Diamondback Energy
Q2 2022 Earnings Call
Aug 02, 2022, 10:00 a.m. ET
Contents:
- Prepared Remarks
- Questions and Answers
- Call Participants
Prepared Remarks:
Operator
Good day and thank you for standing by. And welcome to Diamondback Energy second quarter 2022 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants on a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there'll be a question-and-answer session.
[Operator instructions] Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Adam Lawlis, vice president. Please go ahead.
Adam Lawlis -- Vice President, Investor Relations
Thank you, Jason. Good morning and welcome to Diamondback Energy second quarter '22 conference call. During our call, we will be referencing an updated investor presentation, which can be found on Diamondback's website. Representing Diamondback today are Travis Stice, chairman and CEO; Kaes Van't Hof, president and CFO; and Danny Wesson, COO.
During this conference call, participants may make certain forward-looking statements related to the company's financial condition, results of operations, plans, objectives, future performance of businesses. We caution you that actual results could differ materially from those that are indicated in these forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors. Information concerning these factors can be found in the company's filings with the SEC. In addition, we'll make reference to certain non-GAAP measures.
Reconciliations with the appropriate GAAP measures can be found in our earnings release issued yesterday afternoon. I'll now turn the call over to Travis Stice.
Travis Stice -- Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you, Adam, and welcome to Diamondback's second quarter earnings call. I'd like to start by highlighting our second quarter performance. We once again delivered operationally, producing over 221,000 barrels of oil per day, near the high end of our quarterly guidance range. Our discretionary cash flow or operating cash flow before working capital changes totaled $1.8 billion, up 27% quarter over quarter, setting a new high for the company.
This increase was primarily due to a favorable backdrop -- macro backdrop, as well as improvement to our realized pricing as hedges put on last year continue to roll off. Our free cash flow for the quarter was $1.3 billion, up 35% quarter over quarter. We will return 63% of this free cash flow to our shareholders, well in excess of our commitment to return at least 50% of free cash flow. This return is made up of our growing and sustainable base dividend, opportunistic share repurchases, and a robust variable dividend.