ProPetro Holding Corp. (NYSE:PUMP) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

We see that number going lower in the fourth quarter. So, I think our investment, we talked about, we show a slide in our IR deck where we’ve invested close to $1 billion over the last two years. That is really beginning to play out in our numbers and our reduced CapEx spend going forward.

Scott Gruber: Got it. So the fourth fleet have — if I heard you correctly, about 30% to 40% lower OpEx per fleet? And do you have a number on the CapEx side. I just imagine it’s pretty de minimis in the first couple of years.

David Schorlemer: Yes. Just think of it from a perspective of taking an internal combustion engine out of the picture and replacing it with a transformer and variable frequency drive box that has low to no touch required. It’s a pretty significant change in your overall maintenance and ongoing capital spend there. We’ll give you some more information as we build that fleet out and we garner more internal information. I think on the next call, we’ll have a full quarter of operations with our fleet. So we can give you some more guidance going forward then.

Scott Gruber: That’s great. Look forward to it. Thank you.

Operator: [Operator Instructions]. And our next question comes from John Daniel from Daniel Energy Partners. John, please go ahead.

John Daniel: Thank you. Hey, guys. Good morning.

Sam Sledge: Good morning.

John Daniel: Just equipment questions for you. I guess the first is just on the fleet mix 7 Tier 4 DGB soon for electric in a couple of quarters, at least whatever 4, 5 call it other. What’s the plan for those? Is it transition to Tier 4 dual-fuel keep it Tier 2 or go electric?

Sam Sledge: John, I think wait and see is the plan. I think when to preserve optionality with that equipment look, it’s very highly functioning and profitable and active in the market today. Speaking of our diesel fleets. And if the market remains strong then some of that, all diesel equipment might linger around a little bit longer; if the market is weaker then you can look for things like our electric fleets to be more replacement of legacy assets. So I think as we sit here today, we’re just trying to preserve that optionality. Our capital allocation priorities or allocate more capital to things like electric and less capital to diesel-only equipment.

John Daniel: Okay. And keeping with the equipment theme, one of the comments made from one of the OEMs on their earnings call was just the supply chain headaches of electric components for electric fleets. I’m curious given lead times there would you be willing to say if you’ve gone to order the necessary component parts for Fleet 5 on the electric side?

Sam Sledge: We’ve not placed any specific orders for anything additional. But we’ve got a very close collaborative relationship with our supplier on the electric side. So, if demand continues, if we continue to deploy these assets successfully and execute on some of these contractual opportunities, it would be a really good thing in our opinion if we’re moving on more e-fleets next year.

John Daniel: Fair enough. And then, I guess the last one for me and I’ll queue back up if no one else has questions. But the — when you look at the component parts right now engines transmissions, et cetera, the availability is well there’s more of it frankly than where we were a year ago. And given your balance sheet and given a belief that the market inflects higher next year, does it make sense to proactively building some inventory of those key component parts now just so you don’t get stuck in the queue down the road?