Oil Production Restarted at McCool Ranch Field at Approximately 400 Barrels Fluid per Day (Oil & Water) from the HH-1 and 58X Wells
The Third Well, The 35X Well to be Restarted Shortly
Oil Production Restart at the South Salinas Project at the HV-3A Well Also to Occur Shortly
Bakersfield, CA, March 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Trio Petroleum Corp (NYSE American: “TPET”, “Trio” or the “Company”), a California-based oil and gas company, today provided an update on its operations in Monterey County, California, including at the McCool Ranch Oilfield (“McCool Ranch”) and at the South Salinas Project.
TPET announced on Oct. 18, 2023, the acquisition of working interest in McCool Ranch, located in Monterey County seven miles north of the Company’s South Salinas Project. After a several week delay due mainly to atmospheric rivers of heavy rainfall, the Company has successfully restarted field operations including the restarting of oil production at the 58X and HH-1 wells. These two wells were restarted on February 22nd and collectively have been pumping approximately 400 barrels of fluid per day, both oil and associated water, with an apparent favorable oil cut by visual estimate. It will be possible operationally to accurately measure oil and water production rates in about one week. Water will be disposed in the on-site water disposal well.
Given the successful restart of overall field operations and of the first two wells, with good gross production rates and apparent favorable oil-cut, the Company has funded the startup of a third well, the 35X well, which is expected to produce similarly to the 58X well (the 35X and 58X wells are both vertical wells with similar oil columns in the Lombardi Oil Sand and similar completions). It is anticipated that the 35X well will be producing in the next two to three weeks.
The aforementioned initial three wells at McCool Ranch are each being restarted and produced “cold” (i.e. without steam injection), which allows for lower operating costs, and each will be produced cold as long as profitable. When appropriate, TPET will transition each well to cyclic-steam operations, also known as “huff and puff”, which is expected to significantly increase production. Wells in McCool Ranch historically produced oil favorably during cyclic-steam operations.
The HH-1 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 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.
TPET’s operational area at McCool Ranch is relatively newly-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.
KLS Petroleum Consulting LLC (“KLSP”), a third-party, independent engineering firm, recommends that McCool Ranch be developed with horizontal wells, each landed in the Lombardi Oil Sand with a 1,000-foot lateral. TPET’s property can probably accommodate approximately 22 additional such horizontal wells and TPET accordingly may commence a drilling program in Q2-Q3, 2024. Pictures of McCool Ranch can be found on the Trio website at the following link: https://trio-petroleum.com
Trio’s CEO, Michael L Peterson, stated: “I visited McCool Ranch last week and it was excellent to see the HH-1 and 58X wells pumpjacks at work with the cables twisting as they hit oil below, see the sheen of oil on the shafts, feel the warmth of the liquid in the pipes and see oil in the tank. It was also impressive to see the quality and care being taken in the field operations and can see why our Operator, not too long ago, won the California Department of Conservation’s annual award for “Outstanding Lease Maintenance”. Given the success of the overall field restart and of the restarting of the first two wells, the Company funded some necessary work at the 35X well, which we hope will be finished this week so that we can get the 35X pumping as soon as possible. We have also turned our attention toward, and already funded, the restarting of oil production from the HV-3A well at the Presidents Field at the South Salinas Project. We are excited to have two wells producing oil and soon to have four this month and 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
