Herbert Vogel

President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, SM ENERGY CO

Search every verified Herbert Vogel interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Herbert Vogel, President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director of SM Energy, participated in a November 3, 2025, joint conference call with Civitas Resources to discuss the companies' announced all-stock merger agreement. Under the terms, each Civitas share would be exchanged for 1.45 SM Energy shares, creating a combined company with an enterprise value of approximately $12.8 billion, including net debt. During the call, Vogel and other executives discussed the transaction's expected operational synergies, including bundling services, bringing recurring costs in-house, and using field gas and recycled water, as well as a projected cost-of-capital savings of about 100 basis points. They also outlined a focus on reducing leverage below one times, maintaining the fixed dividend, and resuming share repurchases after reaching that target. In his remarks, Vogel emphasized that the company plans production based on maximizing free cash flow over a two-to-three-year horizon, stating that production is an output of that maximization rather than a goal, and is driven by commodity prices and price mix. He described this approach as successful in achieving debt, free cash flow, and capital return targets. The call concluded with Vogel providing closing remarks, thanking participants for their attendance.