Production Rig On-Site at McCool Ranch Oilfield to Restart Oil Production: First Two Wells Expected to Begin Production this Week
15 New Well Locations at McCool Ranch Oilfield Recommended by Independent Engineering Firm, Some of Which Could be Drilled in Q2, 2024
Production Rig Relocating to South Salinas Project to Restart Oil Production of the HV-3A Well at the Presidents Oilfield -- Prior Test Production of 33 BOPD and Peak of 154 BOPD
Bakersfield, CA, Feb. 05, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Trio Petroleum Corp (NYSE American: TPET) (“TPET”, “Trio” or the “Company”), a California-based oil and gas company, today provided an update on its operations in Monterey County, California, where it has ownership in two assets: the South Salinas Project and the McCool Ranch Oilfield (“McCool Ranch”).
TPET announced on Oct. 18, 2023, the acquisition of approximately 22% working interest in McCool Ranch, located in Monterey County seven miles north of the Company’s South Salinas Project. Trio will be restarting oil production of these previously producing wells that have been primarily idle since 2015.
There are three developed areas at McCool Ranch and the Company’s acquisition is in the so-called Hangman Hollow Area that is relatively new and developed with four horizontal oil wells, two vertical oil wells, one water-disposal well, one freshwater well, a steam generator, boiler, three 5,000 barrel tanks, 250 barrel test tank, water softener facilities, two fresh water tanks, two soft water tanks, in-field steam pipelines, oil pipelines and other facilities. The property is fully and properly permitted for oil and gas production, cyclic-steam injection and water disposal and is currently idle (i.e., not producing), but restart operations have begun.
TPET’s investment at McCool Ranch is primarily allocated to restarting production and is expected to establish important cash flow. TPET will receive a disproportionately high share of the cash flow until payout of its initial investment.
KLS Petroleum Consulting LLC (“KLSP”), a third-party, independent engineering firm, recommends that McCool Ranch be developed with fifteen additional horizontal wells, each landed in the Lombardi Oil Sand with a 1,000-foot lateral, and TPET accordingly may commence a drilling program in Q2, 2024. Pictures of McCool Ranch can be found on the Trio website at the following link: https://trio-petroleum.com
A production rig has been on-site at McCool Ranch to restart oil production, but the commencement of operations was delayed by an atmospheric river of heavy rainfall. Now cleared and field conditions stabilized, operations will commence to restart oil production at the 58X-23 and HH-1-ST2 wells and possibly the 35X-23 well. TPET plans to initially restart each of these wells “cold” (i.e., without steam injection) and when appropriate to transition each well to cyclic-steam operations, also known as “huff and puff”.
The HH-1-ST2 well was initially produced cold for about 380 days in 2012-2013, during which time peak production was about 156 barrels of oil per day (“BOPD”), average production was about 35 BOPD and cumulative production was about 13,147 barrels of oil (“BO”). The 58X-23 well was initially produced cold for about 230 days in 2011-2013, during which time peak production was about 41 BOPD, average production was about 13 BOPD and cumulative production was about 2,918 BO.
After finishing the aforementioned restart operations at McCool Ranch, the production rig will be relocated to restart oil production at the HV-3A well at the Presidents Oilfield at the South Salinas Project. The HV-3A well was initially production-tested for approximately 37 days in 2018-2019, during which time peak production was about 154 BOPD, average production was about 33 BOPD and cumulative production was about 900 BO. After being shut-in for about six weeks in 2018-2019, the well began flowing oil and gas to surface. The HV-3A oil is high-quality, mid-gravity oil (approximately 18.5° to 22.4° API gravity). Operations at HV-3A do not require steam due to favorable viscosity. There are very promising opportunities to significantly increase the aforementioned 33 BOPD rate. For example, by adding up to 650 feet of additional perforations in the oil zone, acidizing the well for borehole cleanup, utilizing another new borehole treatment that is under review, as well as other methods and operations under consideration, we believe production can be significantly increased over the previous levels.
TPET for the time-being has shifted the focus of its operations at Presidents Oilfield from the HV-1 well to the HV-3A well, as discussed above. The HV-1 well found oil in the Yellow, Brown and Mid-Monterey Clay zones, however, TPET to-date has been unable to establish commercial oil production due to the water produced at HV-1 and the well is currently idle. Next steps at the HV-1 are currently under review, including possibly deepening it to targets identified in 3D seismic in the Green Chert and Blue Chert zones of the Monterey Formation and in the underlying Vaqueros Sand, or sidetracking the well to a location that might have fewer fractures and faults and thus an improved oil-water ratio. Though the well was idled, KLSP, as reported in the recently filed annual report, believes the new technical data received as a result of drilling the HV-1 in regards to the Mid-Monterey Clay and the Yellow Zone may positively impact the Company’s estimated reserves.
Trio’s recently appointed CEO, Michael L Peterson, stated: We have a rig on site at our McCool Ranch ready to begin work necessary to get wells pumping again. The recent atmospheric river of rain hitting California has caused delays but we are excited and expect to begin pumping two to three wells and producing revenue from that field as early as this week. We are also very pleased to be able to announce that 15 additional new wells have been identified that can be developed in this field. After restarting oil production at McCool, our plan is to then move the rig, to restart oil production from the HV-3A well at Presidents Field at the South Salinas Project, with production expected to begin next week. We are excited to be commencing oil production in two fields this month and to benefit from the cash flow that it can generate. We are pursuing our business plan of growing cash flow and making smart acquisitions to help achieve the success of the company and increase shareholder value.
About Trio Petroleum Corp
Trio Petroleum Corp is an oil and gas exploration and development company headquartered in Bakersfield, California, with operations in Monterey County, California, and Uinta County, Utah. Trio has a large, approximately 9,267-acre asset called the “South Salinas Project” in Monterey County, California, where it owns an 85.75% working interest, an approximate 22% working interest in the McCool Ranch Oil Field in Monterey County, and an option to acquire a 20% working interest in the approximately 30,000 acre Asphalt Ridge project in Uinta County, Utah.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
All statements in this press release of Trio Petroleum Corp (“Trio”) and its representatives and partners that are not based on historical fact are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and the provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Acts”). In particular, when used in the preceding discussion, the words "estimates," "believes," "hopes," "expects," "intends," “on-track”, "plans," "anticipates," or "may," and similar conditional expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Acts and are subject to the safe harbor created by the Acts. Any statements made in this news release other than those of historical fact, about an action, event or development, are forward-looking statements. While management has based any forward-looking statements contained herein on its current expectations, the information on which such expectations were based may change. These forward-looking statements rely on a number of assumptions concerning future events and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are outside of the Trio's control, that could cause actual results to materially and adversely differ from such statements. Such risks, uncertainties, and other factors include, but are not necessarily limited to, those set forth in the Risk Factors section of the Trio’s S-1 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Copies are of such documents are available on the SEC's website, www.sec.gov . Trio undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes after the date of this release, except as required by law.
Investor Relations Contact:
Redwood Empire Financial Communications
Michael Bayes
(404) 809 4172
michael@redwoodefc.com
