CORRESP Filing
Trio Petroleum Corp
Date: April 15, 2025 · CIK: 0001898766 · Accession: 0001641172-25-004913
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File numbers found in text: 001-41643
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CORRESP
1
filename1.htm
Trio
Petroleum Corp.
5401
Business Park South , Suite 115
Bakersfield,
CA 93309
VIA
EDGAR
April
14, 2025
U.S.
Securities & Exchange Commission
Division
of Corporation Finance
Office
of Energy & Transportation
100
F Street, NE
Washington,
D.C. 20549
Attn:
Sandra Wall
Re:
Trio
Petroleum Corp.
Form
10-K for Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2024
Filed
January 17, 2025
File
No. 001-41643
Dear
Ms. Wall:
Trio
Petroleum Corp. (the " Company ," " we ," " our " or " us ") hereby
transmits the Company's response to the comment letter received from the staff (the " Staff ") of the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission (the " Commission "), on March 12, 2025, regarding the Company's Annual Report on Form
10-K on January 17, 2025.
For
the Staff's convenience, we have repeated the Staff's comments in bold, and have followed each comment with the Company's
response. References in the responses to page numbers and section headings refer to page numbers and section headings of Form 10-K. Disclosure
changes made in response to the Staff's comments have been made in Amendment No. 3 to our Annual Report on Form 10-K/A (" Amendment
No. 3 "), which is being submitted to the Commission contemporaneously with the submission of this letter.
Form
10-K for Fiscal Year Ended October 31, 2024
Business
Asphalt
Ridge Option Agreement, page 3
1.
Please
revise your disclosure of "billions of barrels of oil-in-place" to clarify the reference is to an estimate for the entire
Uinta Basin and does not specifically refer to your Asphalt Ridge Development Project. Refer to the guidance prohibiting disclosure
of certain estimates of oil and gas resources other than reserves in the Instruction to Item 1202 of Regulation S-K.
Response:
In response to the Staff's comment, revisions have been made to the disclosure on pages 3 and 36 in Amendment
No.3 to provide that of the estimated 20 billion barrels of bitumen (oil) in the Utah tar sands, an estimated 10.8 billion barrels
are located in the entire Uintah Basin, which is comprised principally of Asphalt Ridge, Hill Creek, Sunnyside and P.R. Spring formations.
You
also note the estimate is derived from "various independent studies." Please identify the author or source of these studies
and disclose the date such studies were completed. This comment also applies to the disclosure on page 36.
Response:
In response to the Staff's comment, the Department of Energy's Laramie Energy Technology Center (the "LETC")
titled In Situ Recovery of Oil from Utah Tar Sand: A Summary of Tar Sand Research at the Laramie Energy Technology Center, by
L.C. Marchant and J.D. Westhoff is now identified as the applicable source on pages 3 and 36 of Amendment No. 3, which
source continues to be relied upon in the industry.
South
Salinas Project, page 5
2.
To
the extent there are known expirations or planned relinquishments of material amounts of your undeveloped acreage in the aggregate
over the near term (3 – 5 years), please expand your disclosure to provide the expiration dates and the gross and net acreage
amounts. Refer to the disclosure requirements in Item 1208(b) of Regulation S-K.
Response:
In response to the Staff's comment, we have added information on known expiration dates and gross and net acreage amounts on
page 6 of Amendment No. 3, as per the disclosure requirements in Item 1208(b) of Regulation S-K.
Evaluation
of Reserves and Net Revenue, page 8
3.
We
note the discussion of technologies utilized by KLSP in their reserve estimation efforts indicates the estimated reserves were prepared
using analogs conforming to the Society of Petroleum Engineers' Petroleum Resource Management System ("PRMS") definition.
Refer to the disclosure requirements in Item 1201(c) of Regulation S-K which specifies the definitions in Rule 4-10(a) of Regulation
S-X shall apply for purposes of disclosure under Subpart 229.1200 in the preparation of the estimates of the probable and possible
reserves disclosed in the reserves report and in the filing on Form 10-K. Please revise or modify the discussion as necessary.
Response:
In response to the Staff's comment, the discussion on page 9 of Amendment No. 3 has been revised to further explain
the preparation of the estimates of probable and possible reserves in accordance with all applicable rules cited by the Staff.
Disclosure
of Reserve Volumes and Reserve Values as of the End of April 30, 2024, page 9
4.
We
note the statement "SEC criteria stipulate that reserves cannot be classified as P1 Proved if said reserves are not fully permitted
for long-term production" appears inconsistent with the definition of reserves of all categories in Rule 4-10(a)(26) of Regulation
S-K. Please explain to us in reasonable detail your rationale for assigning probable and possible reserves without associated proved
reserves.
Response :
In response to the Staff's comment, we note the following:
While
Probable and Possible reserves usually have associated Proved reserves, it is permissible to assign Probable and Possible reserves without
having a Proved reserves component. SEC regulations and definitions are silent in this respect, but it subsequently addressed this issue
in its CD&I Question 117.02, "Can an issuer assign probable or possible reserves in an area in which it does not, or cannot,
assign proved reserves?", which is answered with, "Yes. However, disclosure of unproved reserves without associated proved
reserves should be done only in exceptional cases, such as for (1) development projects where engineering, geological, marketing, financing
and technical tasks have been completed, but final regulatory approval is lacking. [Oct. 26, 2009]". The KLSP Reserve Report describes
in detail the engineering and geologic evidence for the reserves assigned to the South Salinas Project, the Company
has confirmed ready access to sales points which will facilitate the marketing of hydrocarbon products, and the Company's planned
execution of the development Project with a phased approach consistent with anticipated financing. And it specifically addresses the
economic producibility of certain volumes that would otherwise meet the requirements of Proved reserves in its cover letter: "While
Proved reserves have not been assigned in this report, there is "reasonable certainty" that the P90 forecasts of oil and
gas production may be realized in four (4) of the 19 well locations of Phase 1 and Phase 2. These four locations are at or adjacent to
previously drilled wells that have demonstrated the capability to produce at commercial rates of oil and gas. Furthermore, the P90 forecasts
generate positive cumulative undiscounted cash flow with the costs and prices used in this report. However, since this report is intended
for use by the Company in a filing with the SEC, the definition of Proved reserves is subject to Part 210.4-10 in SEC Regulation S-X,
which requires that project approval has been secured "by all necessary parties and entities, including government entities" .
As a result, Proved reserves have not been assigned in this report. However, acquisition of the requisite CUPs by Monterey County the
approval of the Company's UIC (water disposal) application, and receipt of drilling permits by CalGEM is considered a reasonable
expectation for the following reasons:
●
Almost all of the Company's South Salinas leasehold is on the Porter Ranch, an active working property that supports farming operations,
livestock grazing, and the exploitation of oil and gas reserves, as well as the preservation of open space that preserves natural habitat.
There is partly overlapping ownership in Bradley Minerals (the Lessor) and in Porter Ranch (the surface owner) and the interests and
objectives of the two entities are closely aligned.
●
The South Salinas operator, Trio Petroleum LLC, has demonstrated an ability to work with state and county officials to develop and produce
oil fields in proximity to South Salinas.
●
Infrastructure at the South Salinas Project includes seven existing wells, six expansive well pads, and three idle Aera Energy oil and
gas pipelines. Expansive well pads are important because they can accommodate significant project development without additional disturbance
of the surface. This is expected to help expedite the approval of requisite permits."
General
5.
Please confirm your
understanding that we will not be in a position to declare your Form S-1 effective until all outstanding comments regarding your
Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2024 have been resolved. In addition, to the extent that any comments related to
our review of your Form 10-K apply to disclosure in the S-1, please make corresponding revisions to all affected disclosure.
Response :
In response to the Staff's comment, we hereby confirm our understanding that the Staff will not be in a position to declare our
Form S-1 effective until all outstanding comments regarding our October 31, 2024 Form 10-K have been resolved and agree that to the extent
any comments related to the Form 10-K are applicable to disclosure in our Form S-1, we will make all corresponding changes.
We
thank the Staff for its review of the foregoing. If you have further comments, please feel free to contact to our counsel, Scott Miller,
Esq., at smiller@egsllp.com or by telephone at (212) 370-1300.
Sincerely,
/s/ Robin Ross
Robin Ross
Chief Executive Officer
cc:
Scott Miller, Esq.
Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP