Trio Petroleum provides update on Asphalt Ridge Project, Utah

Trio Petroleum Corp provided updates on its Asphalt Ridge Project in Uintah County, Utah. TPET announced on January 5, 2024, that it had secured an option to acquire a 20% interest in a sweet, heavy-oil and tar-sand development project at Asphalt Ridge, located near the town of Vernal in Uintah County, northeastern Utah. We announced on June 11, 2024, the successful drilling and completion of the first two exploratory wells at the project, the HSO 2-4 and HSO 8-4, that the wells encountered substantial oil-bearing pay zones in the Rimrock and Asphalt Ridge tar-sands, and that a downhole-heater was installed in the HSO 2-4 well. Initial test results at the HSO 2-4 well have since been encouraging, with mobile oil resulting from the heat generated by the downhole-heater, and the HSO 2-4 completion has recently been upgraded with a more-powerful downhole-heater. The upgraded heater has capacity to heat the hole and the oil to approximately 300 degrees Fahrenheit versus the replaced heater that could only achieve approximately 150 degrees Fahrenheit – this additional heat may significantly improve oil production at the well. This August-September 2024, the Company expects oil production to commence, and also to drill and complete one additional new well. TPET currently owns a 2.25% working interest in 960 acres at Asphalt Ridge, and under the Option may acquire up to an additional 17.75% working interest in the same 960 acres and also a 20% interest in an adjacent 1,920 acres, and also has a right of first refusal to participate in an additional approximate 30,000 acres of the greater Asphalt Ridge Project on terms offered to other third parties. TPET has secured a two-month Option extension and now has until October 10, 2024, to exercise its right to acquire the remaining 17.75% interest in the initial 960 acres. TPET has until the earlier of the successful drilling and completion of 50 new wells, or November 10, 2025, to exercise its option on the adjacent 1,920 acres. The Asphalt Ridge Project is known to be one of the largest tar-sand deposits in North America outside of Canada, making it a potential giant oilfield, and is unique given its low wax and negligible sulfur content, which is expected to make the oil very desirable for many industries, including shipping. The project has the potential to be both immense and highly profitable. A typical project well has an estimated ultimate recovery of 300,000 barrels of oil with an initial production rate of approximately 40 barrels of oil per day. “The initial results of production testing with the first downhole-heater at the 2-4 well have been very encouraging and we have high expectations for the oil production that may result from using the more-powerful heater. The Asphalt Ridge Project, according to J. Wallace Gwynn of Energy News, is estimated to be the largest measured tar-sand resource in the United States. I am very pleased to have been able to secure a two-month extension on our Option at this project” commented Robin Ross, CEO of Trio.