Trio Petroleum announces oil production from Asphalt Ridge’s well HSO 2-4

Trio Petroleum announced oil production, using a downhole heater, from its first well HSO 2-4 on its Asphalt Ridge Project in Uintah County, Utah. This confirms that the pay zone bitumen, when heated, becomes less viscous and is able to drain into the wellbore and be pumped to the surface. According to an Optimization Study conducted by Dr Amanda Bustin, President of Bustin Earth Science Consultants, the HSO 2-4 well, which is approximately 1,390 feet deep, has an estimated ultimate recovery of 300,000 barrels of oil with an estimated initial production rate of approximately 40 barrels of oil per day. Trio’s leasehold at the Asphalt Ridge Project includes approximately 30,000 acres thought to be capable of two and a half acre well spacing. Now that the downhole heater has proven the ability to produce oil from the Asphalt Ridge sandstone reservoirs, plans are being put in-place by the Company to test a second heater from a different manufacturer that could potentially lower operating expenses on a significant basis. The new heater has been delivered and installed and is currently being deployed in the first well, the 2-4 well, and the first heater is moving to 8-4. Production from the 2-4 and 8-4 wells will use the same separation equipment and facilities. A third well is expected to be drilled as early as late October and an additional five wells during Q4 2024, subject to rig and services availability. In addition to proving production ability, it also appears that the production appears to have a component of higher-gravity oil that may be refined on site by boiling off 10-15% diesel into green diesel, which is very encouraging. This may enable our project to sell both spec commercial grade asphalt binder, which is expected to sell locally at a premium to WTI, as well as green diesel that is expected to sell at an even higher margin to WTI. Samples of the produced oil were sent for assay in order to verify oil composition and thus be able to design the appropriate above-ground facilities for separating the two products, heavy oil and lighter oil. After receiving the assay results, the appropriate above-ground collection and heavy/light oil separation systems will be designed and installed to handle the first three 7-well pads. The 2-4 well and perhaps the 8-4 well will then be put into full production. The plan is to design the system for all seventeen of the 7-well pads with capacity for production from 21 wells from the first three 7-well pads and then subsequently expanded with each new 7-well pad that is brought into production as the drilling program is rolled out.