Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Matador Resources Company Update Conference Call. My name is Daniel, and I'll be serving as the operator for today. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. We will facilitate a question-and-answer session at the end of the company's remarks. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded for replay purposes, and the replay will be available on the company's website for one year, as discussed in the company's press release issued this morning. I will now turn the call over to Mr. Mac Schmitz, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations for Matador. Mr. Schmitz, you may proceed.
Thank you, Daniel. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for Matador's update conference call in connection with the strategic bolt-on Delaware Basin acquisition that we announced this morning. As a reminder, certain statements included in this morning's presentation may be forward-looking and reflect the company's current expectations or forecasts of future events based on the information that is now available. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially is contained in the company's press release and its most recent annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.
In addition to the press release that we issued earlier this morning, I would like to remind everyone that you can find a short slide presentation in connection with our announcement under the Investor Relations tab on our website. With that, I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Joe Foran, our Founder, Chairman, and CEO. Joe?
Thank you, Mac, and thank all of you for joining in on this call. We appreciate your interest very much. And what Mac was saying about the, the slides that are available on our website are very important because I think sometimes a picture tells a thousand words, and that's where I'd, I'd start by looking at Exhibit A on those, those slides, and you can see the property fit, between Ameredev acreage and ours. And that's the first point. We're in the same neighborhood, and we've been in the same neighborhood.
The second thing is we've looked at the Ameredev property and, for some time, we had to wait until we had swallowed the Advance deal to be sure we had the balance sheet strength and the financial wherewithal to do that without threatening taking an undue risk for the rest of our shareholders. Advance has worked out very well, and we believe Ameredev will be work out just as well and has every bit as much potential. Our thesis on this deal is not that we were looking for a bargain, you know, sum up there buying something cheap. We knew Ameredev, EnCap, being the strong partner it was, it didn't have to do anything. So we looked at it much like what Warren Buffett says he looks for in a deal.
He looks for a wonderful company at a fair price. Ameredev has great rock and has a great record of success. These are very good properties. They've got flow assurance through their ownership in Piñon, and the staff is very professional, and we have a lot of trust and confidence that things were done right, and we're pleased to have this opportunity. So how the deal actually should be rated is how it's gonna look a year from now. And as we are able to drill some of the wells, there's two or three zones out there that we think are very prospective, but we'll just have to let the process run its course. And we have a lot of trust and confidence in the Ameredev staff, so we don't need to intrude in the, in them.
We're planning to sit back and let them do their work, and as the deal closes, and continue to collaborate with them as they know the assets, and they've done a good job. So it's a nice situation to be coming into, and in a very nice situation, as much as people are talking about inventory these days, their inventory fits very well with us, and they'll be a great combination. So with that, it's accretive on all things, and financially, the same, same way that we think it'll just make what we think is a real good year for Matador. On the rest of its properties, that's much better if and when we get it closed. Not that we're worried about it, it just, we'll be eager and see how things move along.
Daniel, we'd like to turn it over to questions when you're ready.
Thank you. To ask a question, you will need to press star one one on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Ladies and gentlemen, due to time constraints, we ask that you please limit yourself to one question and one follow-up. Again, we ask that you please limit yourselves to one question and a follow-up until all have had a chance to ask a question, after which we would welcome additional questions from you. One moment for our first question. Our first question comes from Scott Hanold with RBC Capital Markets. Your line is open.
... Good morning, all. Yeah, congrats on the acquisition, looks like a nice, you know, tuck-in with, especially with the Advance assets. You know, my first line of questioning is on the midstream, you know, asset. I know that facility had some issues, you know, over the past year. If you'd be good to kind of get an update of where that is, and just kind of curious with your respective ownership, like, how much, you know, capital needs to be spent on that system to support combined production there? And what kind of value do you attribute to your ownership there?
Hey, Scott, this is Brian. Thanks for that question. Great, great question about the midstream. We're really excited for this opportunity to work with Piñon, and, you know, I think it provides really good flow assurance for us as we go forward and get to know those guys better. You know, I think some of the questions you had about capital expenditures, otherwise, we'll go into that in more detail as we get closer to closing. We certainly, you know, enjoy getting to know those folks, and they do a good business. You know, I think some of the issues they may have had at the end of last year have largely been resolved.
And so, you know, I think as we go forward, we'll work with them, and, and, just kind of hand in hand, we look forward to, to that opportunity. And so, they run a good business, have, have EBITDA for us in the future. We think it's gonna be a very profitable business for us, and so any investments we make, we think will be profitable on that side. So we're really excited about the midstream business and, and how this complements, you know, Pronto and, and San Mateo, other midstream assets, and how this is a good, a good opportunity for us.
Okay, thanks. And you know, I guess my follow-up question would be on you know, just the structure of the deal, how it kind of came together, if it was how competitive it was, but also on the cash, you know, payment. And how do you feel about your balance sheet? I mean, you know, look, I think you've got a path to get it below 1x, but I'd like some, you know, if you could get some context on, you know, was there any equity ever as a consideration, you know, for that? And you know, just in terms of, are you gonna look to hedge going forward to help assure that you can get, you know, to those leverage targets?
Thank you, Scott. I'll try that question, and Brian or someone else, Gregg, can follow up. But the first thing, how the deal came together is, Ameredev is a company with very good prospects, you know, very good properties, great rock. Everybody recognizes the potential, and any number of investment bankers had mentioned it, and thought that we were a logical candidate, but we weren't ready to do it because we hadn't fully absorbed Advance. And EnCap is somebody that, you know, we like dealing with. You know, Gary Petersen and I are friends, and again, it just, until now, until just recently, it just hadn't been the right, right time for us.
But once we did the offering, a little while back and raised some additional capital, equity capital, and after we did the additional bond deal, we refreshed our financial statement to where we were in good position. We had virtually nothing borrowed on our RBL, $25 million, I think, on a $1.5 billion RBL. So we had, you know, a $1.5 billion ready there, did the bond offering, so we extended out to 2032, so that gave us eight years. But we intend to pay down both the RBL and get our leverage ratio back to 1x. It's not obscene right now at 1.3x, but, I like it better at 1.0x, or less. Now, we were doing an all-cash offering, and thought that was more practical.
You know, our stock has performed well, but we think it'll do better as we become a bigger company. And so now we're moving from, say, $8 billion-$10 billion in assets to something that's $10 billion-$12 billion in assets. And as that additional cash flow comes through, we're hoping it's recognized and appreciated in the market. And we know it makes us a bigger, better company, and we see a lot of potential, a lot of locations that we can turn into profitable wells, and they've got a lot of choice out there. So that's how the deal came together.
And, you know, that fortunately, we had the strength to do it, and because I believe, I'll let them speak for themselves, but EnCap had done another deal with us, and it had gone well, and we've done other business, and I think they had confidence that we could do what we said, and financing was not a condition. And then we appreciate very much PNC stepping up as they did and assuring us of this before the deal was finally set, signed. And, I... You know, that's the way everything came together, and you, you're just really excited to know that you've got the inventory, and you got the people, and you got the money to make this a bigger success and puts Matador in a different league.... Brian, what did I leave out?
No, Joe, I think you hit that very well. I just echo the thanks you gave to PNC and what they did for us as we got ready to announce this transaction. I think as we go forward, the rest of our bank group, for their support. We have 19 very supportive banks. We're grateful for the relationships we have there. And I'll say on the hedging side, Scott, you asked about that, you know, we are opportunistically putting in hedges now. I think we will continue to do that over the coming weeks and months. So we'll talk about that more when we get to our second quarter earnings call.
But, we certainly wanna make sure we protect some of the economics of the transaction, and so we're trying to look at opportunistically hedging as we get closer to closing.
Yeah, I want to emphasize that point, Scott, is that we're not trying to we're in the process of putting together the hedges and looking at how the market goes on that, and we'll have detailed information in the July earnings release. But they're occurring. It is gonna be hedged. Fortunately, the market right now is pretty decent on putting together a decent hedge as insurance. And as I've always said, people hedge, tend to hedge, to protect the balance sheet or protect a lending arrangement, and we'll be doing that to the, you know, to the safety and well-being of Matador and our lenders both. Gregg, would you add anything to that?
No, I think you guys touched on it really well. You know, we are, of course, we're definitely looking at opportunities out there, and we'll continue to do so. I think there is. It's a great environment right now to continue to be able to get something hedged right now, and I anticipate it not being an issue at all.
Great. And Joe, just to clarify one of your comments. And I know the Advance, you bought Advance from EnCap, and it was an all-cash deal, and this one was an all-cash deal. Was it your decision for that to be an all-cash, or was it the buyer's decision, or seller's decision? Sorry.
No, it was ours. I don't think I'm giving anything away. They said they'd be willing to take our stock. They liked our stock, and they're willing to take it. But, and that, you know, they would be happy to take it. They've owned us in the past, but we would prefer to do it all-cash deal and keep that separate, that they, you know, wouldn't create... We didn't want an overhang.
Mm-hmm.
They appreciated that and are offering some protections, but it's just a cleaner deal if you can come in and do all cash. And fortunately, because of PNC and because of the two earlier transactions this year on the bonds and the stock, it wasn't necessary. And, you know, when you do stock, you're giving away some of your most valuable assets. Because we think this is a win-win deal that adds value to Matador, and we get what we want, is more opportunity, and EnCap gets more of what they wanted, was cash at this point. And we've taken the steps to protect our stock with the hedge, and we know this country well. We've been out here for a long, long time, 20 years.
So, to be able to get a block of acreage like this in the best part of the fairway, we thought was very exciting and just delighted that the financing worked out, the flow assurance worked out, the fit between their properties and our properties works out. All those were pluses, and that we see a lot of opportunity to make this work out very well to our shareholders. And our staff is very excited. And as you know, Scott, that our staff, we have an employee share purchase plan, and we have over 90% participation. So when guys say, "Do it," they're, you know, they were putting their money where their mouth was and their own stock ownership.
Appreciate that. Thanks, Joe.
Thank you. Our next question comes from Neal Dingmann with Truist Securities. Your line is now open.
Morning, guys. Congrats as well. Joe, for you maybe and the team, I'm just wondering. First question is on activity. While it's still obviously a very early deal, just announced, you know, is there any consideration about potentially thinking about a step-up in D&C plans, given all now the additional inventory that this comes with?
Would you say that again, ask that again? That came in a little-
My question is around activity. I'm just wondering, while very early, given all the inventory that this brings, would there be any consideration to changing the D&C plans, you know, the rig activity, et cetera?
Not at this time. I mean, look, we're not making decisions like that until it's closer to the time to closing. I mean, that's not our mode. They currently have one rig running, one completion crew, and 82% of the acreage is held by production already. So there's no, it's not like you're facing expirations or some compelling reason to move it up. It's their properties right now. We expect them to be professional. And as the date nears, and we get to know the properties better and get to know the people at Ameredev and what they think is right, and meet with our committees, there's just not a need. We have a very strong, as you know, a very strong relationship with Patterson.
They, or their predecessors, have drilled virtually every well we've done. So it's not a problem of either getting the rigs or Halliburton or Schlumberger. We've good relations with all of them, our pipe with Foster and, you know, B&L. All our vendors, we think, have been very supportive. And so we're not worried about any of that. It's just see how we can get through all the due diligence in this period and work towards a close and start working on a more detailed plan on how we would do it. But we have the rigs and to do that, if that looks like the best decision. But for right now, I think our first aim is at working out the financial.
We're in a financial period, and work with the banks to get all that laid out and, you know, make continuing assessments of the prospective zones that could be added and kind of rate their various wells within their deal and how we might extend. Chris may offer that, he's looking at it and come up with ideas that, but they need to be pressure tested. So a lot of, I would say, characterize it as a lot of ideas at this time. A lot of people can see the potential, but that just needs to be thoroughly studied and put into a comprehensive plan. But right now, this is the beginning of the engagement period.
But also, remember, not only do we have the relationships with the vendors, it's 86% is HBP, and they also have a very high working interest, most of it in that 85% or better. So whenever you start, it'll have an impact. We just need to be patient and spend time, be sure that the plan is solid.
Great point, Joe. And just something you just said, kind of brings me to my second question. You just mentioned the opportunities. I'm wondering, given how adjacent a lot of this acreage is, I'm just wondering if you and Chris could comment. It seems like there would be opportunities to extend laterals, to sort of tie in, you know, different things there. Could you just talk about the opportunities that this might bring, either, you know, future trades or really, I'm just thinking about maybe you guys have done a great job on extending laterals, seeing higher returns because of that. Is there going to be opportunities, more opportunities now because of this adjacent acreage?
Oh, I think undoubtedly, you're going to have more opportunities. And just like you mentioned, it's not going to be limited to operations, you know, trades that make sense for both parties, that's going to be an opportunity. And, Chris is already chomping at the bit to look at what might be possible with 3-mi laterals. Chris, just speak for yourself.
Yeah. Hey, Neal, Chris Calvert, EVP, so-
Hey, Chris.
You know, I think you highlight some of the things that we are very excited about with this transaction. You know, you speak to longer laterals that has been somewhat of a game changer for us, when we started talking about those, you know, three to four years ago. The blockiness of this acreage does set itself up extremely well for these extended length laterals that we have kind of talked through. You know, the way that they have set up their position with multi-well pads, long laterals, the way that they've already planned to develop this, we're really excited about that. You know, so I think it's one of those things that you're already looking and highlighting the things that we are excited about.
But once again, you know, we see this, and we see this as an opportunity to work with a partner. Like, like Joe has said, we're kind of in a, in a three-month or, you know, a financial period right now to where we don't want to get ahead of ourselves. But the blockiness of this acreage is, is something that we are excited about.
Thanks, guys. Congrats again. Nice deal.
Thanks.
Thanks, Neil.
See you.
Thank you. Our next question comes from Gabriel Daoud with TD Cowen. Your line is now open.
Thanks. Hey, morning, guys, and congrats on the deal. Was hoping maybe we could just start with that, that HBP number. It doesn't appear to be a worrisome number, obviously, at 82% held by production. But just curious, maybe if there's like a split between Lea and Winkler, and how do you guys think about the relative productivity out of both counties, Lea versus Winkler?
Yeah. Gabe, the acreage is 82% held by production.
Great. Thanks, Joe. Just curious though, the leases that are not currently held by production, is that more skewed towards Winkler or to Lea or kind of evenly spread? And then just curious how you think about, like, the relative differences in productivity out of both counties.
Hey, this is Van Singleton. It's more in New Mexico, and I think the way we've looked at this going forward, as Joe said, we've been working on a plan to fold this into our—
...our existing drilling schedule, and certainly those leases are getting attention and will be held in time. We don't have any concerns over losing any leases, and there is plenty of term left on the leases that are not held for us to accomplish that. You know, I'd say, you know, two plus years before anything's going to start expiring. So we feel very comfortable that we'll be able to get to everything that needs to be gotten to. I guess maybe, Tom, do you want to add anything to that?
Yeah, Gabriel, you know, between, just kind of going across the county line there, there's a lot of great rock on both sides. We, we've drilled wells, you know, to the north and some of our acreage in Antelope Ridge and to the west and, you know, in Texas. And so we really think that there's excellent targets kind of all throughout. Ameredev has done a really nice job delineating, you know, the Wolfcamp, in particular, the Wolfcamp A and the Wolfcamp B zones, but also the Second Bone Spring. And there's been other great new wells off to the west and kind of all throughout the acreage. And so, you know, we're very confident in this area.
As Joe mentioned, we've had operations, you know, all around this area for several years, and it's something that we're very familiar with. And you know, I think Ned Frost and I would both agree that Ameredev has done a very nice job delineating these targets over the years with their, kind of, with their campaign and getting good log data and drilling wells with 3D seismic. And so I think that they've done a very nice job with all of these different targets.
Thanks, Tom. Thanks for that.
Ned-
And then just.
Do you have anything you wanna... Ned, do you have anything you wanna add?
Sure. I think I'd second what Tom said. I mean, I think Ameredev has done a good job of assembling a very blocky position in rock that we are familiar with. To Tom's point, we have drilled offsetting this acreage on both ends. I think they have been methodical in their approach in delineating their targets, and it is a very high-quality asset, and I think I speak for everyone here when I say we can't wait to, we can't wait to start drilling wells out here.
Awesome. Thanks, Ned. Thanks, guys. That's, that's a good color. And then just as a follow-up, there were no operational synergy numbers quoted. Just curious if you can maybe talk about that and what, what does LOE look like on these properties? Thanks, guys.
All right, Gabe, that's a very good question. It's a very appropriate question, and we'll ask that again in July. So we, you know, give us some time because I just don't wanna throw out some numbers as we do our due diligence and start to see a clearer idea of those various synergies. But obviously, the most obvious one is that this boosts our production by about 26%, but we're not gonna, you know, add 26% to the current staff. That you've got a lot of jobs, you know, that can be done by existing staff. Now, having said that, we're gonna be selective and hopeful of attracting some of the Ameredev people to work with us, just as we did on Advance, particularly in the field.
You know, I think that's a real possibility, but you don't have to add a lot of the administrative staff or the headquarters staff, except on a selective basis. So that's the most obvious one to me. Just know going in that we can absorb most of that by ourselves, except for the field staff we'd like to be sure to keep. They've done a good work.
Hey, Gabe, this is Glenn. I'd just add to what Joe was saying and talk about a little bit of what Ameredev has done in terms of building out their infield gathering. They had a very similar approach to Matador in controlling their own destiny, and they've made a fairly large investment in infrastructure, both, or excuse me, on the crude produced water and on the natural gas gathering side. And then this partnership with Piñon to be an anchored tenant and make sure that they have flow assurance and firm capacity to be able to have a home for their natural gas.
And so, they've done a very nice job and look forward to, yeah, taking over the assets and seeing where we can, you know, be efficient.
Thanks, Glenn. That's helpful. Thanks, guys.
Thanks, Gabe.
Thank you. Our next question comes from Phillips Johnston with Capital One Securities. Your line is open.
Hey, guys. Thanks, and congrats. First, just wanted to clarify if the EBITDA guidance range of $425 million-$475 million includes any contribution from the midstream, and if so, what that would be?
Yeah. Hey, Phillips, this is Brian Willey, EVP and CFO. Thanks, thanks for the question. Yeah, the $425 million-$475 million kind of forward-looking 12-month EBITDA does include some midstream, but it's not much. It's less than 5% of that number. Like I said earlier, we're excited about the midstream and be able to get to know those guys better and their business, but it's very minimal as it relates to that full $425 million-$475 million.
... Okay, sounds good. Then, it sounded like based on the prior question, we might get more info on LOE unit costs later on. But just from a directional standpoint, can you maybe give us a sense of what kind of an effect these properties are gonna have on your standalone LOE costs?
Well, Phil, we'll have a better idea on that. Ask us in July. But what I would tell you is, I think you know me well enough that I'm not gonna turn to Glenn and say, "The LOE numbers are just fine. Don't worry about trying to improve them." You know, that's my first challenge I'm gonna make to Glenn: "Glenn, now, what can you do to improve these?" But in fairness to him, I'll let him sit on it for a day or two, and then I'll get after him. And the same thing with Chris is that in our, you know, that's the way we do things around here, is we look and try to see how we can make them better.
And you've watched us for how many years, continually improve our, our rates of return and, our, you know, our free cash flow, numbers. And so, we're gonna... I'm not making Glenn bring up his bed roll here, but we're gonna improve-- we'd like to think we're gonna improve the LOE numbers and the other cost numbers in other ways. But, you know, I'd stress that Ameredev did some good things already in place. The three-stream, pipes that they put in, are already there, and that, that helped make this an attractive property. It was very professionally run.
Yeah, and that, and then, again, once again, I'd just say, yeah, exactly what Joe said is, you know, if we go back and look at the Advance properties, you know, they were bolt-on properties in between our existing wells and operations. And so there's 101 operated wells here on these properties, and that folds in very nicely to our existing Antelope Ridge assets. And so we have, you know, we have a management team in place, and we have field staff in place, and we think that these properties will, you know, much like the Advance, will fold in nicely, and we'll be able to realize synergies that are associated with having, you know, adjacent operations.
Again, similarly to the Advance deal, as we get in and, you know, we see how they're doing things. Again, they've made a really nice investment here that we think will just be very complementary to our existing operations.
Well, it's back to what we said. This is not a—this is a good company that we're paying a fair price for, but we still see the potential, a lot of potential for further development and for improvement as we combine areas. And as Chris just, you know, indicated, the economies of scale of having 3-mi laterals and, you know, common facilities. So, it's the usual things. It just takes strong execution, and we got confidence in our staff.
Sounds good, guys. Thanks very much for the color.
Thanks.
Thanks, folks.
Thank you. Our next question comes from Tim Rezvan with KeyBanc Capital Markets. Your line is now open.
Thanks for taking my question, folks. I wanted to ask about midstream. You know, you've gotten a lot of questions in the last year about the optionality that you had with the midstream assets you own outside of the JV. I'm just curious how much, you know, if at all, the decision to hold off on that was based on line of sight on this acquisition. How are you thinking about kind of the optionality now, and am I overthinking that idea?
Hey, Tim. This is Brian Willey. I'm happy to take that question, and you know, Joe or Greg can certainly jump in. You know, look, I think certainly we have a lot of optionality on the midstream side. It's something we've talked about a lot in the past, having San Mateo, and that's been a great business for us. You know, we expect $225 million in EBITDA this year from that business. Pronto also being a fantastic business and providing a lot of flow assurance for us in Lea County.
And we've talked about, you know, having that optionality, and as we go forward, I don't think we were necessarily delaying anything on that front to look forward to a deal like this, but I think this certainly adds to the optionality going forward. That, you know, this transaction's a great transaction for us, both from an E&P side and have this additional interest on the midstream side. So, we're very excited that, you know, again, one more option for us and opportunity for us as we go forward, working with Piñon and continuing to explore optionality and opportunities with our existing midstream assets at San Mateo and at Pronto.
Okay. That's good context. I appreciate that.
Yes.
And then, another question I had is on, you know, the CapEx guide for this year. Lost in the, in all the news here, but, you know, if we think about one rig for a quarter, I don't know if that's $35 million or $40 million for a typical Delaware Basin rig. But are you essentially saying that outside of this acquisition, you've identified cost savings on the budget that you can kind of absorb that rig for a quarter or so and leave that budget unchanged? Just kind of curious if you could provide a little more context on that unchanged CapEx guide. Thanks.
Yeah, this is Brian again, happy to answer that as well. Yes, I think, look, we've had some good savings this year. Earlier, we talked about in the first quarter, we had savings of $10 million.
... Off of what we expected to incur in the first quarter. You know, Chris and his team have done a fantastic job, Glenn and his team as well. Just the guys in the field have done a very, very good job for us. And so, as we go forward, obviously, we talked about in the release, that we'll have more information about how the Advance transaction impacts our CapEx when we get to the next earnings release and then also at closing. But that's right. I think if we run that ninth rig for the, you know, roughly one quarter, depending on when closing occurs, that we can still be in the range that we set forth earlier this year.
And so again, good credit to Chris and his folks and the guys out in the field to be able to make that possible.
You know, that one of the things that people need to keep in mind as they calculate this, when we reduce the number of days on wells, you save money without cutting or beating down a vendor. And so as our Chris's crews, the drilling engineers have done a very good job of setting, I don't know, close to 300 records of drilling records of one sort or another. And every time they do that and drill these wells faster and faster, fewer days on well, we save a lot of money. And that, that's the trend that we've been in, continuing to save some money. That's another reason why we're confident that we'll still be in range.
But if things change, we will certainly pass that message along at one of these earnings release or earnings calls, just like this. Chris?
Yeah. Hey, this is Chris Calvert again. You know, Brian highlighted the $10 million in Q1 savings from a complete capital standpoint. You know, I would also highlight, you know, we Matador was one of the first Delaware Basin companies to go out and use Trimul- Frac within our completions. And Tim, I know you're aware of this, but we piloted that on six wells that were part of the Advance acquisition in 2023, so we successfully piloted that. And so we're looking at savings like that that will also kind of chip away at that incremental, you know, rig cost, I guess, is where your original question was. So I think it is something. It speaks to what Joe just said.
It's, we focus on efficiencies, we focus on things that are sort of agnostic to OFS pricing, and that is just that basically boils down to spending less time on well. And that's really what we saw with Trimul-F rac, for example. We estimated it to be about a 40% time savings versus simul-frac, and that's really kind of where it came out to. And so it, it does, it speaks to the operational group and the mindset of just reducing days on well.
Appreciate the color. Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question comes from Oliver Huang with TPH & Co. Your line is now open.
Good morning, everyone. Congrats on the deal, and thanks for taking my questions. Any color on the spacing design that Ameredev had been operating the position on? And if there are any plans to kind of change the design from a completion intensity or spacing perspective, when we're kind of thinking about any potential value uplift you all might be able to extract from a well productivity perspective relative to what we've seen historically out of the asset?
Hey, Oliver, this is Tom Elsener, EVP of Reservoir Engineering. You know, I will give my hats off to the Ameredev team. I think they have very thoughtfully designed their development, taking into consideration, you know, many, many factors. As we all know, it's not a one factor that controls kind of the well spacing. But they've done a very nice job, and I think they have delivered some excellent wells. You can see on one of our slides, you know, how they have done a very nice job, you know, generating these wells and bringing them online. You know, we will see kind of how things go, you know, up through closing, but I don't anticipate any major changes to kind of how they space their wells.
In general, they have, you know, been pretty close to the 160-ac spacing or the 1,320 ft between wellbores per per horizon. And they adjust that based upon, you know, the reservoir thickness and other considerations. I, you know, I think it's too early to say exactly if we would do anything dramatically different. We may tweak some things around the, around the fringes, but I, again, I think they've done a very nice job with their development so far.
Awesome. That's helpful color. Maybe just for a follow-up, just on the acquired assets, any color you're able to provide on the average lateral length for the new undeveloped locations that you're highlighting at this time? And just kind of looking at how Ameredev had predominantly focused on the Upper Wolfcamp, as you all had mentioned earlier on in the call, any sort of color with respect to how many of the remaining locations fall into that Wolfcamp A and B bucket versus the Bone Spring or any other zones that you all are willing to ascribe credit for at this time?
Sure. Yeah, Oliver, this is, this is Tom again. The, you know, the average lateral length, as it's kind of starting right now, is, you know, pretty close to, pretty close to 2 mi. You know, and as kind of we've discussed it, you know, the blockiness of the acreage and how, you know, continuous it is, you know, it does create some, some potential to, you know, to combine some things into, you know, longer 3-mi units. But I think it kind of starts, kind of starts around the 2-mi mark. As far as the inventory goes, the, the Wolfcamp A has been a very prolific zone in this, in this area.
You know, approximately, you know, around a third of the inventory is, you know, kind of Wolfcamp, Wolfcamp A related, you know, lower third Bone Spring, Wolfcamp B, and then probably the other two-thirds are in the kind of the other Bone Spring targets, like the second Bone Spring, first Bone Spring. You know, of the 371...
... You know, net operating locations that we listed, you know, that doesn't even include some of the other prospective zones, you know, like the Avalon, that, you know, we could have a couple, couple dozen net locations down the road if, you know, things work out there.
Awesome. That's helpful color.
Right.
Thanks for your time.
Actually, not trying to add much, it's the average length is closer to actually to 10,000 ft than 9,000 ft, and so it's a little longer. I'm not trying to contradict what Tom is saying, 'cause Tom is on top of that, particularly on the spacing and our drilling program, and does a superb job. But, you know, according to some of the due diligence items we've got have indicated that on average, they're a little longer than that 10% difference. But, we just always try to be a little as accurate as we can in your answer to your questions.
That's, that's right, Joe. I think for the, for the drilling and the DUCs that are in place, I think that's exactly right, Joe.
Right. And on new wells, we see possibilities to go longer, and that's what interested Tom and Chris, who's evaluated this company. And so we hope to report back to you at this time next year, that we've successfully done some longer laterals.
Thanks. That's helpful color.
Thank you. Our final question comes from Leo Mariani with Roth MKM. Your line is now open.
Yeah, hi. I was hoping you guys could speak a little bit to the production trajectory on the asset. My understanding is maybe the production kind of had been coming down in the past handful of quarters here, due to the issues at the Piñon plant. But maybe you guys can kind of confirm that. But if I heard you guys, it sounds like you're saying that the issues with the plant have been rectified. So as we kind of look into the end of the year, should we expect production to start to stabilize? And you got the 13 DUCs. Do you see the 13 DUCs, when those come on, as being able to grow the asset a little bit?
Just anything you can tell me around kind of how the production trajectory has been trending and what we should expect as we get closer to the end of the year?
Yeah. Hey, Leo, this is, this is Brian. Happy to talk about that. So I think as you mentioned, like with some of the issues at the end of last year and early this year, but I think largely those have been rectified. And so we put in the slide deck in our press release that we expect in the third quarter the production will be 25,500 BOE per day at the midpoint and 65% oil. So that really is, you know, getting back to the full run rate. We expect that, that kind of continue through the end of the year. And you're right, with the 13 DUCs, depending on when those come online, that, that could, that could boost that number some, you know, as you go into the fourth quarter.
But really the timing of A, when we close, and then B, also when those DUCs come online and how they contribute to the production. But we're really excited about the assets and what they'll do for us going, you know, this year, and then also as we go forward into 2025.
Okay, I appreciate that. And then just on the financing side, if I heard you guys correctly, it sounds like you certainly feel comfortable you don't need to put any additional equity, you know, into the transaction here, comfortable with cash. I did see you've got a $250 million term loan piece, you know, as part of the funding here, but you are putting a fair amount of debt here on the revolver. Are you looking at other, you know, potential options to maybe term out, you know, some of that debt, as well? I know you certainly did that with Advance. Just wondering if we should see something maybe similar here.
Well, I'd just say this: At this point, we're considering any and all methods, and we'll be more precise on that as we get closer to close. But you know, the same thing, we're we you know we don't want to say that we're going to do something and not do it. And the same thing is, we don't know what all the options are on the financing. We're pretty satisfied that PNC has given us a very nice avenue, but things can happen that would be more attractive, going down some other path or turning one direction or another. But it looks good, but we're always, as we have a corny saying around here, we always reserve the right to get smarter.
If something better is presented, as a public company, we will give that serious study.
Okay, thank you.
Thanks, Leo. Good, good question. As we sum up, is that for the operator?
That's right, Joe. Yeah, I think we can, we can move to closing remarks.
Okay. To get to closing remarks, I'd again would like to really emphasize, this is a unique opportunity, and usually, often the sales package that comes out, they're selling it because it has some problem. This isn't the case. This is a really good property, and we welcome the chance to have a shot at it, because, again, just like Buffett's remark, try to buy really good properties for a reasonable price, and we felt like we reached that with EnCap, and they're happy, we're happy, and but we see a lot of potential here, and I think the staff has proven itself. When we went public, we were about $300 million in assets, and today, with this transaction, we move up in excess, you know, we exceed $10 billion.
So, the staff has done very strong work all through that time, and we'd like to see them work their process on this and appreciate this opportunity. And we view it as a real opportunity, and that can help us in any number of ways, and we really like the inventory, and it's not a case where we feel diluted, but between the two companies, that it's a bigger, better company with more options.
Now, I'd like to really, the summary is that on a pro forma basis, you know, it is at the bottom of our press release, it says, "At a pro forma basis, we expect to have 190,000 net acres in the best basin in the country, with approximately 2,000 net locations, with production over 180,000 bbl of oil or natural gas equivalent per day, and proven oil and gas reserves of over 580 million, as audited by Netherland, Sewell, with a value in excess of $10 billion." That's a great opportunity, and we all are very excited by what it provides us going forward. Finally, I'd like to mention two things. First, we have our annual meeting tomorrow, and you can hear what we tell our shareholders. It'll be broadcast, and we're excited.
It'll be our 40th annual meeting, dating back to first Matador to this Matador. We have a number of shareholders, a good number of shareholders, who have been shareholders for 40 years, and an even larger number of people who have inherited their shares from their parents and still own them. We think that's just a record of relationships that we have with, as I mentioned, Patterson, Halliburton, Schlumberger, B&L, Popco, you know, and so many others in relationships with the shareholders. And I don't mean to work that issue over too much, but it means a lot to us, that we didn't come up through private equity, but through friends and family, and are excited about the future growth possibilities.
So come to shareholder, and you'll get a second chance to ask questions, 'cause we'll open the floor, and you can meet the guys who are gonna do the work. And, and I think you'll be pleased with... And we'll have, of course, some maps and things that you can see and see the potential. But also shout out to Rob and the accounting group to get this deal done in time. They had to really work some late hours, so they've had their time, you know, pulling these numbers together, too. So I just wanna be sure we've recognized all the groups. And, great work by Bryan Erman and the legal staff in pulling this together and getting it done as quick as we did, and especially to Van, who was the primary point man.
Van, why don't we close with leaving you something to say, if you'd like?
Well, Joe, I think I would just continue on with the thanks. You know, to shout out to the Parker Reese at Ameredev and Jason DeLorenzo and Kyle Kafka at EnCap. I mean, it really, both teams worked and even, you know, our outside counsels at Vinson & Elkins and Baker Botts. Everybody worked together on this as well as I've ever seen it done. And there were lots of late nights, internally and externally, but at the end of the day, we were all working towards the same goal. And as Joe said, you know, this is a great company. We feel like we've made a fair deal, where both sides win, and that's what we always try to accomplish. So, we're looking forward to getting into our due diligence period and getting this to closing.
Thank all of you for participating today and hope to hear from you again more, and answer any questions you might have.
All right. With that, no more questions. We'll sign off. Thank you all for listening. Thank you for participating, and I repeat, come to see us sometime, and we can discuss this at greater length.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your participation today. This concludes today's program.