Trio Petroleum Corp Announces an Option to Acquire a 20% Interest in the Asphalt Ridge Development Project in Utah

Estimated Contingent Resources of 42-92 Million Barrels of Oil

Development of this Potential Giant Oilfield Commencing January 2024

Bakersfield, CA, Jan. 05, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Trio Petroleum Corp (NYSE American: TPET) (“Trio” or the “Company”), a California-based oil and gas company, today announced that it has secured an option (the “Option”) to acquire a 20% interest in a sweet (i.e., low sulfur content), heavy-oil development project at Asphalt Ridge, located near the town of Vernal in Uinta County in northeastern Utah. Development of Asphalt Ridge is planned to commence in Q1 2024 by a third party operator using advanced cyclic-steam production techniques. The project is estimated by an independent reserve engineering firm to be one of the largest heavy oil 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 produced very desirable for many industries, including shipping.

Asphalt Ridge is a prominent, northwest-southeast trending topographic feature (i.e., a dipping slope called a hog’s back or cuesta) that crops-out along the northeast flank of the Uinta Basin. The outcrop is comprised largely of Tertiary and Cretaceous age sandstones that are locally highly-saturated with heavy oil and/or tar. The oil-saturated sandstones extend into the shallow subsurface of the Uinta Basin to the southwest, which is the site of the Asphalt Ridge Development Project, and where the sandstones are estimated in various independent studies to contain billions of barrels of oil-in-place. The project leasehold comprises over 30,000 acres and trends northwest-southeast, along the trend of Asphalt Ridge, over a distance of about 20 miles.

The area has been underdeveloped for decades due, in large part, to lease ownership issues and the definition of heavy oil falling under mining regulations in the State of Utah. These factors created conflict between surface rights and subsurface mineral rights and were obstacles to developing the asset using proven advanced cyclic-steam production techniques. Years of work and millions of dollars have been invested by third party developers to acquire State leases and even change laws in order to obtain the ability to develop this vast oil field, with necessary permits now secured that will allow drilling to commence by our operating partner. Officials in the State of Utah are very supportive, giving incentives to move forward including requiring only an 8% State royalty.