Trio Petroleum Corp (NYSE American: TPET) (“Trio” or the “Company”), a California-based oil and gas company, today provided an update on operational activities the Company is taking to increase oil production and cash flow at the McCool Ranch Oilfield in Monterey County, California.
Oil production has been stable for a number of months at about 10 to 20 BOPD from the HH-1 and 35X wells collectively and we are actively looking into the best course of action to increase oil production and cash flow while containing costs, including resuming cyclic-steam operations at these two wells, and also by restarting production from three additional wells - the 58X, HH-3 and HH-4.
The HH-1 and 35X wells are both completed in a zone of heavy-oil at the top of the high-quality Lombardi Oil Sand at a shallow depth of approximately 2,200 feet. The HH-1 well has a short horizontal completion and the 35X a vertical completion in the oil sand.
Since we restarted oil production at McCool Ranch earlier this year, the aforementioned HH-1 and 35X wells have each been producing “cold” (i.e., without steam injection), and it has been our expectation that each would be produced cold as long as profitable and that each would then be returned to cyclic-steam operations, also known as “huff and puff,” which is proven at McCool Ranch to significantly increase production and cash flow. The Company has a steam generator on-site that will be utilized for cyclic-steam operations.
The wells at McCool Ranch historically have responded favorably to cyclic-steam operations. When our current five oil wells (i.e., the HH-1, HH-3, HH-4, 35X & 58X wells) were initially steamed in 2014-2015, oil production steadily increased over a nine-month period from 30 BOPD to a peak of about 400 BOPD. During cyclic-steam operations the HH-1 and 35X wells briefly achieved rates of 175 and 290 BOPD, respectively, immediately after being returned to oil production after steaming.
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. We estimate that TPET’s property can probably accommodate approximately 22 additional such horizontal wells and TPET accordingly may commence a drilling program in 2025. TPET expects to add the reserve value of the McCool Ranch Field to the Company’s reserve report after a further period of observation and review of the oil production that was restarted on February 22, 2024.
“We are pleased to provide this operational update on McCool Ranch,” commented Robin Ross, CEO of Trio. “Previous operations demonstrate that it is possible to increase production at McCool Ranch, and this is our intent now, and we are evaluating various options besides cyclic-steam to optimize production and minimize costs. Looking beyond our current assets, our focus remains on acquiring projects that generate immediate cash flow or offer transformative growth potential with strategic investment. This approach aligns with our long-term vision of creating exponential value while managing risk and resources effectively.”
