尽管美国页岩生产商在2022年报告了创纪录的盈利，但他们警告称，通胀将拖累2023年的盈利能力
不断上升的通货膨胀推高了页岩公司的盈亏平衡价格，这可能会抵消页岩公司更高的预算
页岩生产商继续优先考虑将利润返还给股东，但如果成本上升，这些利润可能会面临压力
中国石化新闻网讯 据油价网2023年2月24日星期五报道，尽管美国最大的独立页岩生产商在2022年实现了创纪录的盈利，但他们仍然认为成本通胀将拖累2023年的盈利能力。
今年美国页岩生产商的资本预算将高于2022年，但支出不会用于原油产量的实质性增长，因为页岩公司将继续优先考虑去年创纪录的现金流和利润对股东的回报。
但根据美国最大的专注页岩的生产商的高管们的说法，通货膨胀并没有消失，至少在未来几个季度内也不会消失。
响尾蛇能源公司总裁兼首席财务官Kaes Van't Hof在本周举行的公司财报电话会议上表示：“在通货膨胀的环境下，我们正在尽我们所能削减成本，并将成本保持在尽可能低的水平。”
Hof补充说，过去6个季度公司面临的最大的阻力一直是套管成本。
响尾蛇能源公司首席运营官丹尼尔·威森补充称：“我希望我们能在本年度第二季度和第三季度开始看到通胀压力方面的一些减轻。”
去年，响尾蛇能源公司获得了创纪录的近46亿美元的自由现金流，并通过不断增长的基本股息、可变股息和股票回购计划向股东返还了大约31亿美元的现金。
美国另一家著名页岩生产商德文能源公司在2022年获得了创纪录的经营业绩和52年历史上最好的财务业绩。然而，德文能源公司高管指出，通胀影响在其运营中随处可见。
德文能源公司首席财务官杰夫·里特诺尔近日在公司财报电话会议上表示：“坦率地说，我们在每个成本类别中都看到了通胀的影响。”
“我们看到，通货膨胀率在30%到50%之间，这取决于你谈论的成本类别，”里特诺尔补充说，“这就是我们在2023年将要面临的严峻情况。”
德文能源公司的高管表示，成本上涨无疑推动了公司盈亏平衡价格的上涨。德文能源公司的盈亏平衡价格已从一年前的每桶WTI价格30美元升至40美元左右。
李峻 编译自 油价网
原文如下：
Rising Costs Will Continue To Erode U.S. Shale Profits
· Despite reporting record earnings in 2022, U.S. shale producers are warning that inflation will drag>· Rising inflation has driven the breakeven price higher for shale companies, which could counter the companies’ higher budgets.
· Shale producers continue to prioritize returning profits to shareholders, but could see those profits come under pressure if costs rise.
Despite record earnings for 2022, the biggest independent U.S. shale producers continue to flag cost inflation as a drag>This year’s capital budgets will be higher than in 2022 but the expenditures will not go towards a material increase in oil production as companies continue to prioritize returns to shareholders with the record cash flows and profits generated last year.
But inflation hasn’t gone away and will not go away for at least a few more quarters, according to the top executives of the biggest shale-focused producers in America.
“We're doing what we can to cut costs and keep costs as low as possible in a, you know, inflationary environment,” Kaes Van't Hof, president and chief financial officer at Diamondback Energy, said>The biggest headwind over the last six quarters has been casing costs, he added.
Diamondback’s chief operating officer Daniel Wesson added, “Hopefully, we'll start seeing some help>Last year, Diamondback generated a record nearly $4.6 billion of Free Cash Flow and returned around $3.1 billion of cash to stockholders through a combination of growing base dividend, variable dividend, and share repurchase program.
Another producer, Devon Energy, booked record-setting operating results and the best financial performance in its 52-year history in 2022. Yet, its executives noted that the inflationary impact has been seen everywhere in its operations.
“But it's the inflationary impact that we've seen across every -- frankly, every cost category,” Devon Energy’s CFO Jeff Ritenour said>“We've seen, you know, anywhere between 30% and 50% kind of inflation, depending>“That's what we're walking into in 2023,” Ritenour noted.
The cost inflation has certainly driven the company’s breakeven price higher, Devon Energy’s executive said. The breakeven price for the company has increased to around $40 per barrel WTI, from a breakeven point of $30 WTI price a year ago.