5/7/2026

speaker
Operator
Conference Operator

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Ensign Energy Services Inc. First Quarter 2026 Results Conference Call. At this time, all lines are in listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question and answer session. If at any time during this call you require immediate assistance, please press star zero for the operator. This call is being recorded on Thursday, May 7, 2026. I would now like to turn the conference over to Michael Gray, Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead.

speaker
Michael Gray
Former Chief Financial Officer

Thank you. Yeah, just to clarify, former Chief Financial Officer. But thank you and good morning and welcome to Enzyme Energy Services' first quarter conference call and webcast. On our call today, Bob Geddes, President and COO, Trevor Russell, a new Chief Financial Officer, and myself, Mike Gray. Today, we will review Enzyme's first quarter highlights, financial results, followed by operational update and outlook. We'll then open the call for questions after that. Our discussion today may include forward-looking statements based upon current expectations that involve several business risks and uncertainties. The factors that could cause results to differ materially include, but are not limited to, political and economic and market conditions, crude oil and natural gas prices, foreign currency fluctuations, weather conditions, the company's defense of lawsuits, the ability of oil and gas companies to pay accounts receivable balances, or other unforeseen conditions. which could impact the demand for services supplied by the company. Additionally, our discussions today may refer to non-GAAP financial measures, such as adjusted EBITDA. Please see our first quarter earnings release and CEDAR Plus filings for more information on forward-looking statements and the company's use of non-GAAP financial measures. Before I pass the call back over to Bob, I'd like to take a moment to sincerely thank all of Enzyme's employees for their hard work and dedication. I've truly appreciated my time here and the opportunity to work alongside such a strong team. I'm confident that the company is in very good hands going forward under Trevor's leadership. On that, I'll pass the call back to Bob.

speaker
Bob Geddes
President and Chief Operating Officer

Thanks, Mike. Let me start by acknowledging that Mike Gray is retiring, as you understand here, and we have the appointment of Trevor Russell under the CFO role. I just want to first of all thank Mike for his guidance and service with Enzyme over the last years on behalf of the Board of Directors, myself, and all employees. Mike has helped the company manage through some intense Trinidad acquisition, the neighbors acquisition, the COVID years, etc. Thank you, Mike, for all of that. I also want to congratulate Trevor on his promotion to the CFO role. Trevor has been with the company for 20 years and was the last in the role of VP financing. Mr. Russell will provide a seamless transition for us moving forward. Also, Mike Gray has agreed to stay on as an executive advisor until July to help through the transition period. So we've had two significant events in the first quarter that have provided a very positive construct for Enzyme. Right out of the gate in 2026, we saw Venezuela become de-risked to a large extent with a strong proxy for increased activity. With Enzyme having the only rigs operating in Venezuela, we are well positioned to expand that business unit. And then we have the Middle East conflict, which has pushed oil prices up significantly. Today, we are bumping in the low 90s. If anyone had told me WTI would be in the low 90s a few months ago, we would have been critical of such a prediction. Let's just hope demand stays somewhat inelastic. Anyway, here we are. So for a deeper dive into the first quarter financial results, I'll turn the call over to Trevor Russell. Trevor?

speaker
Trevor Russell
Chief Financial Officer

Thanks, Bob. The oilfield services sector maintains a generally constructive outlook despite a year-over-year activity declining Canada. With the political and security situation in the Middle East, the disruption of shipping within the Strait of Hormuz, and the continuing conflict between the Russian Federation and the Ukraine, and the recent actions of the United States and Venezuela, the expectation is these factors and their continued development will have a direct impact on the industry. To date, oil and natural gas producers continue to moderate their capital spend, remain committed to cash flow generation and maintaining current production levels. Furthermore, the impact of uncertainty around the global economy and tariff policies adopted by the United States administration and the implications of such policies continue to impact operating activity. Total operating days were slightly lower in the first quarter of 2026 with the United States and international operations recording a 15% and a 1% increase respectively, while our Canadian operations saw a 15% decrease compared to the first quarter of 2025. The company generated revenue of $418 million in the first quarter of 2026, a 4% decrease compared to the revenue of 436.5 million generated in the first quarter of the prior year. Adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter of 2026 was 94.8 million, a 7% decrease from the adjusted EBITDA of 102.4 million in the first quarter of 2025. The decrease in adjusted EBITDA was primarily due to a decrease in the operating activity as well as a negative 4% translation difference of converting our U.S. dollar-denominated earnings. Depreciation in the first three months of 2026 was 85.1 million, 4% higher than 81.9 million for the first three months of 2025. The decrease in depreciation is due to more asset-centering services following additional capital spending. Offsetting the decrease is a 4% decrease in the translation effect of converting our depreciation on US and automated assets. General and administration expenses was 14.7 million, 3.5% of revenue for the first quarter of 2026 compared to 15% up for the first quarter of 2025. General and administration expenses decreased due due to non-recurring fees incurred in the prior year and a positive 4% translation effect of converting our U.S. denominated expenses. Net capital purchases for the quarter were $64.8 million. The purchases consist of $14.4 million in upgrade capital and $50.9 million in maintenance capital for a total of $65.3 million offset by sales proceeds of $600,000. Our 2026 maintenance capital budget is set at 162 million and 79.2 million in selective upgrade capital, of which 58.2 million is customer funded and will be monitored very closely and will be adjusted if required. Interest expense in the first quarter of 2026 was $12.9 million, a decrease of 37% from the first quarter of 2025 as a result of lower debt levels and effective interest rates, a one-time recovery, and a positive 4% translation on converting U.S. denominated interest expense. The company expects its blended interest rate to be less than 7% and will allow us to reduce our interest expense going forward. Net repayments against debt totaled $7 million during the quarter. Our trailing 12-month net debt adjusted EBITDA was $2.47 and will continue to reduce as the company continues to reduce debt. Our debt reduction for 2026 is targeted to be approximately $125 million. If industry conditions change, this target will be increased or decreased. On that note, I'll turn it back to Bob.

speaker
Bob Geddes
President and Chief Operating Officer

Thanks, Trevor.

speaker
Bob Geddes
President and Chief Operating Officer

So let's circle the globe now with a summary of our first quarter and some insight, the operation of what we're seeing develop under this strong commodity price environment. Starting with U.S. drilling, which is our biggest revenue and margin generator. Today, we have 45 rigs in the contract in the U.S. We are seeing a more active bid book over the last month develop, obviously the result of generous commodity prices. We are seeing more private equity and new names to the game. At these prices, a lot more shoulder play has become more compelling. Starting on the west coast and moving east, we were seeing our California drilling asset base now up to eight high-spec radio drilling rigs under contract, and the business looks very steady moving forward. We have eight rigs active in the Rockies Division and 29 in our U.S. Southern Division, mostly in the Permians. The Permian continues to be extremely active for our high-spec ADR rigs with an expectation that we should see two to three more rigs go to work over the next six months. Almost half our U.S. rigs are on a performance-based contract, which elevates margin opportunities. Going to Canada, we operate a wide range for even 76 high-spec ADR drill rigs in Canada. In the first quarter, we saw five of our rigs come down early in the quarter for their five-year recertifications. which were planned for breakup, but because the operator wanted to get after the drilling during breakup, we had to take these rigs off the production line the first quarter and get them in for the recertification. This, of course, affected first quarter results. So we have a lumpy first quarter, which we'll see pushed into a beneficial uptick in our second quarter activity. Last year, we had 30 rigs active over breakup, doubling up to 43 into July. This year, we expect to have those five rigs incrementally added year over year, and we'll see us build up from 30 rigs today to 50 by late summer. This is a seven-rig year-over-year uptick in the second quarter and entering into the third quarter, which we expect will stay sticky at 50-plus through the rest of the year. We have two cold-stack rigs coming back to work after breakup, and we have three rigs receiving operator requests and upgrades. which are tied into two-year contracts. We are already seeing operators wanting to tie up breaking the spring of 2027 as a leading indicator for business getting busier. We are now wanting to get our book not too long as we see upward demand construct and we will start raising rates about 5% to 10% as we move into the back half of the year. On the international front, we have a fleet of 25 rigs in our international fleet. We have nine rigs, of which eight are under contract in the Middle East. All our rigs in the Middle East were kept on contract with a revenue rate. Some on standby rate with crews, but in any case, we're making revenue during the conflict. Cost to run crews and parts while the conflict is on has pushed some additional expenses our way, which are clipping margins, obviously. We added in a rig in Oman in the quarter, and we'll have another one on the payroll on long-term contract in the second quarter. We had hoped to have that fifth rig in Oman commissioned in the first quarter, but the Middle East conflict created some challenges. Nonetheless, it is up and running today. In Australia, we have five rigs operating and expect to add a sixth and seventh into the back half of the year. Argentina is steady with both our high-spec ADR-2000s under contract and contract extensions underway. Venezuela. Let's talk about Venezuela. Everything changed from January the 6th. Enzyme has the only two drilling rigs running in the country, and we expect to add a third rig before year-end. Infrastructure buildup will determine how fast Venezuela is able to add rigs efficiently. We feel it will be into 2027 before it catches traction. In any case, our strategic positioning in the country over the last 25 years will provide great opportunities for the company moving forward. Wealth servicing. We operate a fleet of roughly 95 Two well-servicing rigs in North America, but mostly in the U.S., two-thirds U.S., one-third Canada. To drive better focus on our well-servicing assets, we incorporated all our assets under the responsibility of one focused vice president, well-servicing VP, Mr. Pat Curling. Pat is solely now responsible for all the well-servicing assets. This focus will help drive growth in this business segment for Enzyme. The Edge Drilling Rig Automation. Our Edge Drilling Rig Control System platform is now on 65% of our rigs globally, generating revenue anywhere from $650 a day to $2,600 a day. We continue to see the opportunity to grow this business top line and bottom line by 15% year over year well into the future. We're also better testing our directional guidance system, DGS, which with the help of AI, the team were able to deliver a beta test ready product in months versus years at one-tenth the cost. Our other business segments, directional drilling and MPV, are delivering consistent steady revenue and margin.

speaker
Bob Geddes
President and Chief Operating Officer

I'll turn it back to the operator for questions.

speaker
Operator
Conference Operator

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question and answer session. Should you have a question, please press star followed by the one on your touchtone phone. You will hear a prompt that your hand has been raised. Should you wish to decline from the polling process, please press star followed by the two. If you are using a speakerphone, please lift the handset before pressing any keys. One moment, please, for your first question. Your first question comes from Aaron McNeil with TD Cowan. Your line is now open.

speaker
Aaron McNeil
Analyst, TD Cowan

Hey, morning, all. Thanks for taking my questions. Before I get into that, Mike, just wishing you all the best. It's been an absolute pleasure working with you over the years. And Trevor, I wouldn't take the share price performance today as your first day as CFO personally. So looking forward to working with you going forward.

speaker
Trevor Russell
Chief Financial Officer

Thanks very much.

speaker
Aaron McNeil
Analyst, TD Cowan

Thanks. Bob, on the Venezuela rig ad, can you give us any additional insights on the upgrade? Is it in country? What type of rig is it? What kind of work does it require? And then, you know, you mentioned 2027 before we likely get more, but bigger picture, what do you, think is sort of the potential quantum of rig ads beyond the current three?

speaker
Bob Geddes
President and Chief Operating Officer

Yeah, so to unpack that, it's a lighter version of our high-spec ADR 1500 currently in the U.S. that's getting specific upgrades and recertifications for the Venezuelan market. Because we've been operating there for so long, we've got a pretty good idea of what's required. But the rig will be down there forever. We expect, well, not expect, we have a long-term contract with the RID and operator-funded CapEx upgrades that they specifically requested, which will help to drive a little bit of efficiency in their well planning into the future. As far as infrastructure, this is a challenge, I think, that the whole Venezuela, everyone wants to turn on the tap tomorrow, but there's a lot of infrastructure issues, building locations, getting services and products. We've got a great professional field crew presence, and they're all Venezuelans, and they're highly trained. We're able to add kind of a rig at a time. So I think it develops slower than everyone thinks, but it will develop positively upward for sure.

speaker
Bob Geddes
President and Chief Operating Officer

And we've got the capacity to add more rigs into that market as it needs to.

speaker
Aaron McNeil
Analyst, TD Cowan

Okay. And then I just wanted to make sure I heard this right, but I think you mentioned the potential for two to three rig ads in the U.S., Is that based on contracts in hand today? And then, you know, one of your largest U.S. customers has said, I think, you know, last week, earlier this week, that they may return to a higher spending and growth rate going forward. So is there the potential for something incremental to that if the strong commodity price persists?

speaker
Bob Geddes
President and Chief Operating Officer

Yeah, that's the story. We're adding two to three user-contracted into the near-term future. That's what those are talking to.

speaker
Operator
Conference Operator

We can tie those two comments together. Okay. Great. I'll turn it back. Thank you, Aaron.

speaker
Operator
Conference Operator

Your next question comes from Parvin. Madov with Equinox. Your line is now open.

speaker
Bob Geddes
President and Chief Operating Officer

Hi. Congrats on the results.

speaker
Parvin Madov
Analyst, Equinox

I had two questions. First one was more high level, your expectations of the rig market and when do you think it changes the dynamics for you. So far, it seems like, and you noticed this in your release too, in North America, the rig count hasn't moved significantly in response to prices. Do you think it takes another quarter or two quarters of high oil prices to push it higher? What is your internal expectation?

speaker
Bob Geddes
President and Chief Operating Officer

So that's a very good question and a question we've been putting to our client base. Of course, the consistent response we're getting back is we'll take a quarter of these nice prices And once we get past the second quarter, we'll start to expand drilling to pick up on that. That's why you're also seeing private equity slide in where they're putting together some management teams and going after areas where, you know, the cost base entry level may have been around 60 bucks a barrel. And so when the oil's in the 60s, it's like an attract capital. Now it's attracting capital. We're seeing a lot of private equity names we haven't seen before put together teams and call us and ask us for rigs and rig activity. Rig activity, of course, the desirable rigs, most desirable rigs are always fully booked. The operators who have them now are hanging on to them. A couple of our operators have told us they wanted to add one or two rigs into the back half of the year. But everyone is waiting to hear a question for a second quarter under the belt of these prices before they start to move with any conviction.

speaker
Parvin Madov
Analyst, Equinox

All right. Thank you. And my next question is, I guess, your CapEx behavior in response to this. Q1 was almost more than 30% of, I think, total annual CapEx already spent. Is this partially because you expect higher activities in the second half of the year and you're already spending now, or this just happened to be so?

speaker
Bob Geddes
President and Chief Operating Officer

Yeah, a combination of both. We've had a lot of customer-funded cap bets where they wanted to make upgrades to the rigs. Oman is a perfect example where we had a couple of rigs in the first quarter. One got pushed into the second quarter because of the delay in commissioning because of the situation in the Middle East. But generally, you're seeing... a little bit of an acceleration of capital. At least half of that is operator-funded capital, which will push into work starting in the second half of 26. So it's not to suggest that there's any difference in our run rate, our maintenance capex. They don't schedule with the number of rigs we have running. But as you add rigs, you have to recertify, reactivate, and put them to work. And in most cases we're able to get the operator to, um, to fund that and other changes they request and also tie in a term contract. And we're careful to tie in term contracts not to get too long because we see a situation developing where five to 10% increases through the back half of 26 will happen and into 27. Because available rig equipment is starting to tie up and you just can't get it. And if you need new pumps, you can't go buy them at an auction anymore. You have to order them. And they're almost a year out now. So everything is starting to tighten up, which is a great construct for starting to get the value that we've created over the last decade back to the billing contract.

speaker
Parvin Madov
Analyst, Equinox

Thank you. One quick last one for me on Canadian activity. It seems like your peers have... gained market share in Canada. What do you attribute that to?

speaker
Bob Geddes
President and Chief Operating Officer

So capital investment, one particular company invested more capital into Canada specifically, where we've been deploying capital focus into other areas of the world, the U.S.

speaker
Bob Geddes
President and Chief Operating Officer

and the Middle East, where we get a higher margin.

speaker
Operator
Conference Operator

Okay. Thanks so much. Thank you very much.

speaker
Operator
Conference Operator

Your next question comes from Joseph Schachter with Schachter Energy Research. Your line is now open.

speaker
Joseph Schachter
Analyst, Schachter Energy Research

Good morning, everyone. Mike, congratulations and good luck with your career and go forward life intentions. Two questions for me. Bob, with all the problems going on in the Middle East, did you guys pull back and get your crews away when the fighting was on, and if there is no peace deal in the next week or two, and they go back to fighting, what do you do in the field? Do you stop drilling? Do you bring your crews out? How do you handle the safety of your employees when the craziness goes on there?

speaker
Bob Geddes
President and Chief Operating Officer

Yeah, fair question. I get a report every day, and the team is on top of this every day. Safety of the crews is most important, of course. It's interesting. If you didn't watch the news, you will see occasional fireworks in the skies every night. The Bahrain operation is the most affected. Oman, not really. Kuwait, not as much either. So we run a lot of... Uh, crews are in, in, in, uh, camps. Um, and, uh, of course we're on top of it, moving crews in and out. We've had to, um, bring them in other ways to land, um, rather than, you know, fly them in. Obviously, um, you know, we used to describe the Middle East as the most stable part of the world and then everything changed. But, you know, we've operated in difficult places of the world, here in Libya, when it went through a conflict. So, you know, we're pretty street smart, got great teams. But to your point, safety of the crews is always first, always first.

speaker
Joseph Schachter
Analyst, Schachter Energy Research

Okay. The second one is Venezuela. The last maker used international rig count showed there were four rigs in the country, so two of the four were yours. and production has gone up. I think Energy Secretary Wright said there were 1.2 million barrels a day up from the 800s. How much upside is there? He's throwing a number of 1.5 million by the end of the year. Is that possible, and do they have enough rigs and equipment and the whole infrastructure to raise production that quickly? And where do you see potential production in the next two to three years, and how much more activity does that do for Ensign?

speaker
Bob Geddes
President and Chief Operating Officer

Well, Venezuela, we've been there pre-Chavez, Chavez, Maduro, and now under Rodriguez. They used to produce 3 million barrels a day. They're around 800, and the numbers you mentioned are reasonably accurate. That is coming through a lot of working with the wells that were shut in, getting current infrastructure going. That's where the efforts are. I think that behind that starts to come the drilling, and that will start in the back half of 26 and into 27. So everyone's efforts are spent just getting wells completed or not completed, resurfaced, well-serviced, back on production, getting infrastructure going, changing valves, fixing leaks, all of that, getting things up and running. That'll take them from the 800 to the 1.2. To get up to the 1.5 by the end of the year, they're going to have to start to do some drilling. To get to 3, they're absolutely going to have to do some drilling. It's anyone's guess. You can extrapolate how many rigs you think are going to be required to get there, but it's going to be a bunch. Venezuela is a challenging area to work in. Again, we've been working there for long time. 95% of our people there are Venezuelans. So we've got a great infrastructure to lever off of. As I mentioned, we'll be adding a third rig into the back half of 2026. And we've got capacity to add rigs as they are required into the country. So it will move up. It's been de-risked. So far, everything is looking very nice.

speaker
Joseph Schachter
Analyst, Schachter Energy Research

Super. Is the pricing of the rigs because of the political risk, et cetera, et cetera, that are you getting higher margins on those Venezuelan rigs than other parts of your international business?

speaker
Bob Geddes
President and Chief Operating Officer

It's all relative. And it's all relative generally because of crew-based costs. So the margins in Venezuela are very close to what we'd be getting in Venezuela.

speaker
Joseph Schachter
Analyst, Schachter Energy Research

That's it for me. Thanks so much.

speaker
Operator
Conference Operator

Thanks for answering my question.

speaker
Operator
Conference Operator

Your next question comes from Keith McKay with RBC. Your line is now open.

speaker
Keith McKay
Analyst, RBC Capital Markets

Hey, good morning and thanks. Maybe, Bob, I just want to pick up on a comment you made about your capital deployment strategy. Maybe some of your peers are a little bit more focused on Canada and you've got a bit more focus in other parts of the world. Can you just comment on the returns you're seeing in some of these other regions and what underpins your long-term strategy of, you know, whether it's U.S., Middle East, Latin America, et cetera, beyond just Canada? Is it the level of resource available? Is it geopolitical factors? Just a little bit more color there would be appreciated.

speaker
Bob Geddes
President and Chief Operating Officer

Well, first and foremost, we want to stay focused on debt reduction. As Trevor pointed out, $125 million is our target for 2026. So when we're having conversations about rig upgrades and movement of rigs, our clients, we have that in our background. Because we operate in eight different countries, we've got polls for capital in different ways. The US has been absorbing a lot of our capital input over the last three to four years. The Middle East, specifically Oman, the last two years. And Canada, we're just starting to focus back into Canada. We've got five rigs, two of those five are cold stack and then are being reactivated. They'll go to work here right after breakup. So we started to focus back onto the high spec singles, which were sold out of in Canada. and high spec triple upgrades and buy fuel packages, things like that. But we've got a good runway of projects for capital in Canada, for example, that are paying for themselves in a year or less with the incremental margin that they'll be making. Again, we put capital where it provides us the best return. And now you're starting to see us focus back into Canada. So, you know, our goal is to get the 25% market share. That's what we used to own in Canada. We grew our market share in the U.S. and we're holding on to that significantly. Our market share in Oman has grown, etc.

speaker
Bob Geddes
President and Chief Operating Officer

So that's the strategy we're deploying.

speaker
Keith McKay
Analyst, RBC Capital Markets

Got it. Appreciate the color. Just on the debt reduction target, so 125 targeted for this year, if I'm not mistaken, and it is quite possible that I am, but that would take you beyond the initial 600 that you had planned to do from 2023 to 2025. Can you just comment on what you think the the right amount of debt is or even if it's an amount of debt versus an amount of liquidity is for the company? And then ultimately, what portion of free cash flow do you think that $125,000 will represent? I'm guessing substantially all, but is there also some, say, dispositions or potential small dispositions built into that target?

speaker
Bob Geddes
President and Chief Operating Officer

Yeah, Trevor, do you want to take that one on?

speaker
Trevor Russell
Chief Financial Officer

Sure, yeah. So to start with our $600 million debt reduction target that we announced a while back, from 2023 to 2026, first half, we should hit that target. We're on target for that now to complete that. The target for this year is $125 million debt reduction. We feel with the cash flow that we're generating that that will be an achievable target. There is some excess room in our free cash flow to cover some more on that. But with our CapEx targets, commitments and plans, we are leaving a little bit left over to make sure we hit that. So we're comfortable with the 125 and it remains our focus to hit that target. Overall debts ratio, I mean, we're probably at that like two and a quarter, two and a half, somewhere in that zone target would be to get down to that one, maybe one and a half. In the near future, a couple of years, we feel that that's kind of the appropriate level of debt for our company. Looking forward to continue moving on towards that target.

speaker
Operator
Conference Operator

Understood. Thanks very much.

speaker
Operator
Conference Operator

Your next question comes from Josh Young with Bison. Your line is now open.

speaker
Josh Young
Analyst, Bison Capital

Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my questions. First question, can you talk a little bit about California and your activity trajectory there and when we might see more rigs after that?

speaker
Bob Geddes
President and Chief Operating Officer

Yeah, yeah. Well, California is such an enigma.

speaker
Bob Geddes
President and Chief Operating Officer

I don't like oil and gas, but don't take it away and give us more of it. It's expensive gallon, it's interesting, but Yeah, we've been in California for a long time. We're the biggest dealer in California. We're down to three or four rigs at the beginning of the year. We're up to eight rigs now. We're seeing that as a steady business moving forward. We've probably only got one available rig left to put back to work. California It's almost like a different country. They have their own transportation regulations, tax, everything else, and a little bit of a high barrier to entry into California. So we see a little bit of upside to maybe add another rate before the end of the year, but we're certainly steady at eight, which we're very happy with.

speaker
Josh Young
Analyst, Bison Capital

Got it. That's great. Thanks. And then on the Canadian market share, you guys have been flipping a little bit over the last year or so. Do you guys have thoughts on where you want to be there and any plan or strategy to either make back market share gains or sort of continue as you're going?

speaker
Bob Geddes
President and Chief Operating Officer

Right. Yeah, fair question. Yeah, market share is always important to us and we want to gain that market share back. Over the last few years, we've sent two of our biggest rigs, 2000 horsepower rigs, down to the U.S. We got tired of waiting for the Northeast DTC gas plate to develop, so we shipped those rigs down to the U.S. Now we're focusing back on market share expansion of Canada. 25% market share is where we need to be and where we will get to. As I mentioned, we've got five ribs that have come on screen at the back end of breakup here in the next month or two. And year over year, we're going to seven to eight grids more running year over year. We should be getting 50 grids by mid-summer. And the plan is to extend and grow up. So we're going to be growing market share at an uptick market, which is a nice place to be. I'm trying to grow market share at a downtick market. And, you know, we've been focusing on on debt reduction at the same time, deploying capital to the markets that provided us the best return. Keep in mind, in Canada, you make a million dollars. Whereas the equipment we buy, put on rigs like cats, are all denominated US dollars. So that's why other areas Canada has a lot of capital deployment because it's just been better businesses for us. But now we've got five projects underway that will pay for the incremental upgrade capital in about eight to 10 months.

speaker
Operator
Conference Operator

Great. Thank you.

speaker
Operator
Conference Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, as a reminder, should you have a question, please press star one. Your next question comes from Tim Monicello with ATB Coremark. Your line is now open.

speaker
Tim Monicello
Analyst, ATB Coremark

Hey, good morning, everyone.

speaker
Tim Monicello
Analyst, ATB Coremark

I joined the call late, so I don't know if I missed this, but could you just outline how many rig upgrades your capital program contemplates and in which regions?

speaker
Bob Geddes
President and Chief Operating Officer

So we've got, let me get that for you, Tim. Bear with me here. We've got five in Canada. Generally, we've got about 10 projects underway. Five of them are in Canada, one in Venezuela, and the rest are in the U.S. I'm sorry, and one in Australia. Five in Canada, one in Australia, one in Venezuela, and the rest are in the U.S.

speaker
Tim Monicello
Analyst, ATB Coremark

Are all those rigs idle currently? Are those net new additions to the rig activities through the back of the year?

speaker
Bob Geddes
President and Chief Operating Officer

Uh, three of those 10, you know, four of those, uh, 10 would be met. Okay.

speaker
Tim Monicello
Analyst, ATB Coremark

Um, and then when you talk about customer funded capital, how much of that is upfront payments and how much of it is like, uh, I guess implied in higher data rates over the term, the contract.

speaker
Bob Geddes
President and Chief Operating Officer

So there's, um, I would say, um, uh, Probably at least a third of them are upfront capital and with term contracts. Probably the remainder of them are where we've been able to raise our rates to retrieve the capital within the first year. And then, of course, we have new days for contract extension after that first year at a higher rate.

speaker
Bob Geddes
President and Chief Operating Officer

We've tended not to go along on those contracts.

speaker
Tim Monicello
Analyst, ATB Coremark

Got it. In the U S market.

speaker
Tim Monicello
Analyst, ATB Coremark

Um, can you talk a little bit about the state of your idle fleet and the amount of rigs available that you think could be upgraded for a reasonable cost? Uh, or I guess an economic cost and current market conditions, um, go back to work in an upcycle.

speaker
Bob Geddes
President and Chief Operating Officer

Right, right. Well, we think we're going to get close to 50 rigs running in the back half of 2026, as I mentioned before. We have a fleet of 70 rigs. Let's put that for a moment. So we have about 20 rigs that we can put the work that the sales team can market. And that varies from... some in the Rockies, a couple of bubbles, but the rest, probably at least 10 of them are kind of the high spec triples that can be deployed and put to work competitively for probably about $5 million, $5 to $8 million per rig of research and upgrade capital.

speaker
Tim Monicello
Analyst, ATB Coremark

Okay. And is that Venezuela rig that's being added in Q4, is that coming out of the U.S. fleet?

speaker
Operator
Conference Operator

Correct.

speaker
Tim Monicello
Analyst, ATB Coremark

Do you expect to see more rigs going down there?

speaker
Bob Geddes
President and Chief Operating Officer

Yeah, I think that if it plays out like everyone thinks it will, we've got the capacity to feed into it and we've got the infrastructure to support it, yes.

speaker
Tim Monicello
Analyst, ATB Coremark

Okay, great.

speaker
Operator
Conference Operator

I appreciate the details. Turn it back. Thank you.

speaker
Operator
Conference Operator

I don't know for the questions at this time. I will now turn the call over to Bob for closing remarks.

speaker
Bob Geddes
President and Chief Operating Officer

Thank you, Bill. This industry keeps on finding ways to deliver value by reducing weld times, and we have equipment performing at higher duty and delivering more work on a daily basis. That value has, for the last decade, been captured by the operators and helped keep industry competitive globally. Notwithstanding, as a result, contractor daily costs have increased with replacement equipment costs moving up. It's time for contractors to capture the value creation generated over the last decade. With that and with tightened supply of high-spec goods, we will be increasing rates roughly 5% to 10% on contract rollovers. This will help contractors cover those costs and monetize them in the future in the value we've created over the last decade. We'll see where oil pricing lands, but it's certainly lining up from where it was. And with their little excess rig equipment capacity and lead times on rig equipment getting out there up to a year or more, and with utilization moving up, the market constructs what's very promising for Enzyme.

speaker
Bob Geddes
President and Chief Operating Officer

We'll chat in three months. Thank you for joining the call.

speaker
Operator
Conference Operator

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

Disclaimer

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