TRIN Trinity Exploration & Production Plc

This announcement contains inside information as stipulated under the UK version of the Market Abuse Regulation No 596/2014 which is part of English Law by virtue of the European (Withdrawal) Act 2018, as amended.  On publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this information is considered to be in the public domain.

26 April 2024

Trinity Exploration & Production plc

("Trinity" or "the Group" or "the Company")

Q1 2024 Operational Update

Trinity Exploration & Production plc (AIM: TRIN), the independent E&P company focused on Trinidad and Tobago, provides an update on operations for the three-month period ended 31 March 2024 ("Q1 2024" or "the Period").  The information contained herein has not been audited and may be subject to further review and amendment.

Jeremy Bridglalsingh, Chief Executive Officer of Trinity, commented:

"Trinity's core business remains robust and cash-generative, with no long-term debt.  We are focused on three immediate priorities:

1)    Maximising cash flow from our existing producing assets in a safe and efficient manner.

2)    Rebuilding cash following the drilling of the Jacobin well in 2023 with a strong focus on cost management; and

3)    Maturing detailed engineering for our two principal projects, particularly Phase 1 (Trintes 2P) of the Galeota Development and preparing plans for the exploration of the Buenos Ayres block, to a point that they can attract new investment capital or being monetised through sale or farm-down.

I look forward to updating shareholders throughout the year as we execute our activities."

Jacobin-1 Operations

By mid-January production rates and flowing pressures from Jacobin had fallen to approximately 10 bopd with the well struggling to flow naturally, so the decision was taken to convert the well to pump.  The pump was run in late February and fluids were brought to surface on 1 March 2024.  However, significant quantities of sand were also being produced and, by late March, the pump failed with a sand blockage.  

The forward plan for Jacobin, which has been submitted to Heritage Petroleum Company Limited and the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries for approval, is to recomplete the Jacobin well up-hole in the Lower Forest horizon with production expected in the second half of May 2024.

Galeota / Trintes Development

Work on Phase 1 (Trintes 2P infill drilling) continued in Q1 and was focused on using the updated static and dynamic reservoir models to complete the primary target well bottom hole locations and well paths for infill wells, assuming drilling from the Trintes Delta platform.  The updated static model for Trintes will be expanded to include the entire Galeota anticline structure during the remainder of 2024, including the TGAL area that the Mobile Production Unit concept would initially focus on.

Buenos Ayres Block

On Buenos Ayres, work on the Environmental Impact Assessment continues to progress with the Certificate of Environmental Clearance Application expected to be submitted in late Q2 / early Q3 2024, along with ongoing subsurface evaluation.

Idle Well Study

Trinity has embarked on an idle well study, with the initial phase including technical reviews of approximately 250 wells, with field investigations having commenced on the first 30 of these wells which has added additional wells to the swabbing programme.

Reserves

Further to the Company's announcement on 15 April 2024 the following tables provide a reconciliation, by operating area, of the revisions between Year-End 2022 and Year-End 2023.  All data is Net Working Interest ("Net WI").

Comparison of YE 2022 vs YE 2023 2P Reserves

Comparison of YE 2022 vs YE 2023 2C Resources

Q1 2024 Operational Highlights 

·    Q1 2024 sales volumes averaged 2,669 bopd (Q1 2023: 2,899 bopd, Q4 2023: 2,736 bopd).

·    The Company maintains its Full-Year 2024 sales volume guidance of 2,600-2,700 bopd.

Average Annual and Quarterly Sales by Region

·    During Q1 2024:

-      33 workovers were completed (Q1 2023: 39; Q4 2023: 33).

-      There was one recompletion in the Period (Q1 2023: two; Q4 2023: three).

-      Swabbing operations continued across Onshore and West Coast assets.

Q1 2024 Financial Highlights

The Group reports its consolidated financial information half yearly, in its Annual Report & Accounts and Interim Results, in accordance with UK adopted International Accounting Standards and the London Stock Exchange's AIM Rules for Companies.  Quarterly, the Group provides unaudited information for guidance.

·    Average realised oil price of USD 69.9/bbl for Q1 2024 (Q1 2023: USD 67.9/bbl; Q4 2023: USD 71.6/bbl).

·    EBITDA, pre-hedging¹ in Q1 2024 of USD 4.0 million (unaudited) (Q1 2023 USD 5.3 million).

·    Operating break-even², pre-hedging¹, Q1 2024 of USD 44.3/bbl (Q1 2023: USD 35.4/bbl; Q4 2023: USD 39.8/bbl).

¹          The Group had no hedging in place in 2023 or 2024.

²      Operating break-even is the realised price/bbl where the adjusted EBITDA/bbl for the Group is equal to zero.

·    Cash balance of USD 8.6 million (unaudited) at 31 March 2024 versus USD 9.8 million (unaudited) at 31 December 2023 and USD 11.4 million (unaudited) at 31 March 2023.

·    The Group had drawn borrowings (overdraft) of USD 4.0 million at 31 March 2024 (USD 4.0 million at 31 December 2023 and USD 2.3 million at 31 March 2023).

·    VAT refunds collected in Q1 2024 totalled USD 0.8 million.  VAT refunds outstanding as at 31 March 2024 are USD 5.1 million reflecting expenditures, principally on the Jacobin well in 2023.

Investor Presentation

The Company will host a presentation through the digital platform Investor Meet Company.  The confirmed time and date will be announced separately.

Investors can sign up to Investor Meet Company for free and add to meet Trinity Exploration via the following link https://www.investormeetcompany.com/trinity-exploration-production-plc/register-investor.  Investors who already follow Trinity on the Investor Meet Company platform will automatically be invited.

Enquiries:

About Trinity (www.trinityexploration.com)

Trinity is an independent oil production company focused solely on Trinidad and Tobago.  Trinity operates producing and development assets both onshore and offshore, in the shallow water West and East Coasts of Trinidad.  Trinity's portfolio includes current production, significant near-term production growth opportunities from low-risk developments and multiple exploration prospects with the potential to deliver meaningful reserves/resources growth.  The Company operates all of its licences and, across all of the Group's assets, management's estimate of the Group's 2P reserves as at the end of 2023 was 12.91 mmstb.  Group 2C contingent resources are estimated to be 38.68 mmstb.  The Group's overall 2P plus 2C volumes are therefore 51.58 mmstb.

Trinity is quoted on AIM, a market operated and regulated by the London Stock Exchange Plc, under the ticker TRIN.

Qualified Person's Statement

The technical information contained in the announcement has been reviewed and approved by Mark Kingsley, Trinity's Chief Operating Officer.  Mark Kingsley (BSc (Hons) Chemical Engineering, Birmingham University) has over 35 years of experience in international oil and gas exploration, development and production and is a Chartered Engineer. 

Disclaimer

This document contains certain forward-looking statements that are subject to the usual risk factors and uncertainties associated with the oil exploration and production business.  Whilst the Group believes the expectation reflected herein to be reasonable in light of the information available to it at this time, the actual outcome may be materially different owing to macroeconomic factors either beyond the Group's control or otherwise within the Group's control.