EOG Resources, Inc.

Good day, everyone, and welcome to EOG Resources' first quarter 2019 earnings results conference call. As a reminder, this call is being recorded. At this time, for opening remarks and introductions, I would like to turn the call over to Chief Financial Officer of EOG Resources, Mr. Tim Driggers. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you. Good morning, and thanks for joining us. We hope everyone has seen the press release announcing first quarter 2019 earnings and operational results. This conference call includes forward-looking statements. The risks associated with forward-looking statements have been outlined in the earnings release and EOG's SEC filings, and we incorporate those by reference for this call. This conference call also contains certain non-GAAP financial measures. Definitions as well as reconciliation schedules for these non-GAAP measures to comparable GAAP measures can be found on our website at www.eogresources.com. Some of the reserve estimates on this conference call and in the accompanying investor presentation slides may include estimated potential reserves and estimated resource potential not necessarily calculated in accordance with the SEC's reserve reporting guidelines. We incorporate by reference the cautionary note to U.S. investors that appears at the bottom of our earnings release issued yesterday. Participating on the call this morning are... Bill Thomas, Chairman and CEO, Billy Helms, Chief Operating Officer, Lance Turveen, Senior VP Marketing, Kim Bedecker, EVP Exploration and Production, Ezra Yakub, EVP Exploration and Production, and David Streit, VP Investor and Public Relations. Here's Bill Thomas.

Thanks, Tim, and good morning, everyone. EOG's goal is clear and simple. Be one of the best companies across all sectors in the S&P 500 by realizing double-digit returns and double-digit organic growth through the commodity cycles. Our stellar first quarter performance demonstrates that we are lowering the cost of oil required to achieve that goal. We are confident in our ability to continue to decouple our performance from the commodity price cycles and that our sustainable business model will consistently deliver excellent results in the future. As a result, the Board of Directors approved a 31% increase to our dividend rate. The annualized dividend is now $1.15 per share and represents the largest single dollar increase in EOG's history. This is a tremendous vote of confidence in EOG's future and demonstrates a strong commitment to capital discipline and returning cash to shareholders through the dividend. Our premium combination of high returns and organic growth is evident in every area of the company. with 2019 shaping up to be one of the best operating performances in company history. Well costs and operating costs are falling, and well productivity is strong. EOG is growing oil volumes at lower cost per barrel than ever before. We are excited about 2019 and the outstanding operational and financial results we are delivering. Some of the highlights this quarter include year-over-year oil growth of 20%, exceeding the high end of our crude oil production target, capital expenditures below the low end of expectations, strong year-over-year lease operating and transportation per unit cost reductions, additional reductions in completed well costs, and we secured significant crude oil export capacity, increasing our ability to receive the best prices. EOG continues to improve unit cost, capital efficiency, and profitability. In fact, we made the same amount of net income compared to the first quarter of last year with significantly lower oil prices, a remarkable achievement demonstrating EOG's resiliency to low oil prices and the company's sustainable ability to continuously improve. In addition to great results this year, we're excited about the steps we're taking to improve future results through our organic exploration of new high-quality plays. Our exploration focus and 15 years of experience drilling horizontal oil wells has generated mountains of proprietary data that gives us an edge in identifying new plays. We have 13 years of premium oil inventory, so we are squarely focused on further improving the quality of our inventory rather than just adding more quantity. Adding low-cost organic inventory with better rock will enable the company to grow oil at lower costs and higher margins for years to come. At AOG, we have an unwavering commitment to creating shareholder value through our longstanding business model. Exploration-driven organic growth, operational excellence, technical leadership, all underpinned by a distinctive culture. Our decentralized structure and focus on returns, combined with our entrepreneurial, pleased-but-never-satisfied mindset, continues to produce outstanding results today and is set to produce sustainable improvements in the future. EOG has never been in better shape, and the company has never had a brighter future. Next up is Billy to review our first quarter operational performance and outlook for the remainder of 2019.