SM Energy Company

Greetings. Welcome to SM Energy's fourth quarter 2023 financial and operating results Q&A. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. Please note this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to Jennifer Samuels, Vice President, Investor Relations and ESG Stewardship. Thank you. You may begin.

In today's call, we may reference the earnings release, IR presentation, or prepared marks, all of which are posted to our website. Thank you for joining us this morning. To answer your questions today, we have our President and CEO, Herb Vogel, and CFO, Wade Purcell. Before we get started, I need to remind you that our discussion today may include forward-looking statements and discussion of non-GAAP measures. I direct you to slide two of the accompanying slide deck, page seven of the accompanying earnings release, and the risk factor section of our most recently filed 10-K, which describe risks associated with forward-looking statements that could cause actual results to differ. We may also refer to non-GAAP measures. Please see the slide deck appendix and earnings release for definitions and reconciliations of non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures and discussion of forward-looking non-GAAP measures. Also, look for our 2023 10-K, which was filed this morning. And with that, I will turn it over to Herb for brief opening commentary. Herb?

Thank you, Jennifer. Good morning, and thank you for joining us. While we're waiting for people to join the call, let me start by reiterating a few key messages. Our excellent 2023 operating financial results were driven by our very high-quality asset base, best-in-class operational performance that is supported by differential technological expertise and a track record of success, and our strong balance sheet and low leverage that enabled significant growth and return of capital to stockholders. As we look through 2024, we are excited about our capital program, which we expect to deliver more on each of these strategic objectives as we lean activity towards the Midland Basin, where we will generate higher oil volumes and delineate and develop our new acreage positions to organically grow inventory and create value. In short, the operational focus in 2024 is more oil growth, less gas growth, significant capital efficiency improvement with a 10% increase in capital against a nearly 30% increase in turn in lines weighted to oil. So let me say that again. It's a 10% increase in capital against a nearly 30% increase in turn in lines weighted to oil. With that, I will turn it back to the operator to start taking your questions.