History
Trio Petroleum listed in 2023 to drill in California, funded itself with ever-harsher convertible notes and a reverse split, then pivoted to Canadian heavy-oil purchases.
2023: Listing and the first well
Trio Petroleum Corp set out to drill for oil at its flagship South Salinas Project in California. The exchange certified its shares for listing in March 2023, and on April 20, 2023 the company completed its IPO on NYSE American under the ticker TPET: 2,000,000 shares at $3.00, sold through underwriter Spartan Capital Securities, with the money earmarked for drilling wells. Five days later it signed a contract with Ensign United States Drilling to drill the HV-1 confirmation well at Presidents Oilfield, at about $18,250 a day, starting May 3, 2023.
By October the company was already borrowing. It opened a convertible note financing of up to $3.5 million in two tranches (a note that can be repaid in shares), funding the first, a $2 million note, at a $1.20 share price. Days later it agreed to buy a 21.9% interest in the McCool Ranch Oil Field from Trio Petroleum LLC, a company owned by its own Chairman, President and COO. An independent committee, with the insiders stepping aside, reviewed the deal, which was priced at $100,000 upfront and up to $400,000 more.
2024: Falling price and heavier dilution
The stock fell, and financing terms worsened. In January 2024 the second tranche of the October financing closed only after the conversion and warrant prices were cut from $1.20 to $0.50. In February the conversion floor was cut again, from $0.35 to $0.15, and 2,395,611 shares were issued in lieu of a cash payment. In April the company paid off both tranches by issuing 8,926,664 shares at the $0.15 floor plus a 3% premium. Filings that year also disclosed an option on a share of production from Heavy Sweet Oil LLC's Utah leases, a $5 million, three-well plan.
In March 2024 NYSE American warned that the share price was below its minimum standard. In April CEO Michael Peterson lent the company $125,000, the first insider loan. Smaller, tougher notes followed: one in April that the investor could convert only after a default, at the greater of 25% of market price or a $0.07117 floor, a $400,000 note the same month, and $720,000 from two investors in June. In May the company dismissed auditor BF Borgers CPA PC, a date that coincided with an SEC action against that firm, though the filing gave only routine reasons.
By September Peterson was described as a consultant and former CEO, and his loan was extended. The company opened a $4.8 million at-the-market facility (selling shares into the market over time) with Spartan Capital and extended the Heavy Sweet option again. On November 5 the exchange halted trading over the low price; a 1-for-20 reverse split took effect on November 14, and NYSE American planned to try to reopen trading the next day.
2025: A turn to Canada
Growth came from Canada rather than Utah. In April 2025 the company formed Trio Petroleum Canada Corp to buy heavy-oil assets from Novacor Exploration Ltd. in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan, funded by a US$1,131,000 loan from the parent. A convertible note opened days later, restated to a $712,941 face amount with $606,000 funded, paid for the expansion. The Novacor purchase closed in May for US$650,000 in cash and 526,536 shares.
In May the company also signed a non-binding letter of intent for Heavy Sweet's P.R. Spring acreage in Utah, conditional on existing wells reaching 40 barrels a day by May 2026. Later that month it terminated the McCool Ranch deal with Trio Petroleum LLC, with no refund of money already paid.
In August it raised $1.2 million from three investors through unsecured convertible notes, with Ladenburg Thalmann as new placement agent and a covenant that 25% of future equity proceeds repay the notes. In October it agreed to buy Alberta mineral leases from Capital Land Services Ltd. for CD$150,000 cash plus CD$150,000 in shares, conditional on a separate receivership transaction. Shares on issue ended 2025 at 9,047,658.
2026: Paying in shares
On January 5, 2026 Trio signed and closed a third deal with Novacor: CD$1 million of Canadian assets, about US$730,300, paid entirely with 912,875 shares. As of that date the company had Canadian heavy-oil interests, and its Utah options had not turned into a closed deal in the record.
Written from the 25 story beats below (2023 to 5 Jan 2026), which come from the company's own announcements and filings.