Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc.

We're about to begin. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Patterson UTI Energy First Quarter 2022 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode, and please be advised that this call is being recorded. After the speaker's prepared remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. If you'd like to ask a question during this time, simply press star 1 on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press star one again. Now at this time, I'll turn things over to Mr. Mike Drickamer, Vice President, Investor Relations.

Thank you, Bo. Good morning. And on behalf of Patterson UTI Energy, I'd like to welcome you to today's conference call to discuss the results for the three months ended March 31st, 2022. Participating in today's call will be Andy Hendricks, Chief Executive Officer, and Andy Smith, Chief Financial Officer. A quick reminder that statements made in this conference call that could state the company's or management's plans, intentions, beliefs, expectations, or predictions for the future are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties as disclosed in the company's SEC filings, which could cause the company's actual results to differ materially. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement. Statements made in this conference call include non-GAAP financial measures, The required reconciliations to get financial measures are included on our website, www.patenergy.com, and in the company's press release issued prior to this conference call. And now, it's my pleasure to turn the call over to Andy Hendricks for some opening remarks. Andy?

Thanks, Mike. Good morning, and welcome to Patterson UTI's first quarter conference call. Thank you for joining us today. I am very pleased with our first quarter results. especially within contract drilling, where our better than expected revenue per day during the quarter illustrates how quickly day rates are increasing. Our average adjusted margin in the U.S. increased by $1,720 per day in the first quarter, and we expect further margin growth in the second quarter of an additional $1,100 per day driven by a $1,600 increase in average rig revenue per day. For perspective, this is the strongest daily margin growth we have seen since 2013 and 2014. The base leading edge day rates for Tier 1 rigs is now in the upper 20,000s, and including ancillary equipment, easily over $30,000 per day at the leading edge, driven by increasing demand and a limited supply of readily available rigs. With the tight market, some customers are already planning for their additional needs in 2023, which we expect to drive demand for longer-term contracts and also increase contract backlog. We are also seeing significant price increases for our services in both pressure pumping and directional drilling. And in our pressure pumping business, we are obtaining more favorable standby terms to help offset customer-related downtime. With that, I will now turn the call over to Andy Smith, who will review the financial results for the first quarter.