Talos Energy (NYSE:TALO) Q3 2026 Earnings Call

0:09 Thank you for watching. Thank you for watching.

2:31 Thank you. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Talos Energy third quarter 2026 earnings call. At this time online, then listen down remote.

3:40 Following the presentation, we will conduct a question and answer session. If at any time during this call it requires immediate assistance, please press star zero for the operator. This call is being recorded on Wednesday, November 4th, 2026. I would like to turn the conference over to Kyle Sani, Manager, Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

4:00 Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our third quarter 2026 earnings conference call. Joining me today to discuss our results are Paul Goodfellow, President and Chief Executive Officer, Zach Dailey, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, and Bill Langin, Executive Vice President, Exploration and Development. Please refer to our third quarter 2026 earnings presentation that is available on our website under the investor relations section for a more detailed look at our results and operations. Before we start, I would like to remind you that our remarks will include forward-looking statements subject to various cautionary statements identified in our presentation and earnings release. Actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by the company. Factors that could cause these results to differ materially are set forth in yesterday's press release in our Form 10-K for the period ending December 31, 2025, filed with the SEC.

4:59 Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions as of today, and we undertake no obligations to update these statements as a result of new information or future events. During this call, we may present GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of certain non-GAAP to GAAP measures is included in yesterday's press release, which was furnished with our Form 8K filed with the SEC and is available on our website. And now I would like to turn the call over to Paul.

5:28 Thanks, Kyle, and good morning to everyone joining us on the call today. As always, I want to start by thanking our employees for their continued commitment to safety and environmental stewardship. The results Zach and I will discuss today are a direct reflection of the talent, drive, and relentless focus on execution across the OneTalus team. The third quarter continues to demonstrate the strength of the business we are building. We delivered another quarter of consistent execution from the base business completed our Gulf of America bolt-on acquisition while keeping leverage at 0.6 times, raised full-year production guidance, and significantly bolstered our portfolio of development and exploration opportunities. Taken together, these results reflect continued progress across all three pillars of our strategy and further strengthen the foundation to be a leading pure-play offshore EMP.

6:21 I want to begin, as I always do, with the base business. which continues to provide the foundation for everything we do. Oil production averaged approximately 69,000 barrels per day, and total production averaged approximately 92,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, both exceeding guidance. That was driven by strong base business performance, the absence of storm-related downtime, and an initial contribution from the Gulf of America acquired asset following closing on September 22nd. Importantly, even after adjusting for weather and excluding the acquisition contribution, production was at the high end of our guidance range. That clearly signals the underlying strength of the business. Those operational results, combined with premium oil realizations, translated into strong adjusted free cash flow of $186 million and support another increase to our full year 2026 production guidance.

7:18 Zach will walk through the details later in the call. These results also reflect our optimal performance plan, and I'm pleased to report that we have delivered on our full year $100 million target by the end of the third quarter. We expect these business improvements to be lasting and carry into next year and beyond. They have been broad-based across the organization, spanning margin enhancement, capital efficiency, commercial opportunities, and organizational improvements. Delivering the target does not change our focus. continuous improvement is embedded in how we operate, and we will keep looking for opportunities to improve production and uptime, spend capital more efficiently, and reduce costs across the portfolio. This is exactly what we mean when we talk about improving the business every day. I'm incredibly proud of what the team has accomplished this year.

8:08 These results were delivered because our teams choose excellence each and every day. We saw that again in early October ahead of Hurricane Isaiah's. Our priority was the safety of our offshore personnel and protecting the environment, which meant shutting in production and evacuating our platforms. I want to thank our operations team for their commitment to living our values. Once it was safe to return, we confirmed that there was no damage to our facility and shifted our focus to restoring production. The increased full-year guidance Zach will discuss includes the fourth quarter hurricane impact of approximately 7,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day which was within the weather allowance incorporated into our full-year plan and guidance. In addition to the outstanding performance in production operations, TALIS continues to distinguish itself through best-in-class execution, and we advance several important projects during the quarter.

9:03 That execution starts with drilling. When we benchmark our recent operated wells, including Daenerys, Sunspear, Katmai West No. 2, and CPN, They all rank in the top quartile of Gulf of America industry performance, and the recent Daenerys appraisal well, drilled to a total vertical depth of nearly 29,500 feet, ranked in the top decile. Full credit goes to our drilling team. Drilling and completing faster and more efficiently translates directly into lower well costs and better returns, and is a clear example of what we mean when we describe Thales as a technically differentiated offshore operator. At CPN, we achieved first oil in September as planned and the well is performing in line with expectations. CPN is an operated infrastructure-led tieback to Nakika and is a good example of the type of high return, short cycle opportunity that underpins our development program.

9:58 At Brutus, we commenced the development program during the third quarter with operations from the platform-based rig. Our team has optimized the plan to incorporate batch drilling and completions, which we believe improves execution efficiency and project returns. The program has also expanded from four to five wells with the addition of another sidetrack opportunity. We expect first oil beginning in the second quarter of 2027 with production phased in through the fourth quarter as the wells come online. At Monument, the first development well TD'd in June and found approximately 250 feet of net oil pay in line with predrill expectations. and the second well spud in early September following the operator's rigged deployment to one of its own fields. First oil is now expected in the first quarter of 2027 and our view of the project economics is unchanged.

10:52 Now let me turn to Daenerys. We spud the appraisal well in early July and drilled to target depth in late August, meeting our appraisal objectives. The well tested the northern portion of the prospect and encountered oil pay in multiple sands. We collected samples that are undergoing testing to further assess the reservoir and fluid properties. Daenerys is a multi-year appraisal program. The additional appraisal activity is needed to better understand the reservoir. As planned, the next step in the program is an appraisal sidetrack in 2027. Together, the data from this year's well and next year's sidetrack will help inform the path forward. In parallel, our teams continue to evaluate a range of development concepts. from a tieback to existing infrastructure to a standalone host.

11:39 We're also building out a broader opportunity set around Daenerys. In late 27 or early 2028, we expect to drill an exploration well targeting a prospect we acquired in the December 2025 Big Beautiful Gulf lawn lease sale. If successful, it has the potential to be co-developed with Daenerys. Turning to the Gulf of America bolt-on acquisition, On September 22nd, we closed the transaction alongside our partner Ridgewood. This added a 50% working interest and operatorship in the Coulomb field, along with a 25% non-operated working interest in the BP-operated Nikika platform and four associated fields. The final net cash purchase price was $420 million, less than our original expectations.

12:26 Integration is well underway, and we're pleased with how the assets are performing to date. The acquisition adds high-quality, oil-weighted production that enhances our scale, margins, and free cash flow generation, while providing infrastructure-led growth opportunities that leverage our core strengths. I also want to spend a moment on why we believe the value of this acquisition extends well beyond the acquired reserves. Thales has a proven track record of acquiring mid-life assets and extending field life. As an example, across Rampal, Pompano, and Brutus, Cumulative production since acquisition combined with the remaining 2P reserves at year-end 2025 represents more than a 40% uplift relative to the 2P reserves at the time of acquisition.

13:14 That uplift came from extending field life and identifying additional resources through infrastructure-led opportunity. We intend to apply that same playbook to the acquired assets here. We have already identified multiple development and infrastructure-led exploration opportunities including the operated Coulomb Development Well, which we expect to compete for capital in 2027. Beyond the Gulf of America, we continue to progress our newest exploration and development opportunities. In Mexico, we continue to work with the operator to advance Zama towards an expected FID in 2027, while also progressing our new opportunity in Block 29. In Block 29, we are progressing the scenario approval required to close the farming transaction for that block while working with Repsol towards FID in 2027.

14:07 With two oil discoveries holding more than 200 million barrels of oil equivalent of gross recoverable resource and similar exploration potential on the block, this remains a development-led opportunity with meaningful upside. And we continue to work with Repsol to plan an exploration well late in next year. In Honduras, we commenced the first ever 3D seismic program across a portion of the deepwater acreage in October, less than three months after signing the agreements. This initial deepwater 3D program has now been completed, and we expect the first process data in the early part of 2027. The broader position is equivalent to roughly 700 Gulf of America blocks, with the existing main Cape All Discovery validating a working petroleum system in this large underexplored basin.

14:57 While these opportunities are at different stages of maturity, that is by design. Our portfolio now spans a strong base business in the Gulf of America, combined with pre-FID development and longer cycle expiration. The speed with which our teams and partners are moving them forward continues to be a key differentiator for us here at Thales. The common theme across the quarter is disciplined execution. We deliver strong operational and financial performance from the base business, close an acquisition that increases our deep water scale, completed the non-core gas-weighted shelf divestment and advanced the deeper portfolio of development, appraisal, and exploration opportunities. We carry significant momentum through year-end and into 2027.

15:42 With that, I will now turn the call over to Zach to discuss our financial results, updated guidance, balance sheet and capital allocation in greater detail, as well as some early thoughts on 2027.

15:55 Thanks, Paul. This morning, I will focus on three key takeaways. Strong free cash flow generation in the third quarter, supported by premium oil realizations, increased full-year production guidance pro forma for the acquisition, and a resilient balance sheet that supports our unchanged capital allocation framework. I'll then close with a few early thoughts on 2027. Starting with the quarter, the disciplined operational execution Paul just discussed translated directly into strong financial results. We generated adjusted EBITDA of approximately $406 million and adjusted free cash flow of approximately $186 million, driven by production that exceeded guidance and premium oil realizations of approximately $1.60 per barrel above WTI.

16:45 That combination supported adjusted EBITDA margins of approximately $52 per BOE, excluding hedges, which continue to rank in the top decile of the E&P sector. At the same time, lease operating expenses of $16.74 per BOE remain below the Gulf of America peer average, reinforcing our advantaged cost structure. On the heels of a strong first nine months, we're increasing our full-year 2026 production guidance to 68,000 to 70,000 barrels of oil per day and 92,500 to 94,500 BOE per day. At the midpoint, that represents an increase of approximately 8% for oil production relative to our original guidance.

17:32 This updated annual outlook includes the closed Gulf of America acquisition and the impact of Hurricane Isaias in early October. And, as a reminder, it also reflects the closed non-core shelf divestment. Our base business continues to outperform, and the Gulf of America acquisition builds on that. For 2026 capital expenditures, we lowered the midpoint of guidance while increasing guidance for P&A, leaving combined capital and P&A spend unchanged from our original guidance. The P&A increase reflects a sizable project that was completed ahead of schedule, which allowed us to accelerate additional activity into the fourth quarter. As we've discussed previously, we focus on executing P&A activity in the most efficient manner rather than simply managing to an annual budget.

18:25 Updated cost guidance is detailed in our earnings presentation. Now, turning to the balance sheet, we enter the third quarter with approximately $410 million of cash, an undrawn credit facility, and approximately $1.1 billion of liquidity, resulting in a leverage ratio of 0.6 times. In conjunction with closing the acquisition, our borrowing base increased to $850 million and we have no debt maturities until the next decade. Importantly, we funded the Bolton's final net cash purchase price of $420 million while keeping the credit facility undrawn, reflecting the financial flexibility we built through the capital markets transactions completed earlier this year alongside the strong operational performance and free cash flow generation of the business.

19:18 We continue to expect year-end 2027 leverage to be well below one times consistent with our long-term leverage target. Our capital allocation framework remains unchanged. We continue to expect to return up to 50% of annual free cash flow to shareholders through share repurchases while also investing in high return projects, maintaining balance sheet strength, and pursuing selective accretive growth. During the third quarter, we repurchased 1.4 million shares for approximately $24 million. We intentionally structured the return framework as up to 50% to preserve flexibility to pursue accretive opportunities such as the acquisition we just closed.

20:03 Since announcing the framework in the second quarter of 2025, We have returned approximately $160 million to shareholders by repurchasing 14.5 million shares at an average price of $11 per share. This has reduced our outstanding share count by approximately 8% over that time period. That track record demonstrates the value of consistently buying back shares at attractive levels, and we have approximately $176 million remaining under our authorization. Before we open the line for questions, I want to share a few early thoughts on 2027. As we build the business plan, our objective is to adhere to the three principles of our strategy, including further strengthening the depth and longevity of our portfolio while maintaining a low WTI free cash flow breakeven.

20:58 We're working through our budgeting process now and expect to provide a full 2027 outlook in February, but we already have visibility into several important activities next year. We will enter 2027 with a higher production base from the recently completed acquisition and expect first oil from Monument in Q1 and Brutus beginning in Q2. As previously discussed, in July we secured the West Vela for our drilling program beginning in mid-2027 at an attractive day rate. We expect the Coulomb Development Well, which was acquired from Shell, to compete for capital alongside additional appraisal and exploration activity around Daenerys. We also expect to continue advancing Block 29 towards FID and may have an exploration well on Block 29 toward the end of the year.

21:48 Overall, we have a deeper portfolio of development, appraisal, and exploration opportunities than Talos has ever had, and we will remain disciplined in how we pace activity and allocate capital across it. Bottom line. We generated meaningful free cash flow in Q3, completed an acquisition that increases our deepwater scale, resumed share repurchases, increased full-year production guidance while keeping total capital spend unchanged, and we maintained a strong balance sheet. These results reflect the strength of the underlying business, discipline execution across the organization, and the financial flexibility to pursue our strategic priorities while continuing to create long-term shareholder value. With that, we will open the line for Q&A.

22:35 Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question and answer session. If you'd like to ask the question, please press star, follow up with number one on your telephone keypad. We ask analysts to limit themselves to one question and a follow-up. And if your question has been answered, you'd like to withdraw from the queue, please press star, follow up with number two. And if you're using a speakerphone, please lift your hands up before pressing any keys. One moment, please. I will compile the roster. Your first question comes from Jerry Sicce with Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.

23:07 Good morning, and thank you for taking my question. Can you talk through what it has been like working with Repsol and how you are seeing the path toward FID for the offshore Mexico farm in 2027?

23:18 Yeah, thanks, Jerry. I mean, look, we've had a very constructive relationship with the Repsol team. both through the early engagements when we were talking about the deal and then now as we're going through the process of closing it, as I mentioned, we still have to go through the regulatory process to actually get ourselves on the license and that is progressing as planned. But working with Repsol at a technical level is incredibly supportive. I think we bring skills that are complementary of each other and we're now still going through the concept selecting process that will take us into a decision on the concept and then feed with a target of looking at FID in the second half of 2027.

24:06 So yeah, I think bottom line, incredibly constructive relationship and we're very happy to have Repsol as a partner.

24:19 Thank you. And for my follow-up, can you discuss the puts and takes in the full-year total CapEx guidance? CapEx trended lower while PA expenditures ticked up. What's driving that dynamic and how should we think about the right run rate for capital intensity for the pro forma business?

24:37 Yeah, let me maybe start and then, Zach, please add any comments that you have. I mean, look, I think the capital and many more. where there was an unexpected gap for us put into that project, which has slightly phased out a little bit of the CapEx. But I would say the biggest element of the capital forecast at the moment is driven by the great performance of the operating part of the business.

25:30 That translates into the P&A side as well, where we look to be good stewards of the resources that we have. built a plan in terms of, it's a multi-year plan of how we need to think about abandoning and decommissioning the liabilities that we have, and then we sort of work that with the same diligence that we work new opportunities. Of course, we also have interest in non-operated fields, and there were a couple of those that came into the plant late in the year, and those have been executed very well, which is just meant a slight shift in pulling forward some of the P&A type of opportunities. But as a run rate basis, I would think the level that we're at now is a reasonable number to think about at a P&A level going forward that's a sort of a rateable, deliverable type of an activity set. And in terms of the CapEx side, as mentioned, we're still in the process of working through the budget.

26:38 But I hope we've given you a bit of insight into some of those building blocks in terms of the continuation, of course, of Monument with First All in 27, a slightly expanded project set at Brutus, given identification of further opportunities there, and then advancing Block 29, both on the development side and the exploration side, and Clear will sort of come out with guidance early in the new year as we usually do. Great. Thank you so much.

27:09 Thanks, Jerry. Thank you. Your next question comes from AJ Bakshani with BMO Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

27:19 Hey, guys. Good morning, and thanks for taking our question. On Daenerys, mentioned in the script the appraisal well-encountered oil pay and multiple SANS. Can you also comment on reservoir quality and how this compares to pre-drill expectations? And I believe the discovery is well found paying three separate zones, but you're also testing additional prospective interval. Are there any key takeaways here?

27:47 I think as we said, Ajay, you know, so the The work around fluid samples, fluid quality is ongoing, and so it's too early for us to share any insight on that. We're extremely pleased with, obviously, the performance of the well in terms of getting it down to TD, the quality of the data that we retrieved from the well, and the fact that we delivered against all the well-met expectations that we had from a pre-drill perspective relative to and the hydrocarbon zones that we encountered.

28:27 Thank you. And for my follow-up, you mentioned in your opening remarks and in the deck about the success you've had across Bram Powell, Pompano and Brutus assets in terms of increasing 2P reserves. Now that you've closed the Shell deal, I was hoping to hear initial impressions of the asset not to pin you down, but directionally, do you feel like this could also have a 40% plus uplift potential?

28:56 We're really pleased with the Nikica and Coolump asset that we've managed to bring into the portfolio with Ridgewood as our partner. One of the underlying basis for that from our perspective was exactly your question, which is we believe that we can take midlife and so on. And I think you see us starting to act on being brought forward to sort of compete for capital as we think about our overall plan and budget for 27 and beyond. And so, yes, it is too early to pin me down in terms of a prediction on what the ultimate uplift will be, but I would say the basis and the foundation of why we like to take assets like this and why we think Talas is a sort of a differentiated developer for midlife projects is just that, that we can see opportunities.

30:21 We can develop those on a short cycle, low cost to create optimum value and therefore extend the life of the asset. And clearly, we will work with the operator and partner BP in terms of doing that.

30:35 Great. Thank you.

30:37 Thank you. Thank you. Your next question comes from Paul Diamond with Citi. Please go ahead.

30:46 Thank you. Good morning, all. Thanks for taking the call. I'm talking about your capital return framework. I know you guys have the up to 50% target for share buybacks, but I guess leverage approaching a half-turn. Can you talk about any potential shift in the use case of those future cash flows? I guess how you guys are thinking about that on a longer-term basis?

31:08 Yeah, let me ask Zach to comment on that.

31:09 Zach? Yeah, thanks, Paul. Good morning. Appreciate the question. First and foremost, the strategy is unchanged, as we've discussed in our remarks. And the discipline capital allocation framework that underpins that strategy is unchanged. So the short answer is no change to it. The longer answer is we've got lots of options here. We did go back in the market in Q3 with buybacks ahead of closing the acquisition and funding the $420 million purchase price, which we were able to do without touching the revolver. So all four of the financial framework elements are extremely important to us and they're not mutually exclusive. So we want to maintain a strong balance sheet. We want to return cash to shareholders. We want to invest in the business and we want to be able to go out and bring accretive acquisitions into the portfolio, which is what we just did.

32:06 Got it, understood.

32:07 And then just a bit of a nuance and embarrass, I guess, what are the logistical steps needed for closing the remaining 35% working interest? Is it just like paperwork for government approval or is there anything operational there?

32:21 Yeah, let me ask Bill Langin to share a few comments on that, Paul. Bill? Yeah, thanks.

32:25 So the government has approved the remaining 35%, and they're going through their process called Gazettl, which is essentially just pushing the paperwork through their own system. So there's no remaining significant hurdles to that. It's just finalizing their process.

32:43 Got it. Understood. Appreciate the clarity over there. Thanks, Paul. Thank you. Your next question comes from Team Resven with KeyBank. Please go ahead. Good morning. This is John on for Tim. Thank you for taking our questions. You alluded to this a little bit, but if I could take a different angle to it. You're generating strong free cash flow, and projects like Block 29 and Daenerys could need meaningful capital over the next few years. So how are you just thinking about uses of that cash today, keeping that in mind? would you build cash ahead of those commitments or would you put more work now?

33:32 Yeah, hi John. Look, I think Zach's already sort of answered that question which is we have a financial framework for that reason and all four elements of that need to work in supportive conjunction of each other and whether that's investing in the base business thinking about cash return to shareholders up to 50% maintaining the balance of or the leverage on the balance sheet and then working for accretive portfolio expansion that can either be through inorganic or organic means. We have to work those four in parallel and that's exactly what we have been doing and we will be doing and now we also have to do that against the macro that we see going forward, and again, the reality of the environment in which we find ourselves today. Now, what we do know, of course, is that we hope that Block 29 stays on the timeline that we've laid out.

34:34 As we mentioned, Daenerys will need further appraisal, both for the discovery that we have, and then in addition, we're building, let's say, and so on. that will then determine a certain amount of capital that needs to be allocated.

35:22 The follow-up view then, and maybe Zach can offer a few thoughts on this, is the source of that capital, is it from the cash that we've generated, is it from the balance sheet strength, etc., but that will really be taken much sooner to that decision point.

35:42 Zach, anything to add? Yeah, I mean, John, I'd just add to that that the first element of the financial framework that underpins the strategy is in being able to invest in the business. And whether it's Daenerys or Block 29 or CPN or the Coulomb prospect that's part of the shell acquisition, we want to have the flexibility on the balance sheet to make those wise investments.

36:12 That's very helpful. I appreciate that. Just as my follow-up, just to hit on Daenerys again, as you weigh a tie back against a standalone host, what are the key milestones that you're looking for here? And is this first oil before 2029 realistic under either of those paths?

36:36 And look, I think any decision like this is a trade-off between Well, it's a value-based decision at the end of the day. So which solution gives us the best values view? And that comes from weighing off the capital intensity of the decision, the sort of recovery of the resource, and then the cyclicity or the cycle time in terms of delivering that. And that's why we're going through the work we're going through at the moment in terms of further testing and evaluation of fluid properties why we will do a sidetrack of one of the existing wells, most likely into the most southern part of the field next year.

37:22 And from there, we'll then determine that sort of trade-off. And look, the balance that we have to keep here, of course, is we don't want to over-appraise and destroy value by driving the uncertainty range down to such a narrow point that we've spent too much to get to the decision. But conversely, we don't want to under appraise where we have too wide an uncertainty range. And I think you've seen in the deep water sort of many examples of where under appraisal has led to value destruction. So the technical sort of rigor that we bring to this, that we bring to all our work will continue. Now, in terms of, you know, Could there be first-order in 2029? Yeah, I mean, I think that is a highly unlikely outcome.

38:15 Not impossible, yeah, but that would certainly be in a tieback solution only, John.

38:25 Great. I appreciate the detailed response. I'll leave it there. Thanks for the time. Thank you. Thanks, John. Thank you. Your next question comes from Nate Pendleton with Texas Capital. Please go ahead.

38:39 Good morning and congrats on the strong quarter. I kind of want to stay on the sidetrack at Daenerys just for a moment. Can you talk about what that next sidetrack is really trying to resolve and could development of the Daenerys project really be contingent on that other prospect that you mentioned in your prepared remarks?

39:00 Bill, why don't you share a few thoughts on that, please?

39:02 Sure. I think as Paul mentioned before, our path forward for development at Daenerys will be driven by what is the highest value for that project. And the sidetrack at Daenerys will look at the further extent of both the reservoir and fluid properties into an area that we haven't yet seen. And then very shortly after when we and Jason Prospect will look at the various options from accelerating one versus co-development and how do we create the most value for what we've invested so that as we gather those data, we'll make the highest value decision.

39:43 Understood. Thanks for that. And then switching over to really on slide 10 of your day, it highlights the drilling performance there. Can you talk about what are the drivers behind that and how are you able to achieve these really consistently superior results.

40:00 Great people working against the SEP process, thinking about what the uncertainties, having mitigations in place, and working with a set of service partners, especially the RIG, the West Vela in this case, where they create a common team with a common outcome, which is first and foremost safe and environmentally friendly. Solid Performance, but always thinking about how can we learn and how can we perform each and every day. So it really does come down to the quality of people across the waterfront, whether it's our own internal talus drilling team or completions team, but equally working with great service providers that share that outcome of striving for perfection each and every day.

40:52 Understood. Thanks for taking my questions. Thanks, Nate. Thank you. Your next question comes from Michael Scialla with Stevens. Please go ahead.

41:03 Good morning. Zach, reading into your comments on 2027, I wanted to see if it was fair to assume that we should anticipate some sequential production growth, maybe slight growth with a full quarter of the Shell assets in the first quarter, and then maybe some continued production growth in the second quarter with Monument and Brutus coming online, and then in terms of CapEx, it seems like it should be second half weighted when you get the West Valley. Am I reading too much into that?

41:37 Possibly, Michael. It's probably a little too early to get extremely specific on 27 on a quarterly basis yet. We'll come out with more information in February when we announce the plan, but just a couple points. To be clear, Q4-26, this quarter we're in now, will be the first full quarter of having the shell assets under the hood. And then you're correct to hear our comments that Monument First Oil is expected in Q1 and the Brutus program has been expanded with the addition of one more well. So that will come online over the course of next year. and beyond that, you know, we'll provide more detail in February.

42:25 Fair enough. Thanks. I wanted to ask on the prospect near Daenerys, is that another four-way structure below Salt or is it so similar to Daenerys or does it look different?

42:43 We picked up a few different prospects in BBBG1 that are in the neighborhood, and we're going through our final interpretation and portfolio ranking now. And that prospect will likely be drilled on the second half of that VELA sequence. We have time to make that final decision, which we'll also need to work with our partners in ultimately making that final selection. So we've got a couple options, one subsault, one not subsault.

43:14 Got it. Thank you.

43:16 Thank you. Thanks, Michael. Thank you. Your next question comes from Leo Mariani with Roth Capital. Please go ahead.

43:27 Hi, guys. Just wanted to get a high-level look on Daenerys here. Obviously, you've got two wells down. Do you feel comfortable? This is a commercial oil development at this point, and now it's just a matter of how you kind of size this, which I guess is the point of the next appraisal well?

43:44 Yeah, hey, Leo. I mean, look, I think as we said in the comments and sort of the questions this morning, there's still data that we need to get. We're in the process of doing that. Once we've done that, then we'll be able to be more sort of definitive in terms of what the optimum value path forward is. I think as Bill mentioned and I mentioned myself, we do think at the moment that The first step in that is this sidetrack from one of the existing wells, which, of course, will be much, much lower cost than the two wells that we've done so far, even though those were executed incredibly well, as we showed by the benchmark data. But we think that will be the next step in terms of coming out with what we think the best value solution is for Daenerys.

44:37 Okay. You're going to use the West Bella rig for that, I guess, sometime in the second half of 27. So it sounds like that's kind of a ways away before you guys give us some more details.

44:48 It is. So we've contracted the West VeloRig for a year plus some options. That will start around the middle of the year, dependent on when it's released from the current operator. And as Zach has mentioned, we're going through the process at the moment of how we build the details of architecture of the plan. and timing of any subsequent activity at Daenerys will be a key component of that discussion.

45:17 Okay. And then just on the M&A front, obviously you guys were successful in getting a deal, which you closed recently. How are you seeing the environment out there? Are there deals kind of in the market that you guys are currently considering?

45:33 I'm not going to comment on any specific deal there. I mean, look, we remain... and many more. Thank you. and it's reasonable to expect that we'll continue to act in both of those lanes as we go forward into 2027.

46:12 All right, thanks. Thank you, Leo. Thank you. Then, for the questions at this time, I will turn it back to Mr. Paul Goodfellow for some closing remarks.

46:26 Thank you, Anas, and thank you all for joining today and for your interest in TALOS. To close, the third quarter demonstrated the strength of our base business, the quality of our team and the depth of our portfolio. We delivered our full-year optimal performance plan target by the end of the third quarter, completed our Gulf of America Bolton acquisition, and advanced a deeper portfolio of development and exploration opportunities across three offshore basins, all while maintaining the discipline that underpins our capital allocation framework. We head into 2027 with greater scale, a high-quality oil-weighted portfolio, a strong balance sheet, and a clear path to continue building the foundation to be a leading pure-plate offshore EMP. We look forward to updating you on our progress in the courses ahead. Thank you all.

47:14 Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your conference call for today. We thank your participating and ask that you please disconnect your lines. Have a great day.