Good day, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Teekay Tankers' Third Quarter 2017 Earnings Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions]. As a reminder, this program is being recorded. Now for opening remarks and introductions, I would like to turn the call over to Mr. Kevin Mackay, Teekay Tankers' Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead, sir.

Before Kevin begins, I'd like to direct all participants to our website at www.teekaytankers.com, where you'll find a copy of the third quarter 2017 earnings presentation. Kevin will review this presentation during today's conference call. Please allow me to remind you that our discussion today contains forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from the results projected by those forward-looking statements. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to materially differ from those in the forward-looking statements is contained in the third quarter 2017 earnings release and earnings presentation available on our website. I will now turn the call over to Kevin to begin.

Thank you, Ryan. Hello, everyone, and thank you very much for joining us today. With me here in Vancouver are Vince Lok, Teekay Tankers' Chief Financial Officer; and Christian Waldegrave, Head of Strategic Research at Teekay Corporation. During today's call, I will be taking you through Teekay Tankers' third quarter 2017 earnings results presentation, which can be found on our website. Beginning with our recent highlights on Slide 3 of the presentation. Teekay Tankers reported an adjusted net loss of $14 million or $0.08 per share in the third quarter of 2017 compared to an adjusted net loss of $7.1 million or $0.04 per share in the second quarter. We generated cash flow from vessel operations of $20.6 million during the quarter compared to $28 million in the previous quarter. Our results were negatively impacted by lower spot tanker rates, which were the lowest seen in several years. In accordance with our dividend policy, Teekay Tankers declared a dividend of $0.03 per share for the third quarter of 2017, representing the minimum quarterly dividend. In relation to the merger with Tanker Investments Ltd., we are excited to announce that Teekay Tankers has received support from its 4 largest shareholders who have voted their shares in favor of the merger. Further, 2 leading independent proxy advisory firms, ISS and Glass Lewis, have recommended that company shareholders vote for the merger, its proposed charter amendment, to permit the merger. I will expand upon this and the information regarding the special meeting of shareholders later on in the presentation. Since August, we entered into agreements to sell 2 1999-built Aframax tankers for aggregate proceeds of approximately $12.7 million. One Aframax tanker delivered this past September, with the other expected to deliver later this month. Lastly, in September this year, Teekay Tankers announced its…

[Operator Instructions]. And we'll take our first question from Noah Parquette, JPMorgan.

Just going and focusing on the share repurchase program, can you talk a little bit more about under what conditions you guys think you'd find yourselves repurchasing those shares, and maybe more specifically on what kind of targets you guys are aiming for on the deleveraging front?

I'll start and maybe hand it over to you, Vince. Just an overview of the share repurchase program. One of the deliberations that we've had with our board over several quarters in the last year or so has been our capital allocation program. And we felt that going forward, we had various levers in our toolkit, if you will, to manage capital allocation. But with a continuous offering program out there on one side, we felt that it was beneficial to have something on the adjacent side, where when we find dislocations in our share price relative to our value, we can take excess capital that we haven't assigned for other purposes to buy back shares and increase shareholder value that way. So this was really just to flesh out our financial toolkit and give us different options at different points in the cycle. So as it comes to when we actually execute on those, as we do with all other aspects of our business, we take a portfolio approach and look at each point in the cycle, what is the best use of our capital and where can we maximize value for the shareholders. So the share buyback program will be something that the management will be talking through on a continual basis, and we'll be sharing our thoughts and getting guidance from our board in terms of at which point in the cycle we -- we decide to use it.

And just to build further on that and to answer your question about balance sheet strength, obviously, one of the key benefits of the TIL merger is getting us a bigger balance sheet and a stronger balance sheet as well as stronger liquidity position. I think we've been very consistent in saying that one of our goals is to continue to delever the balance sheet, and that's something we want to continue to do even post-merger, and you've seen that in terms of also in some of the asset sales of older vessels. So as Kevin said, it is -- the share buyback program is another capital allocation tool that we can use to create value, so when we do have excess capital, we do need to look at whether investing in additional vessels versus buying back our stock, which one is going to create the most shareholder value.

Okay. And then shifting gears for your lightering business, can you talk about -- was it affected at all by the hurricane in -- in the quarter? And how is it looking so far this quarter?

Yes, I mean, obviously, Hurricane Harvey was very disruptive to the logistics supply chain within the U.S. Gulf, both on an import basis and an export basis. Whether that was lighterings or reverse lighterings or voyages, all schedules and plans were dramatically altered. But given our scale and our access to our pool vessels, we were able to manage through it without any major impact. It did increase demand in the short term as dislocated vessels weren't able to get into port and subsequently drove higher demand. So there was a positive that came out of it. And I think as we look through the rest of the fourth quarter, we are seeing an increase in export volume from the Gulf, which is positive for both our reverse lightering business but also our Aframax and Suezmax business, which is taking cargoes directly from port across the Atlantic to European buyers. So we're seeing the positives on both sides of our business.

Okay. And then just really quickly, assuming the merger is -- you know, the vote goes okay, do you expect it to close by the end of the year?

Yes, as Kevin said, the meeting date is November 17. And if the vote is approved, then we are targeting to close the transaction probably, I would say, end of November, early December, in that time frame.

And just add to that, given the fact, that I mentioned it in my comments, the fact that we commercially and technically manage these vessels already means that the close and the integration is going to be smooth and seamless really.

[Operator Instructions]. There appear to be no further questions. Mr. Mackay, I'll hand things back for any additional or closing remarks.

Thank you. We encourage all shareholders to vote prior to November 17. And we look forward to speaking with you next quarter. Thank you.

Ladies and gentlemen, that does conclude today's conference. We would like to thank you all for your participation. You may now disconnect.