, you've got a little bit more maintenance in mind. Can you just talk about how you're thinking about the cadence for production, quarterly cadence of production, and then capital through the year?

Neel Mehta: Okay, appreciate that. Just a follow-up is, just on the shape of both production and CapEx through the year. Guess Q1's a little bit heavier, but that's, I'm guessing that's part of that's just the pro forma portfolio. Q2, you've got a little bit more maintenance in mind. Can you just talk about how you're thinking about the cadence for production, quarterly cadence of production, and then capital through the year?

Speaker #8: And then Q2, you've got a little bit more maintenance in the Motoney. So could you just talk about how you're thinking about the cadence for production quarterly cadence of production and then capital through the year?

Speaker #6: Yeah. Great. You nailed it exactly, Neil. So the little bit higher capital in Q1 is absolutely just the Anadarco effect. And so once we close that, that'll come out and we'll just run rate out.

Brendan McCracken: Yeah, great. You nailed it exactly, Neil. The little bit higher capital in Q1 is absolutely just the Anadarko effect. Once we close that'll come out, and we'll just run rate out. You know, I think we've probably said transition or transformation the highest word count of this call so far, but one of the other pieces that we've transformed is the load level nature of our programs, and that has been, you know, over multiple years here to shift to a fully load leveled program. Really, we've got that as a really key feature in 2026. We really like how we've leveled out that, and it just creates more predictable and stable business to operate within.

Speaker #6: And I think we've probably said 'transition' or 'transformation' the highest word count of this call so far. But one of the other pieces that we've transformed is the load-level nature of our programs.

Speaker #6: And that has been over multiple years here to shift to a fully load leveled program. And really, we've got that as a really key feature in 2026.

Speaker #6: So we really like how we've leveled out that. And it just creates more predictable and stable business to operate within.

Speaker #8: Thanks, Brendan.

Neil Mehta: Thanks, Brendan.

Neel Mehta: Thanks, Brendan.

Speaker #6: Yeah. Thanks, Neil.

Brendan McCracken: Yeah. Thanks, Neil.

Speaker #1: Thank you. The next question comes from Greg Party with RBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

Operator: Thank you. The next question comes from Greg Pardy with RBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

Speaker #5: Yeah. Thanks. Good morning. I had a really couple of technical questions. I was curious just first, how much of an opportunity is there with respect to this using invasive sand?

Greg Pardy: Thanks. Good morning. I had a couple of technical questions. I was curious, just first, how much of an opportunity is there with respect to just using in-basin sand? I caught some of Greg's comments or Brendan, your comments, but I'm just wondering, has that been perhaps optimized in both the Montney and the Permian?

Speaker #5: I caught some of Greg's comments or Brendan, your comments. But I'm just wondering, has that been perhaps optimized in both the Motoney and the Permian?

Speaker #6: Yeah. Love the question, Greg. Yeah. So we're really excited about the invasive sand results that we're already delivering in the Permian. And really excited about the evolution that's going on in the Motoney as we shift more and more to domestic and wet sand in the Motoney too.

Brendan McCracken: Yeah, love the question, Greg. Yeah, we're really excited about the in-basin sand results that we're already delivering in the Permian and really excited about the evolution that's going on in the Montney as we shift more and more to domestic and wet sand in the Montney, too. This is another great example of stacked innovation, you know, creating value for us and also a great example of knowledge transfer and value between the two pieces of our portfolio, because this is obviously something that we led the charge on in the Permian and now leading the charge on in Canada and in the Montney.

Speaker #6: And this is another great example of stacked innovation creating value for us. And also a great example of knowledge transfer and value between the two pieces of our portfolio because this is obviously something that we led the charge on in the Permian.

Speaker #6: And now our leading the charge on in Canada and in the Motoney. So maybe, Greg, if you want to give a few comments around the percentage of utilization and where we're headed there.

Greg Pardy: ... you know, maybe, Greg, if you want to give a few comments around the percentage of utilization and where we're headed there.

Brendan McCracken: ... you know, maybe, Greg, if you want to give a few comments around the percentage of utilization and where we're headed there.

Speaker #6: Yeah. Thanks, Brendan. Yeah. Greg, so on the Permian side, we've been at local wet sand for a number of years. And essentially 100% of our program is going to be local wet sand from mines there in the field.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): Thanks, Brendan. Greg, so, on the Permian side, you know, we've been at local wet sand for a number of years, and essentially, 100% of our program is gonna be local wet sand from mines there in the field. We're continuing to refine that process with our sand pile and our delivery systems, but that's a very fairly mature program. The new news over the last year or so is moving some of that technology north of the border. As you know, historically, most operators will be taking Northern White sand by rail from the US up to Canada, and that just adds a whole lot of cost. We've been working with providers there to use more local domestic sand.

Greg Givens: Thanks, Brendan. Greg, so, on the Permian side, you know, we've been at local wet sand for a number of years, and essentially, 100% of our program is gonna be local wet sand from mines there in the field. We're continuing to refine that process with our sand pile and our delivery systems, but that's a very fairly mature program. The new news over the last year or so is moving some of that technology north of the border. As you know, historically, most operators will be taking Northern White sand by rail from the US up to Canada, and that just adds a whole lot of cost. We've been working with providers there to use more local domestic sand.

Speaker #6: And so we're continuing to refine that process with our sand pile. And our delivery systems. But that's a very fairly mature program. The new news over the last year or so is moving some of that technology north of the border.

Speaker #6: As you know, historically, most operators will be taking northern white sand by rail from the US up to Canada. And that just adds a whole lot of cost.

Speaker #6: And so we've been working with providers there to use more local domestic sand the sources aren't quite as close to the field. But they are good sand sources.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): The sources aren't quite as close to the field, but there are good sand sources. This year, we're gonna have roughly 50% of our sand pumped will be domestic sand there, sourced in Canada. You eliminate that rail charge, and you're able to lower cost dramatically. We've also begun testing wet sand in Canada, and it works quite well. This time of year, we joke it's a little crunchier, but it still goes down hole just the same. That is an evolving technology that we think we're gonna be able to use more and more over time.

Greg Givens: The sources aren't quite as close to the field, but there are good sand sources. This year, we're gonna have roughly 50% of our sand pumped will be domestic sand there, sourced in Canada. You eliminate that rail charge, and you're able to lower cost dramatically. We've also begun testing wet sand in Canada, and it works quite well. This time of year, we joke it's a little crunchier, but it still goes down hole just the same. That is an evolving technology that we think we're gonna be able to use more and more over time.

Speaker #6: And this year, we're going to have roughly 50% of our sand pumped will be domestic sand there, sourced in Canada. So you eliminate that rail charge and you're able to lower cost dramatically.

Speaker #6: We've also begun testing wet sand in Canada, and it works quite well. This time of year, we joke it's a little crunchier, but it still goes downhill just the same.

Speaker #6: And that is an evolving technology that we think we're going to be able to use more and more over time. So we should see some of the same efficiencies we saw on the Permian and some of the cost reduction but a little more nascent in Canada than it is in the Permian.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): We should see some of the same efficiencies we saw in the Permian and some of the cost reduction, but a little more nascent in Canada than it is in the Permian, but still working quite well.

Greg Givens: We should see some of the same efficiencies we saw in the Permian and some of the cost reduction, but a little more nascent in Canada than it is in the Permian, but still working quite well.

Speaker #6: But still working quite well.

Speaker #5: Okay. Thanks for that. And then I'll maybe just kind of stay with the Motoney now. When you kind of compare and contrast NuVista versus the Paramount acquisitions, can you how do you look at perhaps the degree of low-hanging fruit, cost synergies, efficiencies, and things like that?

Greg Pardy: Okay. Thanks for that. I'll maybe just kind of stay with Montney now. When you kind of compare and contrast Nuvista versus the Paramount acquisitions, how do you look at perhaps the degree of low-hanging fruit, cost synergies, efficiencies, and things like that? I think, Brendan, in the past, you've mentioned Nuvista was actually a pretty good operator. I'm just curious on the two.

Speaker #5: I think, Brendan, in the past, you'd mentioned NuVista was actually a pretty good operator. But I'm just curious on the two.

Speaker #6: Yeah. I think, I mean, I'll start with geography first. And then just come on to how Greg will have some comments on the integration.

Brendan McCracken: Yeah, I think, I mean, I'll start with geography first, and then just come on to. Greg will have some comments on the integration. You know, the NuVista piece really fills in the jigsaw puzzle. You know, with Paramount, we stepped further south than we had been with our legacy, not by a long ways, but we were, I think, you know, had the right amount of humility there to make sure when we integrated those assets, that we didn't change something inadvertently and create risk in the integration. We stepped our way in a very thoughtful integration process through, you know, really a full year here.

Speaker #6: But the NuVista piece really fills in the jigsaw puzzle. And so with Paramount, we stepped further south than we had been with our legacy not by a long ways, but and we were I think had the right amount of humility there to make sure when we integrated those assets that we didn't change something inadvertently and create risk in the integration.

Speaker #6: And so we stepped our way in a very thoughtful integration process through really a full year here. And one of the highlights in the deck today, again, there's a lot in there.

Brendan McCracken: One of the highlights in the deck today, again, there's a lot in there, but one of the highlights in there is pointing to the really strong results we're seeing from our first density pad, and we're excited about those. With, in contrast, you know, NuVista really filling in the jigsaw piece in between, we, you know, we just have a lot more technical confidence, and we're kind of integrating quite quickly there with that piece. You know, Greg, if you wanna comment on some of the specifics about how it's going.

Speaker #6: But one of the highlights in there is pointing to the really strong results we're seeing from our first density pad. And we're excited about those and then with in contrast, NuVista really filling in the jigsaw piece in between we just have a lot more technical confidence.

Speaker #6: And we're kind of integrating quite quickly there with that piece. But Greg, if you want to comment on some of the specifics about how it's going.

Speaker #6: Yeah. For sure. Yeah. I think Brendan set it up really well. It's going to be the same process on NuVista as it was on Paramount.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): For sure. I think Brendan set it up really well. It's gonna be the same process on NuVista as it was on Paramount. It's just gonna go a little faster. Because of our familiarity with the assets, plus all of the learnings we had on the Paramount integration, we're gonna try to accelerate things a little, and we think that that's very, you know, very doable. The team's already hard at work, you know, employing the same playbook that we've used on all the last transactions. We came in day one, took over the asset. We had a short safety orientation and then got to work. By that afternoon, we were operating the asset as Ovintiv.

Greg Givens: For sure. I think Brendan set it up really well. It's gonna be the same process on NuVista as it was on Paramount. It's just gonna go a little faster. Because of our familiarity with the assets, plus all of the learnings we had on the Paramount integration, we're gonna try to accelerate things a little, and we think that that's very, you know, very doable. The team's already hard at work, you know, employing the same playbook that we've used on all the last transactions. We came in day one, took over the asset. We had a short safety orientation and then got to work. By that afternoon, we were operating the asset as Ovintiv.

Speaker #6: Paramount, it's just going to go a little faster. So because of our familiarity with the assets plus all of the learnings we had on the Paramount integration, we're going to try to accelerate things a little.

Speaker #6: And we think that that's very doable. So the team's already hard at work employing the same playbook that we've used on all the last transactions.

Speaker #6: We came in day one took over the asset. We had a short safety orientation. And then got to work. So by that afternoon, we were operating the asset as Ovintiv.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): You know, it's only been a few short weeks, but we've already connected all the producing wells to our Operations Control Center so that we can optimize production and minimize downtime. We've linked the drilling rigs to our DRIVE Center, which is our optimization tool, where we use AI to help optimize drilling performance, and that's gonna allow us to deliver our synergies here very quickly. We've already incorporated the $1 million per well of savings. The synergy savings are what you're seeing as part of the guidance. We're gonna be delivering that from day one. So far, we've had really, really good results. The teams are integrating well. The new wells remain drilled as expected.

Greg Givens: You know, it's only been a few short weeks, but we've already connected all the producing wells to our Operations Control Center so that we can optimize production and minimize downtime. We've linked the drilling rigs to our DRIVE Center, which is our optimization tool, where we use AI to help optimize drilling performance, and that's gonna allow us to deliver our synergies here very quickly. We've already incorporated the $1 million per well of savings. The synergy savings are what you're seeing as part of the guidance. We're gonna be delivering that from day one. So far, we've had really, really good results. The teams are integrating well. The new wells remain drilled as expected.

Speaker #6: It's only been a few short weeks, but we've already connected all the producing wells to our operations control center, so that we can optimize production to minimize downtime.

Speaker #6: We've linked the drilling rigs to our drive center, which is our optimization tool where we use AI to help optimize drilling performance. And that's going to allow us to deliver our synergies here very quickly.

Speaker #6: We've already incorporated the $1 million per well of synergy savings—those are what you're seeing as part of the guidance. We're going to be delivering that from day one.

Speaker #6: And so far, we've had really good results. The teams are integrating well. The new wells are being drilled as expected. As I mentioned earlier, productions already at 85,000 barrels a day which is what we expected for the assets as they come together.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): As I mentioned earlier, production's already at 85,000 barrels a day, which is what we expected for the assets as they come together. Integration's going quite well. Just really, really pleased, and I think it'll be very similar to last time. It'll just go a little faster and hopefully, be even more effective.

Greg Givens: As I mentioned earlier, production's already at 85,000 barrels a day, which is what we expected for the assets as they come together. Integration's going quite well. Just really, really pleased, and I think it'll be very similar to last time. It'll just go a little faster and hopefully, be even more effective.

Speaker #6: So integration's going quite well. Just really pleased. And I think it'll be very similar to last time. It'll just go a little faster and hopefully be even more effective.

Speaker #5: Greg, that high-density. That high-density test results on slide 14 there which was the 14 wells per section that we talked about when we started out with the transition of the Paramount.

Greg Pardy: Greg, that.

Brendan McCracken: High density, that high-density test results on slide 14 there, which was the 14 wells per section that we talked about when we started out with the transition of the Paramount, integration of the Paramount assets. That does move 130 wells out of upside into the premium bucket for us. A really critical result.

Speaker #5: Integration of the Paramount assets. And so that does move 130 wells out of upside into the premium bucket for us. So a really critical result.

Greg Pardy: Terrific. Yeah, thanks for the rundown, and congrats on the transformation.

Speaker #5: Terrific. Yeah, thanks for the rundown. And congrats on the transformation.

Speaker #6: Thank you, Greg.

Brendan McCracken: Thank you, Greg.

Speaker #1: Thank you. The next question comes from Josh Silverstein at UBS. Please go ahead.

Operator: Thank you. The next question comes from Josh Silverstein at UBS. Please go ahead.

Speaker #5: Okay. Thanks. Good morning, guys. From a balance sheet perspective performer, you're now below that $4 billion long-term target that you've had for a while now.

Josh Silverstein: Hey, thanks. Good morning, guys. You know, from a balance sheet perspective pro forma, you're now below that $4 billion long-term target that you've had for a while now. How should we think about the right level of debt for you guys going forward? Should we think about it as kind of an absolute level or net debt level to kind of think about free cash flow allocation? Thanks.

Speaker #5: How should we think about the right level of debt for you guys going forward? Should we think about it as kind of an absolute level or in a debt level to kind of think about free cash flow Thanks.

Speaker #6: Yeah. Hey, Josh. So yeah. So we've reached that target. In fact, we're going to move past it here with the Anadarko proceeds. So really, we're not setting a new target here.

Brendan McCracken: Yeah. Hey, Josh. Yeah, we've reached that target. In fact, we're gonna move past it here with the Anadarko proceeds. You know, really, we're not setting a new target here. If you remember, the $4 billion net target that we set was really a trigger for increased shareholder returns. We spent obviously a lot of time and effort getting us to this spot. You know, that is now happening. That trigger is pulled, and the catalyst to change those returns is gonna be up and running right after we get off this call, I guess. You know, we've had to balance that debt reduction as part of our capital allocation for a long time. We've now put ourselves into this resilient position.

Speaker #6: If you remember the $4 billion net target that we set was really a trigger for increased shareholder returns. And we spent obviously a lot of time and effort getting us to this spot.

Speaker #6: So that is now happening. That trigger is pulled. And the catalyst to change those returns is going to be up and running right after we get off this call, I guess.

Speaker #6: And so, we've had to balance that debt reduction as part of our capital allocation for a long time. We've now put ourselves into this resilient position.

Speaker #6: So and at the same time, we put the inventory into a really strong and resilient position as well. So it just means we're in a place here now we can focus on keeping the debt around this level and focus on allocating more to cash returns.

Brendan McCracken: At the same time, we put the inventory into a really strong and resilient position as well. It just means we're in a place here now we can focus on keeping the debt, you know, around this level and focus on allocating more to cash returns. That's how we're thinking about the debt level go forward.

Speaker #6: So that's how we're thinking about the debt level go forward.

Speaker #5: Got it. And then from Omani operating perspective, I know you guys on the Paramount transaction were able to kind of optimize the infrastructure a bit more.

Josh Silverstein: Got it. From, from a Montney operating perspective, I know you guys, on the Paramount transaction, were able to kind of optimize the infrastructure a bit more. Can you talk about what you might be able to do on the NuVista asset as well to go and, you know, kind of improve the overall productivity here? Maybe from a long-term planning perspective, is there anything you guys are thinking about from an infrastructure standpoint that you may need to invest in or want from a third-party build? Thanks.

Speaker #5: Can you talk about what you might be able to do on the NuVista asset as well to go and kind of improve the overall productivity here and then maybe some long-term planning perspective?

Speaker #5: Is there anything you guys are thinking about from an infrastructure standpoint that you may need to invest in or want from a third-party build?

Speaker #5: Thanks.

Speaker #6: Yeah. I'll turn it over to Greg here. But we are excited about taking these sort of three disparate systems that were previously all operated independently and being able to have one value-creating mindset over all three of them.

Brendan McCracken: I'll turn it over to Greg here, but, you know, we are excited about taking these sort of three disparate systems that were previously all operated independently and being able to have one, you know, value-creating mindset over all three of them. You know, Greg, you can comment.

Speaker #6: But Greg, you can comment.

Speaker #3: Yeah. Thanks for the question. And so in the short term, we're really focused on getting the well cost savings at the well level putting in our completion designs, our facilities designs, and that's going to take place over here immediately over the coming months.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): Yeah. Thanks for the question. In the short term, we're really focused on, you know, getting the well cost savings at the well level, putting in our completion designs, our facilities designs, and that's gonna take place over here, like, immediately over the coming months. Longer term, though, we're really excited about the opportunity to optimize infrastructure. If you look at the map, it's just reeks of opportunity. When you look at how well the three positions come together, the gas plants, how close they are to each other, the number of midstream lines that are crossing the asset. A little more work to do there. It's a little more time consuming to work with the midstreamers to make sure we're doing the most efficient operations there.

Greg Givens: Yeah. Thanks for the question. In the short term, we're really focused on, you know, getting the well cost savings at the well level, putting in our completion designs, our facilities designs, and that's gonna take place over here, like, immediately over the coming months. Longer term, though, we're really excited about the opportunity to optimize infrastructure. If you look at the map, it's just reeks of opportunity. When you look at how well the three positions come together, the gas plants, how close they are to each other, the number of midstream lines that are crossing the asset. A little more work to do there. It's a little more time consuming to work with the midstreamers to make sure we're doing the most efficient operations there.

Speaker #3: Longer term, though, we're really excited about the opportunity to optimize infrastructure. If you look at the map, it's just reeks of opportunity. When you look at how well the three positions come together, the gas plants, how close they are to each other, the number of midstream lines that are crossing the asset.

Speaker #3: So a little more work to do there. It's a little more time-consuming to work with the midstreamers to make sure we're doing the most efficient operations there.

Speaker #3: But over time, that's something we're going to target to get our TNP down to get the gas molecules to the most efficient plant and to work through those things.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): Over time, that's something we're gonna target to get our TNP down, to get the gas molecules to the most efficient plant, and to work through those things. That's coming, a little longer, but in the short term, we're really excited about the well cost savings. Longer term, we think the midstream, there's a lot of opportunity there, and that'll be something we'll start working on here immediately.

Greg Givens: Over time, that's something we're gonna target to get our TNP down, to get the gas molecules to the most efficient plant, and to work through those things. That's coming, a little longer, but in the short term, we're really excited about the well cost savings. Longer term, we think the midstream, there's a lot of opportunity there, and that'll be something we'll start working on here immediately.

Speaker #3: So that's coming a little longer. But in the short term, we're really excited about the well cost savings. Longer term, we think the midstream there's a lot of opportunity there.

Speaker #3: And that'll be something we'll start working on here immediately.

Speaker #5: Great. Thanks, guys.

Josh Silverstein: Great. Thanks, guys.

Speaker #6: Thanks, Josh.

Brendan McCracken: Thanks, Josh.

Speaker #1: Thank you. The next question comes from Doug Leggett with Wolf Research. Please go ahead.

Operator: Thank you. The next question comes from Doug Leggate with Wolfe Research. Please go ahead.

Speaker #4: Hey, good morning, everybody. Brendan, I wonder if I could ask you about asset duration and how you'd define that. The portfolio repositioning is been extraordinary as everybody's observed.

Doug Leggate: Hey, good morning, everybody. Brendan, I wonder if I could ask you about asset duration and how you define that. The portfolio repositioning is extraordinary, as everybody's observed, but I'm trying to understand, when I asked this question to Diamondback earlier this morning as well, is this idea between sustaining production or drilling depth versus sustaining free cash flow? How do you think about that in the portfolio? What are you trying to solve for?

Speaker #4: But I'm trying to understand—when I asked this question to Diamondback earlier this morning as well—is this idea between sustaining production or drilling depth versus sustaining free cash flow?

Speaker #4: How do you think about that in the portfolio? What are you trying to solve for?

Speaker #6: Yeah. I mean, we haven't been exotic with our thinking there. We just run it off of what it takes to sustain the production. And in a lot of ways, what we've been talking about, Doug, is the ability to sustain the returns that we're generating today while we do that production maintenance level. And this—again, at the risk of being too pedantic with it—this is why the reoccupation strategy and how we've approached both cube development but also program design really de-risks our inventory duration over time.

Brendan McCracken: Yeah, we, I mean, we haven't been exotic with our thinking there. We just run it off of what it takes to sustain the production. You know, in a lot of ways, what we've been talking about, Doug Leggat, is the ability to sustain the returns that we're generating today while we do that, production maintenance level. You know, this, again, at the risk of being too pedantic with it, this is why the reoccupation strategy and how we've approached both cube development, but also program design, you know, really de-risks our inventory duration over time.

Speaker #6: And just as a refresher here, because we're designing our annual programs with that re-occupation in mind, so to come back to the 18 to 24 months after we've drilled the prior cubes, because that's been the dominant feature of our program design, we essentially are sampling all of our remaining inventory with a full-year development program, either in the firming or the money.

Brendan McCracken: Just as a refresher here, because we're designing our annual programs with that reoccupation in mind, to come back to the 12, 18 to 24 months after we've drilled the prior cubes. Because that's been the dominant feature of our program design, we essentially are sampling all of our remaining inventory with a full-year development program, either in the Permian or the Montney. What that means is, we already know what the remaining duration inventory and how it's gonna perform because we're drilling it today. We're not saving, you know, the worst locations for, you know, a decade from now. We're kind of drilling the full cubes.

Speaker #6: So what that means is we already know what the remaining duration inventory and how it's going to perform because we're drilling it today. We're not saving the worst locations for a decade from now.

Speaker #6: We're kind of drilling the full cubes and then reoccupying cubes as we go. So I believe that to be a big de-risker. And look, one of the other things that's important on this front is if we were telling you that that was what we were doing and we were delivering mediocre results, I think that would be up for question.

Doug Leggate: Right.

Brendan McCracken: - and then reoccupying cubes as we go. I believe that to be a big de-risker. You know, one of the other things that's important on this front is, if we were telling you that that was what we were doing and we were delivering mediocre results, I think that would be up for question, but we're delivering leading results while we're doing that, and I think that's the true differentiation.

Speaker #6: But we're delivering leading results. While we're doing that. And I think that's the true differentiation.

Doug Leggate: I appreciate that answer. I know it's a bit nuanced more than anything else, but forgive me for my second one, but you probably know I'm gonna talk about capital structure and all that stuff. I want to ask you about your philosophical view as a CEO about your commitment to cash returns. Because if I play back to you what you just said today, you do not want to be guilty of procyclical buybacks, but that's exactly what you're doing in 2026, if I may say so, meaning that your stock's up 25%, ExxonMobil's up 22%, oil's above $70 for reasons we all know are not necessarily fundamental, and this is the year you're going for a 75% of your free cash flow per share buyback.

Speaker #4: I appreciate that answer. I know it's a bit nuanced more than anything else. But forgive me for my second one, but you probably know I'm going to talk about capital structure and all that stuff.

Speaker #4: But I want to ask you about your philosophical view as a CEO about your commitment to cash returns. Because—by playback to you what you just said today—you do not want to be guilty of procyclical buybacks.

Speaker #4: But that's exactly what you're doing in 2026, if I may say so. Meaning that your stock's up 25%. ExxonMobil's up 22%. Oil's above 70 for reasons we all know are not necessarily fundamental.

Speaker #4: And this is the year you're going for a 75% of your free cash flow per share buyback. Why are you not choosing to be more discretionary in your timing?

Doug Leggate: Why are you not choosing to be more discretionary in your timing?

Speaker #6: Yeah, I'm going to try and—not, I guess. I'm still going to try and be humble here. But 30% still doesn't get us to what we think is a reasonable valuation for the stock.

Brendan McCracken: Yeah, I'm gonna try and not be, I guess I'm gonna still try and be humble here, but 30% still doesn't get us to what we think is a reasonable valuation for the stock. I'm not trying to say that that's not great, and we're pleased, obviously, with the momentum, but we still see a lot of intrinsic value in the equity today. You know, when we talk about trying to avoid being procyclical, a lot of that is gonna be tied, as you know, Doug, to the commodity environment. Today, we're not in a commodity environment that screams, you know, really high, you know, windfall situation.

Speaker #6: So I'm not trying to say that that's not great. And we're pleased, obviously, with the momentum. But we still see a lot of intrinsic value in the equity today.

Speaker #6: When we talk about trying to avoid being procyclical, a lot of that is going to be tied, as you know, Doug, to the commodity environment.

Speaker #6: And today, we're not in a commodity environment that screams a really high windfall situation. I think we're still in a relatively modest commodity environment today.

Brendan McCracken: I think we're still in a relatively modest commodity environment today, and so we do not see the risk of being at 75% as a procyclical risk today because of that intrinsic value gap we still see in the equity.

Speaker #6: And so we do not see the risk of being at 75% as a procyclical risk today because of that intrinsic value gap we still see in the equity.

Speaker #4: All right. I wanted to take the question. Thanks so much.

Doug Leggate: All right. I wanted to take the question. Thanks so much.

Speaker #6: Yeah. Thanks, sir.

Brendan McCracken: Yeah, thanks, Doug.

Speaker #1: Thank you. The next question comes from Kelly Akamine with Bank of America. Please go ahead.

Operator: Thank you. The next question comes from Kaleem Akhamie with Bank of America. Please go ahead.

Speaker #5: Hey, good morning, guys. My question is on the 15, 16 pass. And maybe this is for Greg. Greg, wondering if you can talk about how you sequence the completions of the three zones and share any details on the frac job.

Kaleem Akhamie: Hey, good morning, guys. My question is on the fifteen, sixteen pads, so maybe this is for Greg. Greg, wondering if you can talk about how you sequenced the completions of the 3 zones and sharing the details on the frac job. That third zone has been an opportunity in the area, and it sounds like you guys have cracked the code. Where in the basin next do you plan to apply that design? Could the balance of the upside locations move into the de-risked store count this year?

Kalei Akamine: Hey, good morning, guys. My question is on the fifteen, sixteen pads, so maybe this is for Greg. Greg, wondering if you can talk about how you sequenced the completions of the 3 zones and sharing the details on the frac job. That third zone has been an opportunity in the area, and it sounds like you guys have cracked the code. Where in the basin next do you plan to apply that design? Could the balance of the upside locations move into the de-risked store count this year?

Speaker #5: That third zone has been an opportunity in the area. And it sounds like you guys have cracked the code. And then where in the basin next do you plan to apply that design?

Speaker #5: And could the balance of the upside locations move into the de-risk into our account this year?

Speaker #3: Yeah. I would turn that to Greg. Thanks, Clay.

Brendan McCracken: Yeah, I'll turn that to Greg. Thanks, Clay.

Speaker #6: Sorry. I had to probably turn my mic on. Yeah. So I appreciate the question. And no, we're really, really pleased with the results there on this 15 to 16 pad down in car.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): Sorry, I had trouble turning my mic on. Yeah, Clay, I appreciate the question. You know, we're really, really pleased with the results there on this 15 and 16 pad down in Carr. What the team has done there, just as a reminder, you know, when we acquired the asset, our base case was 12 wells a section. We said we had upside up to 16 wells. This is the first pad that we really got to design end to end in the area, we kind of met in the middle with 14 wells per section spacing. We added that third zone down in the lower Montney, or the Sexsmith, some call it, and also increased density in the upper part of the cube.

Greg Givens: Sorry, I had trouble turning my mic on. Yeah, Clay, I appreciate the question. You know, we're really, really pleased with the results there on this 15 and 16 pad down in Carr. What the team has done there, just as a reminder, you know, when we acquired the asset, our base case was 12 wells a section. We said we had upside up to 16 wells. This is the first pad that we really got to design end to end in the area, we kind of met in the middle with 14 wells per section spacing. We added that third zone down in the lower Montney, or the Sexsmith, some call it, and also increased density in the upper part of the cube.

Speaker #6: So what the team has done there just as a reminder, when we acquired the asset, our base case was 12 walls of section. We said we had upside up to 16 walls.

Speaker #6: And so this is the first pad that we really got to design end to end in the area. And so we kind of met in the middle with 14 wells per section spacing.

Speaker #6: So, we added that third zone down in the lower Montney, or the section some call it. And we also increased density in the upper part of the cube.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): pumped a fairly normal frac design for us, which might be a little more intensity than some of the peers are pumping in the area, but it's a fairly normal frac design. It was really the stacking and spacing that we leaned in on, and so far, we're really pleased. The pad's been online a little over 100 days. The lower zones actually exceeding expectations of what we were expecting, and the upper zones are holding up very nicely despite the increased density. Our plans now are to move to other parts there of Carr and employ this density test, or sorry, density design now. That's why we've talked about 130 of the, call it, roughly 600 upside locations between the two deals.

Speaker #6: Pumped a fairly normal frac design for us, which might be a little more intensity than some of the peers are pumping in the area.

Greg Givens: pumped a fairly normal frac design for us, which might be a little more intensity than some of the peers are pumping in the area, but it's a fairly normal frac design. It was really the stacking and spacing that we leaned in on, and so far, we're really pleased. The pad's been online a little over 100 days. The lower zones actually exceeding expectations of what we were expecting, and the upper zones are holding up very nicely despite the increased density. Our plans now are to move to other parts there of Carr and employ this density test, or sorry, density design now. That's why we've talked about 130 of the, call it, roughly 600 upside locations between the two deals.

Speaker #6: But it's a fairly normal frac design. It was really the stacking and spacing that we leaned in on. And so far, we're really pleased.

Speaker #6: The pad's been online a little over 100 days. The lower zones are actually exceeding expectations of what we were expecting. And then the upper zones are holding up very nicely despite the increased density.

Speaker #6: So our plans now are to move to other parts there of car and employ this density test or sorry, density design now. And that's why we've talked about 130 of the call it roughly 600 upside locations between the two deals.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): This proves up, you know, 130 of those. The next step will be to go to other parts of Carr and testing the third zone, and then we've still got work to do up in Wahpeton and other parts of the acreage. We'll be systematic about this. One pad doesn't prove up all the upside, but we'll continue to execute, you know, with this design on our future pads and then maybe even lean in a little more. We still have a little more upside, potentially up to 16 wells per section on a few of the pads. Really pleased, but wanted to wait until we had a few months under our belt before we talked about this one, and right now we're feeling really good about it.

Speaker #6: This proves up 130 of those. So the next step will be to go to other parts of Carr and testing the third zone. And then we've still got work to do up in Wahpety and other parts of the acreage.

Greg Givens: This proves up, you know, 130 of those. The next step will be to go to other parts of Carr and testing the third zone, and then we've still got work to do up in Wahpeton and other parts of the acreage. We'll be systematic about this. One pad doesn't prove up all the upside, but we'll continue to execute, you know, with this design on our future pads and then maybe even lean in a little more. We still have a little more upside, potentially up to 16 wells per section on a few of the pads. Really pleased, but wanted to wait until we had a few months under our belt before we talked about this one, and right now we're feeling really good about it.

Speaker #6: So we'll be systematic about this. One pad doesn't prove up all the upside. But we'll continue to execute with this design on our future pads.

Speaker #6: And then maybe even lean in a little more. We still have a little more upside potentially up to 16 walls per section on a few of the pads.

Speaker #6: So really pleased but wanted to wait until we had a few months under our belt before we talked about this one and right now we're feeling really good about it.

Speaker #5: Thanks for that detail, Greg. Maybe staying with the Montney here, the second question is on the plant turnarounds in Q2. We understand that was elected by the midstream operator.

Kaleem Akhamie: Thanks for that detail, Greg. Maybe staying with the Montney here, the second question is on the plant turnarounds in Q2. We understand that was elected by the midstream operator. How should we be thinking about the cadence of turnaround activity in the Montney? Is it annual? How much heads-up does the operator typically give you that a turnaround is needed? Should we expect better performance from these plants, and maybe that's in yield after this work has been completed?

Kalei Akamine: Thanks for that detail, Greg. Maybe staying with the Montney here, the second question is on the plant turnarounds in Q2. We understand that was elected by the midstream operator. How should we be thinking about the cadence of turnaround activity in the Montney? Is it annual? How much heads-up does the operator typically give you that a turnaround is needed? Should we expect better performance from these plants, and maybe that's in yield after this work has been completed?

Speaker #5: How should we be thinking about the cadence of turnaround activity in the Montney? Is it annual? How much heads up does the operator typically give you that a turnaround is needed?

Speaker #5: And should we expect better performance from these plants, and maybe that's in yield, after this work has been completed?

Speaker #3: No, I appreciate the question, Clay. And this is fairly normal operations from the midstream processing plants up in Canada. They're on schedules that every two to three years, you take down the plant for a few weeks to do inspections, routine maintenance, maybe upgrade a few of the vessels.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): No, I appreciate the question, Clay. This is fairly normal operations from the midstream processing plants up in Canada. They're on schedules that every 2 to 3 years, you take down the plant for a few weeks to do inspections, routine maintenance, maybe upgrade a few of the vessels. These are the kind of things that we usually know about well in advance. That's why we're talking to you now about something that's going to happen next quarter. What we're experiencing this coming quarter is we just happen to have 5 of them, which are all lined up at the same time. Normally, we don't really have to talk much about these because you may have 1 or 2 turnarounds going on at the same time, and you can move volumes around.

Greg Givens: No, I appreciate the question, Clay. This is fairly normal operations from the midstream processing plants up in Canada. They're on schedules that every 2 to 3 years, you take down the plant for a few weeks to do inspections, routine maintenance, maybe upgrade a few of the vessels. These are the kind of things that we usually know about well in advance. That's why we're talking to you now about something that's going to happen next quarter. What we're experiencing this coming quarter is we just happen to have 5 of them, which are all lined up at the same time. Normally, we don't really have to talk much about these because you may have 1 or 2 turnarounds going on at the same time, and you can move volumes around.

Speaker #3: So these are the kind of things that we usually know about well in advance. That's why we're talking to you now about something that's going to happen next quarter.

Speaker #3: What we're experiencing this coming quarter is we just happen to have five of them, which are all lined up at the same time. And so, normally, we don't really have to talk much about these because you may have one or two turnarounds going on at the same time.

Speaker #3: And you can move volumes around. But when you end up having five at once all lining up at the same time, it just takes a little more coordination.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): When you end up having five at once, all lining up at the same time, it just takes a little more coordination. We're working with the midstreamers to try to minimize the amount of time that they're down, try to move volumes around them where we can. Right now we do feel like there will be some impact, and that's why we're guiding to be at the lower end of that 83 to 87 thousand barrels per day in the Montney. This is something that I'd say it's fairly infrequent that they all line up in the same quarter. Usually they're more spread out over time, and they're more manageable. I don't think this is a longer-term risk for us.

Greg Givens: When you end up having five at once, all lining up at the same time, it just takes a little more coordination. We're working with the midstreamers to try to minimize the amount of time that they're down, try to move volumes around them where we can. Right now we do feel like there will be some impact, and that's why we're guiding to be at the lower end of that 83 to 87 thousand barrels per day in the Montney. This is something that I'd say it's fairly infrequent that they all line up in the same quarter. Usually they're more spread out over time, and they're more manageable. I don't think this is a longer-term risk for us.

Speaker #3: So, we're working with the midstreamers to try to minimize the amount of time that they're down, and try to move volumes around them where we can.

Speaker #3: But right now, we do feel like there will be some impact. And that's why we're guiding to the be at the lower end of that 83 to 87,000 barrels per day in the Monty.

Speaker #3: But this is something that I'd say is fairly infrequent, that they all line up in the same quarter. Usually, they're more spread out over time.

Speaker #3: And they're more manageable. So I don't think this is a longer-term risk for us. This is just something the way the stars lined, we wanted to let everyone know that this was coming and that we're planning for it so that when we come back and report Q2 earnings, there's no surprises.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): This is just something, the way the stars lined, we wanted to let everyone know that this was coming and that we're planning for it, so that when we come back and report Q2 earnings, there's no surprises. Just trying to give you guys a heads-up, but trust that we're working to try to minimize the impact as much as we can.

Greg Givens: This is just something, the way the stars lined, we wanted to let everyone know that this was coming and that we're planning for it, so that when we come back and report Q2 earnings, there's no surprises. Just trying to give you guys a heads-up, but trust that we're working to try to minimize the impact as much as we can.

Speaker #3: So just trying to give you guys a heads up. But trust that we're working to try to minimize the impact as much as we can.

Kaleem Akhamie: Greg, just to follow up, coming out of maintenance, could there be any increase in the performance in those plants, maybe that's in yield after that work is done?

Speaker #5: And Greg, just to follow up, coming out of maintenance, could there be any increase in the performance in those plants—maybe that's in yield—after that work is done?

Kalei Akamine: Greg, just to follow up, coming out of maintenance, could there be any increase in the performance in those plants, maybe that's in yield after that work is done?

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): You know, that's gonna vary by facility and exactly what kind of work they're doing, but usually these are not upgrades that add capacity. These are more routine maintenance. Think of it changing the oil in your car. It probably isn't gonna run a whole lot better after you're done. In some cases, you know, we could see some minor improvement or flush production. For the most part, this is just routine maintenance, routine work that they're doing.

Greg Givens: You know, that's gonna vary by facility and exactly what kind of work they're doing, but usually these are not upgrades that add capacity. These are more routine maintenance. Think of it changing the oil in your car. It probably isn't gonna run a whole lot better after you're done. In some cases, you know, we could see some minor improvement or flush production. For the most part, this is just routine maintenance, routine work that they're doing.

Speaker #3: That's kind of varied by facility and exactly what kind of work they're doing. But usually, these are not upgrades that add capacity. These are more routine maintenance.

Speaker #3: Think of it changing the oil in your car. It probably isn't going to run a whole lot better after you're done. But in some cases, we could see some minor improvement or flush production.

Speaker #3: But for the most part, this is just routine maintenance, routine work that they're doing.

Speaker #5: Thank you, Greg.

Kaleem Akhamie: Thank you, Greg.

Kalei Akamine: Thank you, Greg.

Speaker #6: Thanks, Clay.

Brendan McCracken: Thanks, Glenn.

Greg Givens: Thanks, Glenn.

Speaker #7: Thank you. The next question comes from Betty Jiang at Barclays. Please go ahead.

Operator: Thank you. The next question comes from Betty Jiang at Barclays. Please go ahead.

Speaker #8: Good morning. Congrats again on the portfolio transformation and leaning into the buyback. My first question on the Permian. If you don't mind me digging into the numbers a bit, but your lateral length is higher year on year.

Betty Jiang: Good morning. Congrats again on the perform, portfolio transformation and leaning into the buyback. My first question on the Permian, if you don't mind me digging into the numbers a bit, your lateral length is higher year on year, and so on a total net total footage basis, it's almost up high single digits year on year. Holding production flat, even though type curve is unchanged, when we would typically expect some upside to that production. Could you just unpack the dynamic there? If we hold that Permian production flat, where could the CapEx trend on the normalized basis going forward?

Speaker #8: And so on the total net tail footage basis, it's almost up high single digits year on year. But holding production flat, even though type curve is unchanged, what we would typically expect some upside to that production.

Speaker #8: So could you just unpack the dynamic there? And if we hold that Permian production flat, where could the CapEx trend on a normalized basis going forward?

Speaker #3: Yeah, this is great, Betty. And I'll turn it to Greg here. The headline here is we are seeing an efficiency gain on the well cost side.

Brendan McCracken: This is great, Betty, and I'll turn it to Greg here. The headline here is, we are seeing an efficiency gain on the well cost side. We're about 5% down on the well cost year-over-year, and then holding the type curve flat. What you'll see over time is that this is going to translate through into the total program, but there's some timing effects for 2025 or 2026 that are kind of masking that a bit here, but Greg can cover that.

Speaker #3: So we're about 5% down on the well cost year over year. And then holding the type curve flat. So what you'll see over time is that this is going to translate through into the total program.

Speaker #3: But there's some timing effects for 2025 or 2026. That are kind of masking that a bit here. But Greg can cover that.

Speaker #6: Yeah. So you have Betty. Thanks for the question. And so as we've been talking about today, we really like to usually run our programs on a very level-loaded basis, at least that's been our goal.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): Betty, thanks for the question. As we've been talking about today, you know, we really like to usually run our programs on a very level loaded basis. At least that's been our goal. We try to complete our wells as soon as they're drilled, so we don't carry excessive DUCs. As you might recall, last year, we had a number of extra DUCs coming into the year. In Q1 of 2025, we employed a spot frack crew in the Permian and came in and finished out all of those DUCs, which it had a couple of impacts to our program.

Greg Givens: Betty, thanks for the question. As we've been talking about today, you know, we really like to usually run our programs on a very level loaded basis. At least that's been our goal. We try to complete our wells as soon as they're drilled, so we don't carry excessive DUCs. As you might recall, last year, we had a number of extra DUCs coming into the year. In Q1 of 2025, we employed a spot frack crew in the Permian and came in and finished out all of those DUCs, which it had a couple of impacts to our program.

Speaker #6: We've tried to complete our wells as soon as they're drilled. So we don't carry excessive ducts. But as you might recall, last year, we had a number of extra ducts coming into the year.

Speaker #6: So in the first quarter of '25, we employed a spot frac crew in the Permian. And came in and finished out all of those ducts, which it had a couple of impacts to our program.

Speaker #6: One, capital was actually artificially low last year because for all of those ducts, the drilling capital was in the previous year. And they only we only saw the completion capital last year.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): Capital was actually artificially low last year, because for all of those DUCs, the drilling capital was in the previous year, and we only saw the completion capital last year. The other result was we actually saw a really nice production boost there in Q1. We brought on over 50 wells in Q1, which was about double our run rate for the other quarters in the year. Really positive for last year. Unfortunately, for, you know, the metrics, we don't have that same circumstance this year. We do have a very level loaded program that we feel very good about. Allows us to become more efficient and continue to execute very repeatably when we do the same number of completions, same amount of capital, same production every quarter.

Greg Givens: Capital was actually artificially low last year, because for all of those DUCs, the drilling capital was in the previous year, and we only saw the completion capital last year. The other result was we actually saw a really nice production boost there in Q1. We brought on over 50 wells in Q1, which was about double our run rate for the other quarters in the year. Really positive for last year. Unfortunately, for, you know, the metrics, we don't have that same circumstance this year. We do have a very level loaded program that we feel very good about. Allows us to become more efficient and continue to execute very repeatably when we do the same number of completions, same amount of capital, same production every quarter.

Speaker #6: And the other result was, we actually saw a really nice production boost there in the first quarter. We brought on over 50 wells in the first quarter, which was about double our run rate for the other quarters in the year.

Speaker #6: So, really positive for last year. Unfortunately, for the metrics, we don't have that same circumstance this year. But we do have a very level-loaded program that we feel very good about—allows us to become more efficient and continue to execute very repeatably when we do the same number of completions, same amount of capital, same production, every quarter.

Speaker #6: And so if you think about the building blocks of the guide, you've got slightly lower cost per foot, same type curve. So really, the only difference is the timing.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): If you think about the building blocks of the guide, you've got slightly lower cost per foot, same type curve. Really, the only difference is the timing, and so that's what you're seeing manifest as it rolls through the numbers. Over time, we feel like this is gonna be a very efficient program that's gonna continue to get better over time as we continue to drive down the costs and keep that type curve flat.

Greg Givens: If you think about the building blocks of the guide, you've got slightly lower cost per foot, same type curve. Really, the only difference is the timing, and so that's what you're seeing manifest as it rolls through the numbers. Over time, we feel like this is gonna be a very efficient program that's gonna continue to get better over time as we continue to drive down the costs and keep that type curve flat.

Speaker #6: And so that's what you're seeing manifest as it rolls through the numbers. But over time, we feel like this is going to be a very efficient program that's going to continue to get better over time as we continue to drive down the costs and keep that type curve flat.

Speaker #7: Thank you, for the clarification there. My follow-up is on the Monty surfacting use. I mean, it seems a lot of operational efficiency tailwind in Monty, but specifically are you testing the surfactants in Monty as well?

Betty Jiang: Thank you for the clarification there. My follow-up is on the Montney surfactant use. I mean, it seems a lot of operational efficiency tailwind in Montney, but specifically, are you testing the surfactants in Montney as well? Is there any read across and viability there?

Speaker #7: Is there any read-across and viability there?

Speaker #6: Yeah, I think I'll set Greg up here. But what we found and understood really from the early days of this is every bench in each county is going to perform a little bit differently depending on the wettability and the fluids.

Brendan McCracken: I think I'll set Greg up here, but what we found and understood really from the early days of this is every bench in each county are gonna perform a little bit differently, depending on the wettability and the fluids that we're trying to impact. The Montney does have a wholly different down subsurface regime from temperature and pressure perspective, so it's gonna have its own bespoke completion optimizations. Some of that might be surfactants, some of it is looking like other pieces that can add to the performance that we're seeing there. It'll be a little bit different. We're quite a ways further advanced on surfactants in the Permian, you know, with 300 wells pumped there.

Speaker #6: That we're trying to impact. And so and the Monty does have a wholly different down subsurface regime from temperature and pressure perspective. So it's going to have its own bespoke completion optimizations.

Speaker #6: Some of that might be surfactant. Some of it is looking like other. Other pieces that can add to the performance that we're seeing there.

Speaker #6: So it'll be a little bit different. We're quite a ways further advanced on surfactants in the Permian with 300 wells pumped there. We've done nowhere near that many in the Monty to this point.

Brendan McCracken: We've done nowhere near that many in the Montney to this point, but really excited about completion design in the Montney. Generally, you know, we'll see surfactants. We're gonna go a little slower there just because of the temperature and pressure differences. Greg, over to you.

Speaker #6: But really excited about completion design in the Monty generally. We'll see surfactants. We're going to go a little slower there just because of the temperature and pressure differences.

Speaker #6: But Greg, over to you.

Speaker #3: Yeah, so yeah, we're in our seventh year of surfactants in the Permian. And so we've learned a lot over that time. We've learned where they work best, what concentrations work best, as Brendan said earlier, which chemicals are most effective for the lowest cost.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): Yeah, we're in our seventh year of surfactants in the Permian, we've learned a lot over that time. We've learned where they work best, what concentrations work best, as Brendan said earlier, which chemicals, you know, are most effective for the lowest cost. We've really advanced our learnings there. We're still in the early innings up in the Montney. The team does a great job, though, of sharing learnings cross-border and cross-asset. We're absolutely looking at things up there, and we've done some of the rock work, and we've done a few trials so far. I think, I would position it more as we're just getting started up there.

Greg Givens: Yeah, we're in our seventh year of surfactants in the Permian, we've learned a lot over that time. We've learned where they work best, what concentrations work best, as Brendan said earlier, which chemicals, you know, are most effective for the lowest cost. We've really advanced our learnings there. We're still in the early innings up in the Montney. The team does a great job, though, of sharing learnings cross-border and cross-asset. We're absolutely looking at things up there, and we've done some of the rock work, and we've done a few trials so far. I think, I would position it more as we're just getting started up there.

Speaker #3: And so we've really advanced our learnings there. We're still in the early innings up in the Monty. The team does a great job, though, sharing learnings cross-border and cross-asset.

Speaker #3: So we're absolutely looking at things up there. We've done some of the rock work. And we've done a few trials so far. And so we're just I would position it more as we're just getting started up there.

Speaker #3: But the whole toolbox is available to us, as we see that working, as well as we see higher completion intensity, stacking, and spacing optimizations.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): The whole toolbox is available to us as we see that working, as well as we see higher completion intensity, stacking and spacing optimizations. All the things that we do in the Permian, we do the same in the Montney. We'll share those learnings cross-border, but maybe just a little earlier stage in the Montney on surfactants. It will be a slightly different setup just because of the pressure regime downhole and the rock fabric. It's just a different reservoir, but we'll work to see if we can make the same kind of improvements there that we've seen in the Permian.

Greg Givens: The whole toolbox is available to us as we see that working, as well as we see higher completion intensity, stacking and spacing optimizations. All the things that we do in the Permian, we do the same in the Montney. We'll share those learnings cross-border, but maybe just a little earlier stage in the Montney on surfactants. It will be a slightly different setup just because of the pressure regime downhole and the rock fabric. It's just a different reservoir, but we'll work to see if we can make the same kind of improvements there that we've seen in the Permian.

Speaker #3: All the things that we do in the Permian, we do the same in the Monty. And so we'll share those learnings cross-border. But maybe just a little earlier stage in the Monty on surfactants.

Speaker #3: And it will be a slightly different setup just because of the pressure regime downhole and the rock fabric. It's just a different reservoir. But we'll work to see if we can make the same kind of improvements there that we've seen in the Permian.

Speaker #7: Great. Sounds good. Thank you.

Betty Jiang: Great. Sounds good. Thank you.

Speaker #6: Thanks, Betty.

Brendan McCracken: Thanks, Betty.

Speaker #7: Thank you. The next question comes from Philip Jungworth at BMO Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

Operator: Thank you. The next question comes from Phillip Jungwirth at BMO Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

Speaker #8: Yeah, thanks. Good morning. Just with some of the industry news today, can you talk about how you see the prospectivity for the Barnett Woodford across your Midland Acreage and where that might be across North, South, and any plans to test this?

Phillip Jungwirth: Yeah, thanks. Good morning. Just with some of the industry news today, can you talk about how you see the prospectivity for the Barnett Woodford across your Midland acreage and where that might be across north, south, and any plans to test this?

Speaker #6: Yeah. I'll turn this to Greg. But really, pleased with the job the team's done here to assemble a position in the Barnett. But Greg, over to you.

Brendan McCracken: Yeah, I'll turn this to Greg. Really pleased with the job the team's done here to assemble a position in the Barnett. Greg, over to you.

Speaker #3: Yeah. So we've been very interested in the Barnett and been watching it for some time. I do think this is one of those plays that we're wise to learn from our peers and see what the two things that are going on with the Barnett.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): We've been very interested in the Barnett and been watching it for some time. I do think this is one of those plays that we're wise to learn from our peers and see what. The two things that are going on with the Barnett, it's a deeper zone, so it's got more pressure, and it looks like it's got good productivity, but it's also got higher costs. We're watching as some of our peers are de-risking the cost side, as well as de-risking the well performance. We do have a meaningful Barnett position. We've got Barnett rights on about half of our acreage position in the Permian, so around 100,000 acres. We'll look to test that this year with our first well.

Greg Givens: We've been very interested in the Barnett and been watching it for some time. I do think this is one of those plays that we're wise to learn from our peers and see what. The two things that are going on with the Barnett, it's a deeper zone, so it's got more pressure, and it looks like it's got good productivity, but it's also got higher costs. We're watching as some of our peers are de-risking the cost side, as well as de-risking the well performance. We do have a meaningful Barnett position. We've got Barnett rights on about half of our acreage position in the Permian, so around 100,000 acres. We'll look to test that this year with our first well.

Speaker #3: It's a deeper zone. And so it's got more pressure. And it looks like it's got good productivity, but it's also got higher costs. So we're watching as some of our peers are de-risking the cost side as well as de-risking the well performance.

Speaker #3: We do have a meaningful Barnett position. We've got Barnett rights on about half of our acreage position in the Permian, so around 100,000 acres.

Speaker #3: We'll look to test that this year with our first well. So we'll get some information of our own. But we're also going to watch and I think be prudent on how much we lean into the Barnett.

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): We'll get some information of our own, but we're also gonna watch and, I think, be prudent on, you know, how much we lean into the Barnett. It's a deeper horizon that's separate from our cube, that resource is still gonna be there later. It's not gonna be impacted by the shallow production. I think this is one where we have time to be a little more patient, but also have the ability to be a fast follower and go execute on that 100,000 acres if we choose to do so.

Greg Givens: We'll get some information of our own, but we're also gonna watch and, I think, be prudent on, you know, how much we lean into the Barnett. It's a deeper horizon that's separate from our cube, that resource is still gonna be there later. It's not gonna be impacted by the shallow production. I think this is one where we have time to be a little more patient, but also have the ability to be a fast follower and go execute on that 100,000 acres if we choose to do so.

Speaker #3: It's a deeper horizon that's separate from our cube. So that resource is still going to be there later. It's not going to be impacted by the shallow production.

Speaker #3: So I think this is one where we have time to be a little more patient but also have the ability to be a fast follower and go execute on that 100,000 acres if we choose to do so.

Speaker #8: Hey, Greg. And then can you talk about what you've seen with LNG Canada ramping up the second train starting up just as it relates to the ACO market?

Phillip Jungwirth: Okay, great. Can you talk about what you've seen with LNG Canada ramping up the second train starting up, just as it relates to the AECO market, in event of supplying that versus maybe incremental equity volumes for the partners? More hypothetical, would changes in ownership across the facility have any implications for Ovintiv or open up any strategic partnership or marketing opportunities?

Speaker #8: I know Ventiv's supplying that versus maybe incremental equity volumes for the partners. And more hypothetical, but would changes in ownership across the facility have any implications for Oventiv or open up any strategic partnership or marketing opportunities?

Speaker #6: Yeah, so I think we are pleased in recent weeks to see that.

Brendan McCracken: I think we are pleased in recent weeks to see that facility ramp up to essentially full capacity, which is kind of really the first time since the startup that it's been at that level. It's been a slow grind upwards with a bit of ups and downs along the way, as I'm sure you've followed. I think our caution on AECO remains, you know, the total takeaway from LNG Canada, while it's great to see it, you know, in recent time up to that level, it is still, you know, relatively small relative to the total productivity potential of the basin. We've seen the sort of behind pipe volumes, if you will, able to fulfill that takeaway.

Speaker #1: That facility ramped up to essentially full capacity, which is kind of really the first time since the startup that it's been at that level.

Speaker #1: So it's been a slow grind upwards with a bit of ups and downs along the way , as I'm sure you've you've followed .

Speaker #1: So I think our caution on ACO remains , you know , the total takeaway from LNG Canada , while it's great to see it , you know , in recent time up to that level is still , you know , relatively small relative to the total productivity potential of the basin .

Speaker #1: And we've seen the the sort of behind pipe volumes , if you will , able to fulfill that takeaway . So still cautious ACO still strong believers in diversifying our our Canadian gas portfolio into alternate markets , which is , I think kind of part B of your question .

Brendan McCracken: Still cautious AECO, still strong believers in diversifying our Canadian gas portfolio into alternate markets, which is, I think, kind of part B of your question there. Yeah, we continue to be interested in building out a diverse portfolio of markets for our downstream gas. You know, further LNG exposure is gonna probably be part of that over time. We've now added that to our portfolio, and we're excited to have those positions in place. I would expect over time, we will probably grow that exposure.

Speaker #1: There . So yeah , we continue to be interested in building out a diverse portfolio of of markets for our downstream gas . And , you know , further , LNG exposure is going to probably be part of that over time .

Speaker #1: We've now added that to our portfolio , and we're excited to have those positions in place . But but I would expect over time we will probably grow that exposure

Speaker #2: Thanks

Phillip Jungwirth: Thanks.

Speaker #1: Yeah . Thank you

Brendan McCracken: Yeah, thank you.

Speaker #3: Thank you . The next question comes from Kevin McCurdy with Pickering Energy Partners . Please go ahead

Operator: Thank you. The next question comes from Kevin MacCurdy with Pickering Energy Partners. Please go ahead.

Speaker #2: Hey . Good morning . You guys have laid out a solid maintenance program with big buyback for this year . But I wanted to revisit the growth question .

Kevin MacCurdy: Hey, good morning. You guys have laid out a solid maintenance program with big buyback for this year. I wanted to revisit the growth question. You've talked about the potential to grow the Montney by 5% a year. Now that the portfolio transformation is about to be complete, debt is being reduced, and you have oil in the mid-60s, how does that growth opportunity stack up in your capital allocation framework? What could change that rank?

Speaker #2: You've talked about the potential to grow the Montney by 5% a year . And now that the portfolio transformation is about to be complete , debt is being reduced and you have oil in the mid 60s , how does that growth opportunity stack up in your capital allocation framework ?

Speaker #2: And what could change that rank

Speaker #1: Yeah , no . Appreciate it . Kevin I think the two things that we've talked about with respect to growth are still very much in place .

Brendan McCracken: Yeah. Appreciate it, Kevin. I think the two things that we've talked about with respect to growth are still very much in place. The two gates, if you will, are, do we see a fundamental call for incremental barrels or BTUs? Again, we don't see that today. The market's not begging for companies like ours to bring more volumes into the market. That's kind of gate number one. Gate number two is, can we create more cash flow per share growth out of share buybacks or out of incremental rigs? Today, we see that equation tilted towards the buybacks. We get a better cash flow per share outcome across a range of commodity price assumptions going forward and share price assumptions going forward.

Speaker #1: So the the two gates , if you will , are do we see a fundamental call for , for incremental barrels or BTUs and again , we don't see that today .

Speaker #1: The , the , the market's not begging for companies like ours to , to bring more volumes into the market . So that's kind of gate number one .

Speaker #1: And then gate number two is: can we create more cash flow per share growth out of share buybacks, or out of incremental rigs?

Speaker #1: And today we see that equation tilted towards the buybacks . So we get a better cash flow per share outcome across a range of commodity price assumptions .

Speaker #1: Going forward . And share price assumptions going forward . We expect we get a better cash flow per share out outcome , out of buying the shares .

Brendan McCracken: We expect we get a better cash flow per share outcome out of buying the shares. The combination of both of those two gates today are telling us to stay in maintenance mode. I appreciate your question because it surfaces the other aspect of the portfolio transformation that's important here. Not only have we added tremendous inventory duration and focused the portfolio, we've also unlocked growth potential. At some point in the future, those two gates will call for growth, we've now created the capability to do that very efficiently at high return for our investors.

Speaker #1: So the combination of both of those two gates today are telling us to stay in maintenance mode. But I appreciate your question because it surfaces the other aspect of the portfolio transformation that's important here.

Speaker #1: So not only have we added tremendous inventory duration and focus , the portfolio , we've also unlocked growth potential . And at some point in the future , those two gates will call for for growth .

Speaker #1: And we've now created the capability to do that very efficiently at high return for our investors.

Speaker #2: I'll leave it there. Appreciate the answer. Thanks.

Kevin MacCurdy: I'll leave it there. Appreciate the answer. Thanks.

Speaker #1: Yeah . Thanks , Kevin

Brendan McCracken: Yeah. Thanks, Kevin.

Speaker #3: Thank you . The next question comes from Dennis Fong with CIBC World Markets . Please go ahead .

Operator: Thank you. The next question comes from Dennis Fong with CIBC World Markets. Please go ahead.

Speaker #4: Hi . Good morning and thanks for taking my questions . My first one relates towards inventory to some degree . It's clear that you've done a lot of work around the ground game to add low cost , high quality , premium inventory .

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): Hi, good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. My first one relates towards inventory to some degree. It's clear that you've done a lot of work around the ground game to add low cost, high quality, premium inventory. Can you kind of talk towards.

Dennis Fong: Hi, good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. My first one relates towards inventory to some degree. It's clear that you've done a lot of work around the ground game to add low cost, high quality, premium inventory. Can you kind of talk towards.

Speaker #4: Can you kind of talk towards how that helps you kind of either gain comfort with existing depth , as well as how that may influence allocating capital ?

Dennis Fong: ... how that helps you kind of either gain comfort with existing depth as well as how that may influence allocating capital both north and south of the border, which, from what looks kind of like a, from a well count perspective or a till perspective, almost a balanced program, north and south.

Speaker #4: Both north and south of the border , which from what looks kind of like a from a well count perspective or a till perspective , almost a balanced program .

Speaker #4: North and South

Speaker #1: Yeah , you got it , Dennis . So that ground game has been been really effective for us . Obviously a lot of focus on the larger transactions , but the ground game has been grinding away very efficiently .

Brendan McCracken: Yeah, you got it, Dennis. That ground game's been really effective for us. Obviously, a lot of focus on the larger transactions, but the ground game has been grinding away very efficiently. You know, you think about where we've arrived at here, we've put the transaction risk of having to build inventory duration behind us. Now we can, you know, rely on that ground game, which is very efficient, low-cost way to sustain our inventory duration. And it just is sort of funded, you know, within our framework, within the balance sheet that we've got today. We can just sort of put that in and let it opportunistically tick away as we go along here and sustain the inventory depth that we've created.

Speaker #1: And you know , if you think about where we've arrived at here , we've put the transaction risk of having to . Build inventory duration behind us .

Speaker #1: And now we can , you know , rely on that ground game , which is very efficient , low cost way to sustain our inventory duration .

Speaker #1: And it just is sort of funded , you know , within our framework , within within the the balance sheet that we've got today .

Speaker #1: So we can just sort of put that in and let it opportunistically pick away as , as we go along here and sustain the inventory depth that we've created .

Speaker #1: So we like that feature . And , you know , really proud of the team for for how it's been able to do that over time .

Brendan McCracken: We like that feature and, you know, we're really proud of the team for how it's been able to do that over time. As far as the capital allocation between the assets, today, we're really just holding both of those assets at that flat production level. The outcome is, like you said, a relatively balanced hills north and south. It's really more designed to hold the production flat.

Speaker #1: As far as the capital allocation between the assets today , we're really just holding both of those assets at that flat production level and that the outcome is , like you said , a relatively balanced hills north and south .

Speaker #1: But it's really more designed to hold the production flat

Speaker #4: Great . I appreciate that shifting on to innovation , there's obviously a lot of questions today focused on on obviously uses surfactant and obviously your teams have done a very good job in terms of applying kind of leading edge technology on improving operations .

Dennis Fong: Great. Appreciate that. Shifting on to innovation, there's obviously a lot of questions today focused on obviously, use of surfactant. Obviously, your teams have done a very good job in terms of applying kind of leading edge technology on improving operations. I'm just curious, has there been anything that you guys have learned potentially from the NuVista teams and operations that they were doing, or techniques that they were running that you believe could be applicable to your existing Montney base and/or even the Permian?

Speaker #4: I'm just curious , has there been anything that you guys have learned potentially from the new Vista teams ? And operations that they were doing or techniques that they were running that you believe could be applicable to your existing Montney base and or even the Permian

Speaker #1: Yeah . No , we love that question , Dennis . And , you know , really , this is our one of our mantras here is the only infinite rate of return we can generate is by learning from somebody else's capital .

Brendan McCracken: Yeah, no, we love that question, Dennis. You know, really, this is our, one of our mantras here is, the only infinite rate of return we can generate is by learning from somebody else's capital. You know, what better way to do that than in an integration where you have full transparency and data and everything? I'll, I'll put that to Greg, because there are several things that we've been excited about from the NuVista team.

Speaker #1: And , you know what better way to do that than than in an integration where you have full transparency and data and everything , but I'll flip that to Greg because there are several things that we've been excited about from the new Vista team .

Speaker #1: Yeah , we .

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): Yeah, we were really pleased with the NuVista transaction. You know, not only did we get some great assets, we've also got a number of really quality individuals that came over with the transaction and brought over some really good ideas. Out in the field, I think they've done a really good job on some of their gas lift designs and how they've optimized their gas lift techniques in the field. We're already working with them on how do we take some of those ideas and use them more broadly across our portfolio, incorporating with our Operations Control Center and really upping our game a little bit there on the gas lift. Which will have some application in the Permian, but definitely will have application across the Montney.

Greg Givens: Yeah, we were really pleased with the NuVista transaction. You know, not only did we get some great assets, we've also got a number of really quality individuals that came over with the transaction and brought over some really good ideas. Out in the field, I think they've done a really good job on some of their gas lift designs and how they've optimized their gas lift techniques in the field. We're already working with them on how do we take some of those ideas and use them more broadly across our portfolio, incorporating with our Operations Control Center and really upping our game a little bit there on the gas lift. Which will have some application in the Permian, but definitely will have application across the Montney.

Speaker #2: Were really pleased with the new Vista transaction . You know , not only did we get some great assets , we've also got a number of really quality individuals that came over with the transaction and brought over some really good ideas .

Speaker #2: So out in the field , I think they they've done a really good job on some of their gas lift designs and how they've optimized their gas lift techniques in the field .

Speaker #2: So we're already working with them on how do we take some of those ideas and then use them more broadly across our portfolio , incorporating with our operations control center and and really upping our game a little bit there on the gas lift , which will have some application in the Permian , but definitely will have application across the Montney .

Speaker #2: Another place that we've talked with them a lot about is on landing zones on the very precise , not not which interval in the montney , but the , you to the meter or to the foot where you're going to land the wells .

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): Another place that we've talked with them a lot about is on landing zones, on the very precise, not which interval in the Montney, but, you know, to the meter or to the foot, where you're gonna land the wells. They've got some really good ideas that they've been able to execute on some different landing zones that have allowed them to drill wells a little faster than we have in some cases. We're implementing that into our program, and we think that's gonna help us even improve quicker in Canada than we have been so far. Our teams are doing a really good job, but we're always open to learning from others.

Greg Givens: Another place that we've talked with them a lot about is on landing zones, on the very precise, not which interval in the Montney, but, you know, to the meter or to the foot, where you're gonna land the wells. They've got some really good ideas that they've been able to execute on some different landing zones that have allowed them to drill wells a little faster than we have in some cases. We're implementing that into our program, and we think that's gonna help us even improve quicker in Canada than we have been so far. Our teams are doing a really good job, but we're always open to learning from others.

Speaker #2: And they've got some really good ideas that they've been able to execute on some different landing zones that have allowed them to drill wells a little faster than we have in some cases.

Speaker #2: So we're implementing that into our program , and we think that's going to help us even even improve quicker in Canada than we have been so far .

Speaker #2: So our teams are doing a really good job , but we're always open to learning from others . We try to approach competitor intelligence or integrations with .

[Company Representative] (Ovintiv): We try to approach competitor intelligence or integrations with, what can you teach us? Not, not, what can we tell you we know? So far, we're learning some from them, and it's going really well. We're really pleased with that.

Greg Givens: We try to approach competitor intelligence or integrations with, what can you teach us? Not, not, what can we tell you we know? So far, we're learning some from them, and it's going really well. We're really pleased with that.

Speaker #2: What can you teach us ? Not not what can we tell you ? We know . And so far we're learning some from them and it's going really well .

Speaker #2: So we're really pleased with that.

Dennis Fong: Thanks, Dennis.

Brendan McCracken: Thanks, Dennis.

Speaker #1: Thanks , Dennis .

Speaker #3: Thank you . At this time we have completed the question and answer session , and we'll turn the call back over to Mr. Voorhees

Operator: Thank you. At this time, we have completed the question and answer session, and we'll turn the call back over to Mr. Verhaest.

Speaker #1: Thanks , Joanna , and thank you , everyone for joining us today . Our call is now complete .

Brendan McCracken: Thanks, Joanna, and thank you everyone for joining us today. Our call is now complete.

Jason Verhaest: Thanks, Joanna, and thank you everyone for joining us today. Our call is now complete.

Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your conference call for today. We thank you for participating. We ask that you please disconnect your lines.

Q4 2025 Ovintiv Inc Earnings Call

Request a DemoDemo

OVV

Ovintiv

Earnings