Texas Pacific Land Corporation (NYSE:TPL) Q1 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Derrick Whitfield: It is. Thanks Ty. And then maybe shifting over to the SLEM business, you guys experienced one of the strongest quarters since 2019. In addition to record activity, are there other noticeable drivers that we should be thinking about?

Ty Glover: Yes, I would say the main drivers on the ramp in SLEM has been an increase in pipeline easements. As we’ve seen gas take away tighten, we’re starting to see more requests for gathering infrastructure. Our team has done a really good job in the field with rock sales. So, we’ve opened up some new caliche pits. We’re crushing rock now. We’ve expanded sales into New Mexico. And so we’ve seen a nice ramp in rock sales as well. We had a little bit of sand royalty towards the end of the quarter. So, expect that to ramp up as well here in the near future.

Derrick Whitfield: And perhaps one last if I could. Just with respect to your trial versus Horizon Kinetics, what should we expect from the post-trial briefing schedule, meaning I’m not asking you to project an outcome, but does a favorable outcome allow you to advance Proposal 4, assuming you have a shareholder approval?

Ty Glover: Say the last part of that question one more time, Derrick, sorry.

Derrick Whitfield: Sure. So, with respect to the decision that comes out of the post-trial briefing schedule with Horizon Kinetics, what should we expect from that? And by that, I mean, I’m not asking you to project an outcome of the trial, but does a favorable outcome allow you to advance Proposal 4, assuming you have shareholder approval?

Ty Glover: Yes, that’s correct.

Derrick Whitfield: Hey, terrific. That’s all for me guys. Thanks.

Ty Glover: Thanks Derrick.

Operator: Thank you. The next question comes from Hamed Khorsand from BWS Financial. Please proceed with your question Hamed.

Hamed Khorsand: Good morning. The first question I had was on just the legal expense line. Is that an accrued expense? What should we expect in Q2? And is that a normal number? I mean it seems quite excessive.

Chris Steddum: Hey Hamed, that is an accrued expense. And look, we really can’t comment on expectations of what the spend may be in the future. And so that’s kind of where it’s at right now.

Hamed Khorsand: Okay. And then on the revenue side, could you just talk about this one-time revenue that was disclosed in the Q, what sparked it and what your future revenue would be if there is any from this arbitration?

Chris Steddum: Yes. The — effectively, it was a stipulation that — based on what we felt that Chevron was, I guess, over deducting some expenses in the past. So, all of that revenue is associated with past period where they had probably overcharged on some of the expenses on the gas and NGL side. And so I think the right way to think about it is, it’s effectively a kind of a one-time payment to rectify that.

Hamed Khorsand: Okay. So, I assume that the oil revenue would have been down another $8 million on a normalized basis then?

Chris Steddum: Yes, that’s the right way to think about it. And again, it’s just — I guess, as we said in some of our prepared remarks compared to last year and even last quarter, across the board, we’ve seen quite a bit of commodity price weakness.

Hamed Khorsand: Okay. And then my last question was that also in the Q, you disclosed that there was a $3.6 million put into the Water Resource business. What was that for? And is the business itself generating positive free cash flow?