VIST

Good day, everyone, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Vista's second quarter 2026 earnings webcast. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session. To ask a question, you will need to press star one one on your telephone. You will then hear a message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. Now it's my pleasure to hand the conference to Vista's Strategic Planning and Investor Relations Officer, Alejandro Cherñacov. Please proceed.

Thanks. Good morning, everyone. We are happy to welcome you to Vista's second quarter of 2026 results conference call. I am here with Miguel Galuccio, Vista's Chairman and CEO, Pablo Vera Pinto, Vista's CFO, Juan Garoby, Vista's CTO, and Matías Weissel, Vista's COO. Before we begin, I would like to draw your attention to our cautionary statement on slide two. Please be advised that our remarks today, including the answers to your questions, may include forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to be materially different from the expectations contemplated by these remarks. Our financial figures are stated in US dollars and in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards, IFRS. However, during this conference call, we may discuss certain non-IFRS financial measures such as Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Net Income.

Reconciliations of these measures to the closest IFRS measure can be found in the earnings release that we issued yesterday. Please check our website for further information. Our company is a sociedad anónima bursátil de capital variable, organized under the laws of Mexico, registered in the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores at the New York Stock Exchange. Our tickers are Vista in the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores and VIST in the New York Stock Exchange. I will now turn the call over to Miguel.

Thanks, Ale. Good morning, and welcome to this earning call. The second quarter of 2026 was marked by the closing of the acquisition of Equinor asset in Vaca Muerta. This milestone, in combination with the organic growth, took our company to a new scale, leaving us in an excellent position to capture the upside of higher oil prices. As a result, Adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow generation record substantial interannual and sequential increases. Total production was 156,000 barrels per day, 32% above the previous year. Oil production was 135,000 barrels per day, up 33% vis-à-vis the previous year. Total revenues during the quarter were $1.15 billion, an impressive growth of 89% compared to the same quarter of last year. Lifting cost was $4.5 per BOE, 4% below year-over-year. Capital expenditure was $467 million, driven by a strong progress in new well activities during the quarter.

Adjusted EBITDA was $805 million, an interannual increase of 99%. Net income was $322 million, an increase of 37% compared to the same quarter of last year and 199% versus the previous quarter. Excluding the gain from La Amarga Chica acquisition in Q2 2025, net income expanded by more than nine times year-over-year. We record earnings per share of $3 during the quarter. Net of the Equinor acquisition payment, free cash flow was $491 million, reflecting a significant boost in Adjusted EBITDA generation and a meaningful improvement in working capital. Finally, our net debt ratio at quarter end was 1.41x Adjusted EBITDA. On a pro forma basis, reflecting last 12 months figures for the acquired asset, the ratio was 1.25 times Adjusted EBITDA, marking a significant reduction year-on-year and reflecting a very strong balance sheet. Total production during Q2 averaged 156.1 thousand BOEs per day.

This represents an interannual increase of 32% and a sequential increase of 16%. There are two drivers behind this boost. The first is organic growth. We connected 90 new wells in the last 12 months with very solid productivity, generating a 20% production growth compared to Q2 last year. On top of this, the consolidation of our working interest in Bandurria Sur and Bajo del Toro as of May 1st added 14.2 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day on average for the quarter. This reflects a run rate about 21,000 BOEs per day, which will impact fully in the third quarter. Our total production in May and June was on average 161.6 thousand BOEs per day. Quarterly average oil production was 135.4 thousand barrels per day, 33% higher year-over-year and 16% above the previous quarter. Gas production increased 30% on an interannual basis and 15% sequentially.

Total revenues during the Q2 were $1.15 billion, a material growth of 89% compared to the previous year, and 66% versus the previous quarter, driven by a solid increase in oil production and higher oil prices. Oil export increased 54% year-over-year, reaching 8.6 million barrels in the quarter, representing 72% of our oil sales volume. Realized oil prices in Q2 was $89.4 per barrel, 44% above the previous year, and 49% above the previous quarter. In both cases, driven by higher Brent and an improvement in differentials. We sold 100% of our oil volumes at export parity prices, both domestically and internationally. In Q2, lifting cost was $4.5 per BOE, an interannual reduction of 4%, reflecting our low-cost asset base and fixed cost dilution, as we continue to gain scale.

On a sequential basis, lifting costs increased, driven by the impact of inflation on peso-denominated goods and services amid flat FX rates. Selling expenses were $4.1 per BOE, an 8% increase year-over-year, mainly driven by higher oil prices impacting turnover tax. Adjusted EBITDA during the quarter was $805 million, 99% higher interannually, and 79% higher sequentially, driven by a material expansion of revenues amid flat unit cost. Similarly, Adjusted EBITDA margin was 17%, an expansion of three percentage points compared to the same quarter of last year, and five percentage points above the previous quarter. Netback increased 51% year-over-year to $57 per BOE. In Q2 2026, cash flow from operating activities was $985 million, reflecting a decrease in working capital of $274 million, mostly driven by the full normalization of the working capital position of our trading subsidiary, Beisa.

We also made an income tax payment of $53 million. Cash flow used in investing activities was $886 million, reflecting accrued CapEx of $467 million, the $392 million payment related to the Equinor acquisition, and an increase in CapEx-related working capital of $21 million. Net of the Equinor acquisition, free cash flow was $491 million during the quarter, leaving us well-placed to deliver on our annual guidance. Cash flow from financing activities was negative $110 million, driven by the repayment of borrowings for $810 million, and interest payments of $88 million, partially offset by proceeds from borrowings for $856 million. Finally, our cash position remains very strong. Standing at $605 million at the end of Q2, our net leverage ratio stood at 1.41 times Adjusted EBITDA, or 1.25 on a pro forma basis considering the last 12 months of Adjusted EBITDA for the acquired assets.

To conclude this call, before we move to Q&A, I will make some closing remarks. During Q2, we materially increased the scale of our company on the back of a solid organic growth and the successful closing of the acquisition of our interest in the Bandurria Sur and Bajo del Toro blocks in Vaca Muerta. This allow us to capture the benefit of the oil price spike in Q2, leading to a substantial boost to Adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow generation. In line with our capital allocation framework, we plan to use part of the free cash flow to reduce our net leverage ratio to our target of around one times by the end of the year. We made very good progress on our annual work program and are well on track to deliver our 2026 guidance.

We are maintaining our $3 billion Adjusted EBITDA guidance at $85 per barrel as of now, I want to provide a sensitivity due to the prevailing volatility in oil prices. For every $10 per barrel change in the second semester, Adjusted EBITDA changes approximately $200 million. Before we move to Q&A, I would like to thank all Vista employees for their hard work during the quarter, as well as our investors for their continued support. Operator, we can now move to Q&A.

Thank you so much. As a reminder, to ask a question, simply press star one one to get in the queue and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, press star one one again. Our first question is from Alejandro Demichelis with Jefferies. Please proceed.

Yes. Good morning, gentlemen. Thank you very much for taking my question. Miguel, one question, please. You just have consolidated Chaz Bandurria Sur and Bajo del Toro. Could you please provide some kind of color of how that is going, and how you're seeing the development of these assets going forward, please? Thank you.

Hi, Ale. Thank you very much for the question. Yeah, we took over our share in the asset in May, and everything, I have to say, is moving along as we expected. Our share was consolidated approximately 19,000 BOE per day in Bandurria Sur and 2,000 BOE per day in Bajo del Toro. In Bandurria Sur, actually, we have three rigs running, so you can expect production to remain relatively flat or maybe it can grow slightly toward the end of the year. We also are starting the discussion with our partner, YPF, regarding the plan for 2027. Bajo del Toro, as you know, is an appraisal block.

The plan we are analyzing with YPF is to file reapplication this year. Over the next two year, we will then drill some pilot well to re-some of the areas and land this on, and start to contract the facilities based on what we believe could be the production of the block. We will then, I will say, plan to move to full development, and contract and put some dedicated rig to develop Bajo del Toro. Thanks, Ale, for your question.

Thank you.

One moment for our next question, please. It comes from Daniel Guardiola with BTG Pactual. Please proceed.

Hi. Good morning, Miguel and team, and thank you for your presentation. I have a question on the production outlook for the company. Could you provide us the expected quarterly production trajectory through 2026, including the contribution from Bajo del Toro and Bandurria Sur? Another question on production outlook is, I would like to know if for 2027 and 2028, where you expect significant organic growth, is there a specific Brent price threshold at which you would rather to prioritize free cash generation over production growth? If so, how should investors think about the trade-off between growth, shareholder distributions, and maintaining leverage within your target range? Thank you.

Good question. Starting with the first part, the consolidation of Bandurria Sur and Bajo del Toro took us about 160,000 barrel per day. Month today in July, we are at 162. We forecast Q3 at 160 and Q4 at 170. We are confident in reaching our guidance, that we provide that is 158 barrel oil per day equivalent for the year. I am personally probably a bit more optimistic that we can even go a bit about these numbers. Related to your second part of the question, we make our plan at $65. That happened November last year. As we said, you should consider that we are not going to revise any Sinozone number at the moment. Of course, at some point of time, we need to re-guide, we will do it. For the moment, that are the numbers. Thank you for your question.

Okay. Thank you, Miguel.

Thank you. Our next question is from Tasso Vasconcellos with UBS. Please proceed.

Hi, Miguel. Hi, team. Thank you for taking my question. Miguel, I think I might have some kind of follow-up question on these capital allocation alternatives. If you look at the production outlook that you have released for 2026 and 2027 and assume a Brent at something close to $70 per barrel, we view here that Vista could end 2027 close or even below one time net debt to EBITDA. You still haven't paid any dividends, but you were quite successful in doing some very accretive M&As. From now on, what's the best capital allocation alternatives that you see for Vista? Do you still view some additional M&As on the radar as an alternative here, or dividend should become a high priority for Vista? Thank you.

Thank you, Tasso, for your question. Yes. Look, as I always have stated, growth, it has been and remain our priority within our capital allocation strategy. With the additional cash that we generate, we will still keep full flexibility within the capital allocation metric that we have shown many times. That mean continue seeking M&A, additional CapEx now for the rig projects that create a new opportunity for us in the future, and buyback in the short term, and potentially define a return to shareholder policy that we have discussed before. I think we are not at the stage to do it today, but it's something that we will consider in the future. Now, in the near term, the focus is to delever the company, and, as we stated in this call, to close 2026 very close to our aim, that is one time net lever ratio.

If it's possible with the cash that we have generating, we believe that is possible to achieve. Our capital allocation mindset today is around all those dimensions.

Very clear, Miguel. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next question comes from Leonardo Marcondes with Bank of America. Please proceed.

Hi, Miguel. Hi, everyone. Thank you for picking my question here. My question is regarding the drilling and completion CapEx for the wells. To me, given the strong pickup in Vaca Muerta activity and the significant decline year-to-date in Argentina's country risk, do you see room to renegotiate lower fees with the oil services companies that are putting their rigs and equipment in Argentina? Thank you.

Thank you, Leonardo, for the question, and a good one. As Argentina macroeconomic continue its normalization process, price of oil services became, for me, more a function of scale, volume, I mean, scale volume are the same thing, and competition. Nevertheless, I will say Vista has demonstrated, once again, that innovation continue to play an important role in reducing D&C costs. An example of this are the latest progress that we did in cost reduction within the completion process. As an example, we moved some supply from 1,000 kilometers away to in-basin or Vaca Muerta mining supply, and lately to Bajada del Palo. Basically, tens of kilometers away from where we operate. We are engineering the completion process to move to wet sand. That also cut a lot the cost of supply sand.

Now we are switching from our frac pump from gasoline to gas pump, that also is reducing cost. I will say today, with the macroeconomic situation of Argentina, again, I will say competition, scale, and I will not discount innovation, particularly after what we have demonstrated. Of course, as the macroeconomic continue improving, that is all good news. That help, definitely. Thanks for the question, Leo.

Thank you very much.

Thank you so much. One moment for our next question. It comes from Guilherme Martins with Goldman Sachs. Please proceed.

Hi, Miguel. Hi, team. Thank you for taking my question. I have a quick one from my side here. It was VMOS pipeline. Could you please explain to us or provide an update on development of pipeline, and also if you could comment, do you see any risks of having to use trucking again, particularly when considering your expected ramp-up in production in the second half of the year? Thank you.

Hi, Guilherme. Thank you for the question. The project contraction of VMOS is basically progressing very well. Overall, the project execution today is 65%. The pipeline is at 82. Onshore storage, I was reported, is at 38, and the offshore terminal at 73. We forecast that the full project completion date will be by the middle of 2027. Having said that, I think Horacio comment, the shipment of a very specific component, like the mooring buoy, is being affected by the Strait of Hormuz closure. The VMOS team is basically analyzing different alternatives to solve that issue. The project remain on schedule. So far, we don't expect any changes in our plan of evacuation, neither the need of adding trucking capacity. We are positive with the progress overall.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Andrés Cardona with Citi. Please proceed.

Hi, good morning, all. I have a question about M&A, right? We are seeing interest from permanent players in entering Vaca Muerta. Would you consider any opportunity to farm in areas such as Águila Mora or Bajo del Toro to try to maximize the value and production profile. On the other hand, you mentioned growth remains a key pillar of the investment case. I wonder if you see any opportunity over the short term. You are evaluating any opportunity as of now? Thank you.

Hi, Andrés. Thanks for the question. I would say that, as you know, we not only have been very successful operating Vaca Muerta assets, but also we have been very successful creating value through M&A, where track record on the last few years is the acquisition of Aguada Federal, Bandurria Norte, Wiconoco, Philip and Wintershall, 2021 and 2022, La Amarga Chica last year from Petronas, and most recently, Bandurria Sur and Bajo del Toro from Equinor. Needless to say, that with the strategy that we have today, we are always using our full creativity to continue consolidating core acreage in Vaca Muerta shale oil asset. That continue to be our focus. We continue looking and being very creative in anything that we can add to what we have.

Respect to our acreage position in the north, we at the moment, we are not looking to dilute ourselves, particularly in the current market condition, with the strong balance sheet that we have at the moment. It's not something that we are thinking of today. Of course, condition can change. The strategy can change. We can do something different in the future. No, at the moment, that's not the way that we look at that area. Thanks for the question.

Our next question comes from Michael Furrow with Pickering Energy Partners. Please proceed.

Good morning, Miguel, to the rest of the Vista team there. Given the strong start to the year with 50 net tie-ins already completed by the end of the quarter, the 100 to 110 annual guide appears achievable to us. If efficiency gains continue and provide the company with the opportunity to drill and complete more wells this year than originally planned, how would you think about the trade-off between staying within the current activity and CapEx budget versus capitalizing on these efficiency gains by adding a few more wells this year, but potentially spending a bit more than the current plan?

Hi, Michael. Yeah, interesting way of looking at this. I think we should probably look to different elements of that question. I think as the basin continue gaining scale and competition, I believe, I'm convinced more than believe, that there is room to gain cost efficiencies in our operation in Vaca Muerta overall. As you know, when we compare complete Permian, we are still having a gap in terms of cost. I believe there is less room to improve operational efficiency. For example, drilling time or number of fracking stages per day. When you compare where we are today, we are very efficient, what we do so far. Therefore, there's limited upside to increase activity in the very short term with the current oil service equipment and drilling rig that we have in the country.

Of course, if the service companies bring more equipment to the country, I think, in the midterm or long term, we can do better. In the short term, I don't think the efficiency gap that we have, and particular Vista, will allow to do really more with the same equipment. Yes, we are still having gap for cost saving.

Thank you, Miguel. Appreciate the color there. I'll turn it back.

Thank you. We have a question from Thiago Casqueiro with Morgan Stanley. Please proceed.

Hey, good morning. Thank you for taking my question. I think most of my questions were already addressed here. Miguel, over the past few months, we have seen some projects across the industry being submitted to the RIGI framework. I would like to better understand here how has been the process for Vista so far, in terms of timeline. You mentioned in the first question the plan to add Bajo del Toro in the framework. Should we still think of Águila Mora and Bandurria Norte as other projects most likely to be included? Has your thinking about the scope of the submission changed? Thank you.

Hi, Thiago. Thanks. Yes, we are currently finalizing the documentation to file the application of RIGI for Bandurria Norte, which will probably take place in the coming weeks. We are also working on other projects, Águila Mora, Coirón Amargo Norte, and Bajo del Toro with YPF. That should go to the Secretariat of Energy. He have a team where he analyze all the information before approval. What we are seeing is that process, it will take a few months. The short question, yes, we are going to file those projects, one very soon, and then we'll have to take few months to get the result from the Secretariat of Energy. Yes, we are very happy what the government did in terms of the RIGI, and that clearly have helped us to push forward some of the project that we have in our plan.

Very clear. Thank you.

Thank you. One moment for our next question is from Vicente Falanga with Bradesco BBI. Please proceed.

Hi, Miguel, Alejandro, all of Vista Energy's team. Thank you for taking my question. We noticed that Bajada del Palo Este's production dropped from March to May. Wanted to know if there's anything particular going on there or just a cyclical process of tying up wells. If you could share with us what was your exit output for Bajada del Palo Este in the quarter. Thank you very much.

Hi, Vicente. Thanks for the question. Let me probably put your question in context, or let look at the big picture of development. The rationale of our development plan and activity is based in many elements. One is, of course, production. The other is delineation and derisking of the future areas where we are looking for development or to drill, facility capacities, minimizing frack hit. There are many things that we looking at. All those elements we look at within the full core development hub, which include Bajada del Palo Este, Bajada del Palo Este, Aguada Federal, and Corredor Namango Norte. There's nothing specific that is going on today in Bajada del Palo Este. The overall production in the operative core development hub grew 10% from Q1 to Q2.

Basically when, if I remember properly, from 83,000, I think, to north of 90,000 barrel oil per day equivalent. Of course, if you look at field by field, that you can see changes or you can see a field dropping, another field coming up. The rationale is not based on those field names. We take the full development hub, the full core development hub as one, and we allocate capital activity based on the elements that I said before.

Great. Thank you very much, good luck on Sunday.

Thank you very much.

Thank you. This will conclude our Q&A session, I will turn the call back to Miguel Galuccio for closing comments.

Well, very strong quarter, guys. Thank you very much from the support. Once again, thank you to all the Vista's employees, coworker, friends that have make us to come to the point that we are today, a very strong company, we're looking forward to continue performing and delivering. Thank you very much, have a good day.

This concludes our conference. Thank you for participating, and you may now disconnect.

Be advised that today's call is being recorded. I would now like to hand it over to our first speaker, Alejandro Cherñacov. This is Strategic Planning and Investor Relations Officer. Please go ahead.

Thanks. Good morning, everyone. We are happy to welcome you to Vista's first quarter 2026 results conference call. I am here with Miguel Galuccio, Vista's Chairman and CEO, Pablo Vera Pinto, Vista CFO, Juan Garoby, Vista CTO, and Matías Weissel, Vista COO. Before we begin, I would like to draw your attention to our cautionary statement on slide two. Please be advised that our remarks today, including the answers to your questions, may include forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to be materially different from the expectations contemplated by these remarks. Our financial figures are stated in USD and in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards, IFRS. However, during this conference call, we may discuss certain non-IFRS financial measures such as adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net income.

Reconciliations of these measures to the closest IFRS measure can be found in the earnings release that we issued yesterday. Please check our website for further information. Our company is a sociedad anónima bursátil de capital variable, organized under the laws of Mexico, registered in the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores and the New York Stock Exchange. Our tickers are VISTA in the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores and VIST in the New York Stock Exchange. I will now turn the call over to Miguel.

Thanks, Ale. Good morning, and welcome to this earnings call. During the first quarter of 2026, we made solid progress in our annual work program on the back of a robust new well productivity. Total production was 135,000 BOEs per day, up 67% year-over-year. Oil production was 117,000 barrels per day, an increase of 68% vis-à-vis the previous year. Total revenues during the quarter were $694 million, 58% above the same quarter of last year. Lifting cost was $4.3 per BOE, 8% below year-over-year. CapEx was $391 million, driven by a strong progress in new well activity during the quarter. Adjusted EBITDA was $451 million, an interannual increase of 64%.

Net income was $108 million, leading to earnings per share of $1 during the quarter. Free cash flow was -$341 million, impacted by $331 million of non-recurring items, of which $206 million corresponded to the initiation of basic operation on a delivery basis. Without these non-recurring items, free cash flow in the quarter would have been almost neutral. Our net leverage ratio at quarter end was 1.7x adjusted EBITDA. During Q1 2026, we tied in 23 wells, 12 in Bajada del Palo Oeste, 4 in Bajada del Palo Oeste, and seven net wells in La Amarga Chica. This represent very good progress compared to our guidance of 80-90 wells for the full year.

Solid well productivity of the tying wells drove a material production increase from 127,400 BOEs per day in January to 143,200 BOEs per day in March. Total production during Q1 averaged 134,700 BOEs per day. This represent an interannual increase of 67%, reflecting organic growth and our larger scale after the acquisition of La Amarga Chica. Oil production was 116,700 barrels per day, 68% higher year-over-year. Gas production increased 62% on an interannual basis. In Q1 2026, total revenues were $394 million, 58% above the previous year, driven by a solid increase in oil production, which more than offset lower oil prices.

Oil export more than doubled year-over-year, reaching 7.2 million barrels in the quarter, representing 67% of our total sales volume. Realized oil price in Q1 was $60.1 per barrel on average, down 12% on interannual basis and up 2% on a sequential basis, in both cases driven by Brent. We sold 100% of oil volumes at a export parity prices, both domestically and internationally. Higher oil prices owing to war in Middle East has a minor impact in Q1 revenues, as we have mostly locked in March prices when the conflict started in February 28. We expect higher oil prices to significantly boost adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow during Q2, 2026 and onwards.

In Q4, lifting cost was $4.3 per BOE, 8% below the same quarter of last year, reflecting our low-cost asset base and fixed cost dilution as we continue to gain scale. Selling expenses were $3.8 per BOE, down 41% on interannual basis, mainly driven by the elimination of oil trucking as of the end of Q1 2025. Adjusted EBITDA during the quarter was $451 million, 64% higher interannually, mainly driven by the consolidation of 50% working interest in La Amarga Chica and organic production growth in our core development hub, which more than offset lower oil prices. On a sequential basis, adjusted EBITDA increased 2%, driven by higher realized oil prices.

adjusted EBITDA margin was 65%, up 3 percentage points compared to the same quarter of last year, driven by lower export duties, selling expenses, and lifting costs, which offset lower oil prices. In Q1 2026, cash flow from operating activities was $86 million, mostly impacted by two one-off negative items. First, a working capital impact of $206 million as a consequence of ramping up our trading operation, which moved a large part of our export from FOB to delivered basis and at a higher Brent price. Second, an outflow of $46 million corresponding to a tax payment in Mexico, which has been booked in previous quarters.

Cash flow use in investing activities was $427 million, reflecting accrued CapEx of $391 million, a decrease in CapEx related working capital of $53 million, and the $80 million deposit related to the Equinor acquisition. As a result, free cash flow was -$341 million during the quarter. Net of the working capital, one-off impacts, and the Equinor deposit recurring free cash flow was -$10 million during the quarter. These impacts were expected and do not change our positive free cash flow forecast for the year, excluding payment to Equinor. Additionally, as we will show in the following slide, free cash flow is forecast to be materially higher than our original expectations.

Cash flow from financing activities were $118 million, driven by proceeds from borrowings for $590 million, partially offset by the repayment of borrowings for $130 million and the interest payments of $27 million. Our cash position remains very strong, standing at $615 million at the end of the quarter. Our net leverage ratio stood at 1.7x adjusted EBITDA. Today, we are updating our annual guidance to reflect the impact of robust production performance as well as a more contracted view of oil prices.

Based on the solid progress of our new well campaign, with 23 tie-in to date and robust productivity, we are increasing our full-year production guidance from 140,000-143,000 BOEs per day, more than 1 million barrels of oil equivalent for the year. Importantly, our CapEx guidance remain unchanged. We forecast to spend between $1.5 billion-$1.6 billion of CapEx in 2026. Considering the current oil price volatility, we are showing different scenarios for Q2 through Q4, $75, $85, and $95 Brent. Based on this new production and oil price assumptions, we are forecasting a material increase in our financial metrics. In the $85 per barrel scenario, our adjusted EBITDA guidance increased to $2.6 billion, an improvement of $700 million from our previous guidance.

Assuming $95 Brent for Q2 through Q4, adjusted EBITDA will be $2.9 billion, and at $75 Brent, it will be $2.3 billion. Our 2026 free cash flow guidance increased to $700 million, assuming our best case of $85 Brent in Q2 through Q4. This is $500 million more than the original guidance. Assuming $75 for the same period, free cash flow for the year will be $400 million, whereas at $95 it will be $1 billion of free cash flow for the year. This updated guidance does not reflect the closing of Equinor Argentina acquisition. Last week, we completed all the condition precedent to close the transaction. We expect closing to occur in early May, and guidance will be updated promptly after.

On a preliminary basis, after consolidating the acquired asset, we forecast 2026 adjusted EBITDA guidance to increase to $3 billion, assuming $85 Brent for Q2 to Q4. To conclude this call, and before we move to Q&A, I will make some closing remarks. Solid execution of our annual work program delivered material production growth during the quarter. Based on our production performance and a more contracted view on oil prices, we have updated our 2026 guidance, which now reflects more production as well as a material improvement to adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow projections. Our new scale following the execution of two important M&A transactions that add up to our 70,000 BOEs per day, place us in an excellent position to benefit from this positive oil pricing cycle. We expect a significant boost to adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow as of Q2 2026.

This additional cash generation will allow us to strengthen our balance sheet by significantly reducing our leverage ratios during 2026, emerging from this price cycle as a strong and more flexible company. Before we move to Q&A, I would like to thank all our employees for their hard work during the quarter. Operator, we can now move to Q&A.

Thank you. As a reminder, to ask a question, you will need to press star one one on your telephone and wait for a name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. One moment for our first question. Our first question will come from the line of Leonardo Marcondes from Bank of America. Your line is open.

Hi, everyone. Thank you for picking my questions. My question here is regarding the revision of the guidance for production. Could you walk us through the main drivers behind the increase in this year's production guidance? Given that CapEx remains unchanged, what is effectively enabling this uplift? Should we attribute it mainly due to better than expected well productivity? Thank you very much.

Hi, Leonardo. Thanks for the question. I think there's two things. One, the more important is that we feel super confident due to the results of the 23 wells that we connect in Q1. All of them have very robust productivity. We decide basically that we will up the 66, as you saw, from 140-143 barrels of oil equivalent per day. That basically add 1 million barrels during 2026. If you go and try to understand a bit the quarter breakdown, I think you have to expect that Q2 will be around the production level that we are recording now in March. Then progressively, you see increases in Q3 and in Q4. That will lead us to a total of 143,000 barrels per day average for the year.

As I mentioned in the presentation, this does not include the consolidation of Equinor assets. Thanks for the question.

Thank you.

One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Guilherme Martins from Goldman Sachs. Your line is open.

Thank you. Thank you for taking my question. I have a quick one on capital allocation. I understood you guys have maintained your CapEx guidance for the year despite the scenario of higher oil prices since your last investor day last year, right? Having said this, what should we think in terms of capital allocation this year? Miguel, you mentioned the company could use this additional cash flow from higher oil prices to pay down debt, right? What is the target net debt EBITDA we should think of? Thank you.

Thank you, Guilherme, for the question. The answer is in line what you mentioned. You should go back, and we should go back to the capital allocation framework that we've been basically commenting for the last few years. We use our balance sheet to close 70,000 barrels of oil per day in acquisitions when you take in consideration the acquisition of Petronas and Equinor. Now that we enter in a higher oil price scenario, and that we almost double the production in the last year, we believe that we should delever us using that momentum that we are living and regain financial flexibility, the one that we have prior to the acquisition.

That mean for us, going back to around the 1 net debt leverage ratio, I will set by year-end. Additionally, we said on Tuesday, we announced that the shareholders approved the extension of the share buyback plan for $150 million for 2026. You also should assume that we will use the cash during this year to complete that acquisition of the buyback. That is pretty much how you should think of the year. You're correct. I mean, our priority now will be delivering.

Understood. Thank you.

You're welcome.

Our next question will come from the line of Bruno Montanari from Morgan Stanley. Your line is open.

Good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for taking my question. I wanted to explore a little bit more the pricing situation, Miguel. You mentioned that you were unable to capture the full benefits in the first quarter because you closed the prices ahead of the March rally. Can you comment on what you have been able to secure now in the beginning of Q2? If there is any Commercial strategy change that could allow you to capture more spot prices without eventually fixing the prices one month ahead. Thank you very much.

Yeah. Thank you for the question. A lot of noise in the line, but I think I managed to catch the question. First, I just said that we are not changing our commercial strategy. You are going to see that we capture 100% of the higher prices starting in Q2. There is always part of those sales, as you know, of the next month, which have locked in in advance. We've been doing that for many years. The rationale is always been working capital management. As we said in the presentation, we sold essentially all the March volume before the conflict in Middle East started, and the price of such a sale was locked in previous to the event, you know.

As of today, less than a third of Q2 production is priced at an average price of around $90 Brent, while the rest of the production will continue to price at the current and future price levels. Summarizing, I mean, for that, we are exposed to full Brent volatility for the rest of the volume that we have not yet closed. Basically no change in the strategy and also not change in the practice of locking in one month ahead that we are selling.

Very clear. Thank you very much.

You're very welcome.

Thank you. Our next question will come from the line of Daniel Guardiola from BTG Pactual. Your line is open.

Hi. Good morning, Miguel and team, and thanks for the presentation. I have a question on cost inflation, especially considering the current environment of higher prices. I wanted to ask if you're seeing any early signs of service cost inflation in rigs, crackers, logistics, sand, et cetera. How should we think about the balance going forward between pricing tailwinds and potential cost pressure? To what extent you believe your efficiency gains can somehow offset this potential inflation? That would be my question.

Thanks, Daniel, for the question. A very good question. First of all, probably the best thing for me to say and to clarify that we have not have any tariff change. Okay. We will not allow any tariff change. The existing contract, as are some of them, I would say many of them, are adjust using gasoline prices. We are seeing some tariff adjustment on those cases that we could consider inflation. We are also seeing some impact on the peso component due to the flood effects. Saying all that, and as you mentioned, we have a very solid cost reduction plan in place. The projects that we are executing will allow us to offset most of those effect.

We are on track, and we are basically confirming our guidance of $11.7 million for drilling and completion cost per well, and also $4.3 that we mentioned in terms of lifting costs. We are super confident. Yes, we are seeing some pressure or adjustment on the contract due to the price of gasoline, but the plan that we have in place will allow us to offset that small impact.

Thank you, Miguel.

Very welcome.

Thank you. Our next question will come from the line of Alejandro Demichelis from Jefferies. Your line is open.

Yes. Good morning. Thank you very much for taking my question. Miguel, you just talked about your hedging strategy and how you're dealing with the commercial part. Maybe you can talk about how the new trading vehicle should be operating, how much risk it should be taking, and how can that kind of, you know, continue to improve your commercial cost.

Thank you, Ale, for the question. Yes, first, the reason that why we create a trading company, the main reason, and we explained it before, is to access to new market. Basically, we generate more demand from the Medanito oil and also, we create additional margins since we are selling our own oil on delivering basis. As we said, when we look at what we have done, we are achieving both. We are reaching new markets, and as an example, Malaysia, Australia, Thailand, Singapore, that we didn't reach before, we are reaching it now. We are also capturing additional margins on the 25 million barrels that Vista expect to trade during 2026. We are not a trading company.

Basic goal is not to take any trading risk. They only take position to cover the volume that we sold, and usually also, only for the following month until the oil is delivered. I mean, I think it's super important to clarify because we did BEHSA for that reason, and we should not look at BEHSA as a trading company. Of course, I mean, the two objectives that we put as in line of the creation of BEHSA, we are achieving it.

That's very clear. Thank you.

You're welcome.

Thank you. Our next question will come from the line of Enrique Kuna from JPMorgan. Your line is open.

Hi, hi. Good morning. Thanks for taking up our question here. We have a question on working capital. Could you provide more color on the impact if it had on free cash flow in the quarter? Specifically in the report, you mentioned around $200 million related to BEHSA, which was not included in our estimates here. Could you elaborate on the contract effects from BEHSA and what should we expect going forward?

Yes, Enrique, of course. I mean, happy to elaborate on that. Basically, the ramp-up of base operations generate two one-offs, as we explained. One is related to the fact that BEHSA sold most of its production on a delivery basis instead of FOB. That was what we were doing before, which is, that is what we were doing with all the trading company that we were using before the creation of BEHSA. This extended the revenue collection cycle by the transit of the ship. Just let me give you an example. An old vessel that take around 20 to go from Puerto Rosales to West Coast in U.S. Also now we are seeing more demand from the Asian buyers, will take that transit time much more time. I would say probably 40 days of transit time.

That is basically the change that we have, what we did before, what we have today. This is the first one-off. The second effect is related to BEHSA short-term we consist on buying physical oil from Vista Argentina and selling a forward contract at the same price to lock in that revenue. For example, in the month of March, with significant price volatility at whatever that reflect the realization of price of $60, but the invoice to be collected by BEHSA reflect the market price that was between $90 and $100, leading to an increase in working capital. That are the two effects that we have. One is related to the realization of the price and the short hedge that BEHSA take every time they sell.

The other one is the change of us that today we are selling on delivery basis instead of FOB that we were doing before. Hope that answer your question, Enrique.

Thank you.

Thank you. Our next question come from the line of Tasso Vasconcellos from UBS. Your line is open.

Hi, Miguel. Hi, Ale. Miguel, you already mentioned a little bit about your pricing on the discount or premium to Brent prices, Medanito and so on. Can you also comment on that agreement that you had with the local refineries in Argentina in terms of setting some kind of limit on pricing when oil prices are too high, but also some kind of protection when it moves to lower in determined periods? That's more for us to understand how we should think about this agreement looking forward. Thank you.

Hi, Tasso. Thank you very much for the question. First, probably prices in the domestic market continued to fully reflect a poor parity. I think that is super important to understand. There was no agreement to fix prices. What we did was to discuss an agreement to mitigate the financial impact of raising crude oil prices resulting from the conflict that we have in Middle East. That agreement was that the buyer will recognize full export parity, but paying up to $95-$100 Brent for April and May. Any positive difference between the price that they paid and the international market price will be deferred and paid no later than July 31st.

This agreement does not have any material impact on our cash flow, as you know, and this only applied to a third of our local sale, equivalent to 15,000 barrels of oil per day or around 10% of our total sale. The rest of the volume continued to be priced and paid at export parity. That is what we did. I think it was very smart. It took the consensus of very few people. Again, we are continue receiving and reflecting full export parity in the local market.

That's very clear. Thank you, Miguel.

Thank you. Our next question will come from the line of Andres Cardona from Citi. Your line is open.

Hi, good morning, Miguel and team. The province of Buenos Aires, the governor Kicillof is considering to do a new round of some 15 blocks, [per what I see on the million]. Could you share your thoughts about this opportunity, timing, if the assets are located in a relatively core acreage, so it is more type of frontier. Any color that you could share, it is appreciated.

Thank you, Andres. Yes, I think, I mean, very good timing of the province to put this, to put this out. We always going to look into anything that is on the basin that we can participate. Nevertheless, I mean, when you look at what we, what basically they are offering, I will say there's a lot of border of the basin on gas, okay? You know our strategy is very concentrating in oil. There could be some oil block that we will look at it, but I mean, very early to tell you if we will do anything. But we believe very good initiative from the province.

Miguel, do these blocks have the same royalty scheme or are they introducing any incremental rate?

Could you repeat? Sorry.

Yes. If the new blocks may have the same royalties rate that the traditional shale acreage as in Vaca Muerta. Regalía.

Andres, yes. Yes, Andres. I understand it's the same, okay? To be honest, I cannot give you detail. We will look how the process evolve, but there should not be any change on the, on the scheme.

Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question will come from the line of Michael Furrow from Pickering Energy Partners. Your line is open.

Hello, and thanks for taking our question. Look, we were just hoping to get a quick update regarding the Equinor deal. I know it's still a bit early for the company to issue pro forma guidance until that deal closes in early May. What do you see as a good run rate for annual net turning lines on the Bandurria Sur assets, and what could the associated CapEx look like?

Yeah, Michael, thank you for the question. As we mentioned, we now received pending approval that we have from the Chilean antitrust authorities. All conditions present basically has been met, and we are planning to close this deal early May. Regarding the CapEx, it will be around $200 million. Also assuming that the deal close early May, the consolidation will be as May 1. The asset are producing around 20,000 barrel per day at Vista working interest. I think there could be a little upside on this on the coming quarter. With that production assumption, you should assume that we will generate around $3 billion of EBITDA.

Great. Thank you.

You're welcome.

Our next question will come from the line of George Gasztowtt from Latin Securities. Your line is open.

Good afternoon, Miguel, and thank you for taking my question. Clearly it's a very volatile oil environment, but I was wondering if you could comment on the Medanito discount to Brent. Are you seeing that move a lot? How should we think about the differential in 2Q and beyond?

Thank you for the question. We're happy with this one. Yes, we have seen significantly stronger Medanito differentials. This is driven by the supply tightness of Asia, and this also contributing to the higher realization price that you saw in Q2. We saw a low volatility in the last month from basically -3 prior to the Middle East event to a range of +6 to 9. That was more recently. We believe that this trend will continue, depending on how the oil market dynamic is unfold. I mean, there's still a lot of uncertainty there. I will say, you should assume that we will continue selling on a premium price at least for the near future.

Thank you. Very clear.

Thank you, George.

Our next question will come from the line of Ignacio Sabelle from Itaú BBA. Your line is open.

Yes. Hi, everyone. Congratulations on the results, and thanks for taking my question. I would like to understand how the new scope of the RIGI benefits you. What are the plans? Are there any blocks developments that could be targeted here? Maybe understand what are the time frames, when are you going to submit any project? Also until when can you submit any projects? Thanks.

Yes. Thank you, Ignacio, for the question. Yes, we are currently prepare the documentation to apply for RIGI for two our future development blocks. One is Aguada Mora and the other one is Bandurria Norte. After closing the Equinor deal, we will have also better understanding of Cien Toro, which we believe also could apply to the RIGI, the application of that in particular have to be submitted by his operator at the YPF. We are quite confident that also that one will apply. Regarding your second question on timing, we plan to submit the documentation by the end of Q2. The Minister of Energy have to analyze all the information before the approval. Based on what we've seen is happening with others, companies that have asked for the RIGI, that will take probably a few months.

I would like to add that the impact of RIGI is very positive. For what we saw on the evaluation that the two block that we present, it creates fiscal incentives and also it move us to accelerate the CapEx of investment in those blocks that otherwise would be at the tail of our plan. Very good initiative for the government on this one. It will help to bring that block from the north a bit closer in our plan.

Awesome. Thanks. Very clear.

Thank you. Our next question will come from line of Oriana Covault from Balanz. Your line's open.

Hi. Thanks for taking the question. I have a quick one regarding the non-operated assets. Specifically, how do you see the contribution from these areas within La Amarga Chica evolving through the year? Thank you.

Thank you, Oriana Covault, for the question. Look, La Amarga Chica is performing quite well. When we acquire the block, if you remember, we were producing around 38,000 barrel oil per day. This is Vista working interest. In Q1 we produce around 48 barrel of oil per day. A 25% increase. For the rest of the year, as we said, we are expecting a flattish forecast or even on a slightly growth. Okay? Yes, happy with the acquisition, happy with the performance, happy with the relationship that we have today with YPF, the operational level. Everything is working pretty well.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Thank you. Our next question will come from line, Matías Cattaruzzi from Adcap. Your line is open.

Hello. Good day, Miguel and management team. My question is as follows: How would the 2026 EBITDA and free cash flow guidance look at a Brent of $105 or $115 per barrel in the new guidance framework?

Thank you, Matías. I like this question. I mean, the way you got it, if you consider that every $10 increase between Q2 and Q4, you have to think that we will capture around $275 million of EBITDA and $250 million of free cash flow. Back to your numbers. I mean, we show early $95 Brent for Q2-Q4. EBITDA will be estimated around $2.9 billion in 2026. At $105, that same EBITDA will be $3.2 billion. At $115 Brent, it will be almost $3.5 billion.

In the case of free cash flow, a $95 Brent scenario, the free cash flow will be around $1 billion for the full year, and $105, $1.25 billion, and at $115, $1.5 billion of free cash flow during the year. Thank you for the question.

Thanks to you.

Thank you. I'm not showing any further questions at this time. I want to call back over to Miguel for any closing remarks.

Guys, thank you very much for the participation, for the good question. Very positive about what is coming up. We are starting the year from the operational point of view and the production point of view in good grounds. Very confident for Q3, Q4, and Q4. It should be an excellent year for us. Thank you very much for the continued support and have a good day.

Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect. Everyone, have a great day.