Viper Energy, Inc.

Hello and welcome to the VIPER Energy first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. After the speaker presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star one one on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand has been raised. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce Director of Investor Relations, Chip Seale.

Thank you, Andrew. Good morning and welcome to Viper Energy's first quarter 2026 conference call. During our call today, we may reference an updated investor presentation, which can be found on Viper's website. Representing Viper today are Case Van Hoff, CEO, and Austin Gilfillan, President. During this conference call, the participants may make certain forward-looking statements relating to the company's financial condition, results of operations, plans, objectives, future performance in businesses. We caution you that actual results could differ materially from those that are indicated in these forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors. Information concerning these factors can be found in the company's filings with the SEC. In addition, we will make reference to certain non-GAAP measures. The reconciliations with the appropriate gap measures can be found in our earnings release issued yesterday afternoon. I will now turn the call over to Case. Thank you, Chip.

Welcome, everyone, and thank you for listening to Viper Energy's first quarter 2026 conference call. The first quarter marked a strong start to the year as production exceeded our expectations and that momentum is carrying into an increased growth outlook for the remainder of 2026. During the quarter, operators in our acreage turned more than 650 gross horizontal wells to production, led by Diamondback's 114 gross wells in the Midland Basin, with meaningful contributions from leading third-party operators across both the Midland and Delaware basins. Based on first quarter results and continued strong activity across our acreage, we are increasing the midpoint of our full-year oil production guidance by roughly 2.5%. We expect growth to be driven primarily by Diamondbacks' acceleration of near-term activity and continued development of VIPER's high concentration royalty interest throughout the basin. Importantly, this increased production outlook represents over 5% organic growth relative to our pro forma 2025 exit rate. In addition to this organic growth, VIPER also continues to execute on our differentiated inorganic growth strategy. Yesterday we announced the River Bend acquisition in which Viper will acquire over 3,000 net royalty acres and approximately 2,000 barrels of oil production per day for $337 million in cash and 3.7 million Class A shares. These assets are highly complementary to our portfolio with roughly 75% overlap on our existing acreage and further increase our exposure to high quality third party public operators. Turning to capital allocation, our first quarter return of capital of $0.94 represents 90% of our cash available for distribution, and this is comprised of a $0.68 per share dividend and $0.28 per share of stock repurchases executed in the quarter. As we've outlined, we are committed to returning at least 75% of cash available for distribution and our return of capital framework is designed to be both disciplined and flexible to fit the needs of our business. Prior to the Riverbend acquisition, we had a further commitment to return 100% of cash available for distribution if we were at or below $1.5 billion of net debt. On that point, it's important to note that $1.5 billion net debt is not a static amount but is instead represents a capitalization mix designed to evolve with the continued growth of the business. Within our broader capital allocation strategy, we will continue to invest in growing our business when the right opportunities present themselves. However, in periods where we are closer to our minimum debt mix, we will provide all that cash back to our stockholders. In closing, Viper offers a differentiated investment opportunity within the energy sector. Our mineral and royalty model, deep inventory position, and alignment with Diamondback support durable organic growth and strong free cash flow generation. Combined with disciplined capital allocation, we are well positioned to deliver sustainable per share growth and attractive long-term stockholder returns. Operator, please open the line for questions.