No Cash Distribution Announced; Whistleblower Retaliation Lawsuit to Proceed Against PCEC

EX-99.1 2 tm269093d2_ex99-1.htm EXHIBIT 99.1

Exhibit 99.1

Pacific Coast Oil
Trust

Pacific Coast Oil Trust Announces
Monthly Net Profits Interest Calculations

Pacific Coast
Oil Trust

The Bank of New York Mellon Trust
Company, N.A., Trustee

News

Release

For Immediate
Release

Houston, Texas
– March 30, 2026 – PACIFIC COAST OIL TRUST (OTC–ROYTL) (the “Trust”), a royalty trust formed by Pacific
Coast Energy Company LP (“PCEC”), announced today that there will be no cash distribution to the holders of its units of
beneficial interest of record on March 27, 2026 based on the Trust’s calculation of net profits generated during January 2026
(the “Current Month”) as provided in the conveyance of net profits interests and overriding royalty interest (the “Conveyance”).
As further described below under “Update on Estimated Asset Retirement Obligations,” based on information from PCEC, any
monthly payments that PCEC may make to the Trust may not be sufficient to cover the Trust’s administrative expenses and outstanding
debt to PCEC, and therefore the likelihood of distributions to the unitholders in the foreseeable future is extremely remote. As further
described below under “Status of the Dissolution of the Trust”, because the annual cash proceeds received by the Trust from
its net profits interests (the “Net Profits Interests”) and 7.5% overriding royalty interest (the “Royalty Interest”)
totaled less than $2.0 million for each of 2020 and 2021, the amended and restated trust agreement governing the Trust (the “Trust
Agreement”) provides that the Trust is to be dissolved and wound-up. All financial and operational information in this press release
has been provided to the Trustee by PCEC.

On October 23,
2024, a terminated employee of PCEC filed a complaint, styled Brendan Potyondy v. Pacific Coast Energy Company, LP, in the U.S. District
Court for the Central District of California alleging that PCEC retaliated against him for engaging in protected whistleblowing activities
in violation of federal and state laws. The plaintiff alleges that he filed certain reports with several federal and state agencies alleging
violations of law by PCEC. Among the agencies plaintiff has contacted or alleges to have contacted are the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission (“SEC”), the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”)
the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the California Geologic Management Division, and the California Department
of Fish and Wildlife. In his complaint to the SEC, the plaintiff alleges, among other things, that PCEC had purposefully provided false
data to the Trustee and to the Trust’s independent registered public accounting firm regarding PCEC’s operations, including
the calculation of its asset retirement obligations. On November 22, 2024, Mr. Potyondy filed an amended complaint, which removed
all claims alleging violation of state law and all allegations of alleged reports to state agencies. On January 28, 2025, the Court
granted PCEC’s motion to dismiss Mr. Potyondy’s remaining claim, but granted him until February 11, 2025 to file
an amended complaint to attempt to fix the defects the Court identified in Mr. Potyondy’s complaint. On February 6, 2025,
Mr. Potyondy filed his second amended complaint. PCEC moved to dismiss the amended complaint on February 18, 2025. The Court
heard the motion on March 21, 2025, and on April 11, 2025, denied PCEC’s motion to dismiss in its entirety; therefore,
Mr. Potyondy’s federal suit against PCEC will proceed. PCEC has indicated to the Trustee that it maintains the plaintiff’s
allegations are without merit and that PCEC will defend against these allegations. On May 23, 2025, OSHA notified Mr. Potyondy
that the agency was closing Mr. Potyondy’s administrative complaint because there was insufficient evidence that PCEC was
aware that Mr. Potyondy had filed complaints with outside agencies or were notified of such complaints. Mr. Potyondy has appealed
the dismissal of his administrative complaint, and a hearing on his appeal has been set for April 2, 2026. Meanwhile, the Trustee
is in the process of independently investigating the relevant allegations made in the SEC complaint.

The Current Month’s
distribution calculation for the Developed Properties reflected operating income of approximately $182,000, as revenues from the Developed
Properties were approximately $2.0 million, lease operating expenses including production taxes were approximately $1.8 million, and
development costs were approximately $0. The average realized price for the Developed Properties was $56.41 per Boe for the Current Month,
as compared to $52.77 per Boe in December 2025 (the “Prior Month”). The cumulative net profits deficit for the Developed
Properties increased from approximately $11.5 million in the Prior Month to approximately $11.8 million in the Current Month, as further
discussed below under “Update on Estimated Asset Retirement Obligations”.

The Current Month’s
calculation included approximately $50,000 from the 7.5% overriding royalty interest on the Remaining Properties from Orcutt Diatomite
and Orcutt Field. Average realized prices for the Remaining Properties were $53.88 per Boe for the Current Month, as compared to $45.25
per Boe for the Prior Month. The cumulative net profits deficit for the Remaining Properties decreased from approximately $132,000 in
the Prior Month to approximately $111,000 in the Current Month, as further discussed below under “Update on Estimated Asset Retirement
Obligations”.

The monthly operating
and services fee of approximately $116,000 payable to PCEC, together with Trust general and administrative expenses of approximately
$140,000, exceeded the payment of approximately $50,000 received from PCEC with respect to the Remaining Properties, creating a shortfall
of approximately $206,000.

Sales Volumes
and Prices

The following table
displays PCEC’s underlying sales volumes and average prices for the Current Month:

| | | Underlying Properties | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | Sales Volumes | | | | | | | | Average Price | | |
| | | (Boe) | | | | (Boe/day) | | | | (per Boe) | | |
| Developed Properties (a) | | | 35,659 | | | | 1,150 | | | $ | 56.41 | |
| Remaining Properties (b) | | | 13,360 | | | | 431 | | | $ | 53.88 | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| (a) Crude oil sales volumes represented 99% of sales volumes | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| (b) Crude oil sales volumes represented 100% of sales volumes | | | | | | | | | | | | |

Update on Amounts
Owed to PCEC by the Trust

PCEC has provided
the Trust with a $1 million letter of credit to be used by the Trust if its cash on hand (including available cash reserves) is not sufficient
to pay ordinary course administrative expenses as they become due. As of March 31, 2021, the letter of credit has been fully drawn
down. Further, the Trust Agreement provides that if the Trust requires more than the $1 million under the letter of credit to pay administrative
expenses, PCEC will, upon written request of the Trustee, loan funds to the Trust in such amount as necessary to pay such expenses. Although
PCEC has continued to loan funds to the Trust as required under the Trust Agreement, the reduced ability to transport production from
the Orcutt properties as discussed below under “Cancellation of Connection Agreement with Phillips 66”, as well as recent
declines in crude oil prices, have affected PCEC’s ability to loan on a timely basis the full amount of the funds requested by
the Trustee in recent periods. As of the date of this press release, PCEC has fulfilled its obligations to loan all requested funds to
the Trust. Under the Trust Agreement, the Trust may only use funds provided under the letter of credit or loaned by PCEC or another source
to pay the Trust’s current accounts or other obligations to trade creditors in connection with obtaining goods or services or for
the payment of other accrued current liabilities arising in the ordinary course of the Trust’s business. As the Trust has fully
drawn down the letter of credit, PCEC has loaned funds to the Trust pursuant to a promissory note to pay shortfalls related to previous
months and is expected to loan funds to pay this month’s shortfall of approximately $206,000.

As of the end of
the Current Month, the Trust owed PCEC approximately $12.8 million (which includes the amount drawn from the letter of credit, amounts
borrowed under the promissory note, and in each case, net accrued interest).

Loans made to the
Trust and amounts drawn from the letter of credit, together with interest thereon, will be repaid from proceeds, if any, payable to the
Trust pursuant to the Net Profits Interests and the Royalty Interest, and from any proceeds from a sale of the Trust’s assets in
connection with the dissolution of the Trust. Consequently, no further distributions may be made until the Trust’s indebtedness
created by such amounts drawn or borrowed, including interest thereon, has been paid in full. Given the outstanding amount borrowed by
the Trust to date, there may not be any net proceeds from a sale of the Trust’s assets to be distributed to the Trust unitholders.

Update on Estimated
Asset Retirement Obligations

As previously disclosed,
in November 2019, PCEC informed the Trustee that, as permitted by the Conveyance, PCEC intended to begin deducting its estimated
asset retirement obligations (“ARO”) associated with the West Pico, Orcutt Hill, Orcutt Hill Diatomite, East Coyote and Sawtelle
fields, thereby reducing the amounts payable to the Trust under its Net Profits Interests. ARO is the recognition related to net present
value of future plugging and abandonment costs that all oil and gas operators face. PCEC engaged an accounting firm, Moss Adams LLP (“Moss
Adams”), acting as third-party consultants, to assist PCEC in determining its estimated ARO, and on February 27, 2020, PCEC
informed the Trustee that based on the analysis performed by Moss Adams, PCEC’s estimated ARO, as of December 31, 2019, was
$45,695,643, which is approximately $10.0 million less than the undiscounted amount that was originally estimated before Moss Adams completed
its analysis, as previously disclosed in the Trust’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on November 13, 2019. According
to PCEC and its third-party consultants, its estimated ARO, which reflected PCEC’s assessment of current market conditions as of
December 31, 2019 and changes in California law, was determined to be approximately $33.2 million for the Developed Properties
and approximately $12.5 million for the Remaining Properties, or approximately $26.5 million and approximately $3.1 million net to the
Trust, respectively, and PCEC has reflected these amounts beginning with the calculation of the net profits generated during January 2020.

PCEC has informed
the Trustee that in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, PCEC will evaluate the ARO on a quarterly basis. As a result
of that re-evaluation, the actual ARO incurred in the future may be greater or less than the estimated amounts provided by PCEC. As previously
disclosed, PCEC has informed the Trustee that at year-end 2020, and following the end of each of the first, second and third quarters
of 2021, in light of the accounting guidance under Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 410-20-35-3, which requires
the recognition of changes in the asset retirement obligation due to the passage of time and revision of the timing or amount of the
originally estimated undiscounted cash flows, PCEC re-evaluated the estimated ARO, which resulted in an aggregate increase to the ARO
accrual for the Developed Properties by approximately $5.1 million, net to the Trust’s interest, and an aggregate increase to the
ARO accrual for the Remaining Properties by approximately $288,000, net to the Trust’s interest. PCEC previously informed the Trustee
that PCEC has recognized additional asset retirement obligations for the year ended December 31, 2021, in the amount of approximately
$1.2 million, of which approximately $0.4 million relates to the Developed Properties, while approximately $0.8 million relates to the
Remaining Properties. Net to the Trust’s interests, this represents an upward ARO revision of approximately $0.3 million and approximately
$0.2 million for the Developed Properties and the Remaining Properties, respectively.

In June 2023,
PCEC engaged Cornerstone Engineering, Inc. (“Cornerstone”) to perform an ARO evaluation for the West Pico and Orcutt
Hill fields. Based on Cornerstone’s report, Moss Adams has provided PCEC with an updated ARO valuation that reflects an upward
adjustment in the ARO values as of December 31, 2022, of approximately $13.7 million discounted to December 31, 2022, with
a cumulative increase in the accretion for the first three quarters of 2023 of approximately $1.0 million net to the Trust’s interests.
The adjustment in the ARO values as of December 31, 2022, and accretion was recorded as a single adjustment during September for
the calculated difference between the previously recorded ARO values and the new value including accretion through September 2023.
These adjustments were reflected in the net profits interest calculations for September 2023.

PCEC has informed
the Trustee that in the net profits calculation for the Current Month, PCEC reflected upward adjustments in the ARO of approximately
$462,000 ($370,000 net to the Trust’s 80% net profits interest) for the Developed Properties and approximately $139,000 ($35,000
net to the Trust’s 25% net profits interest) for the Remaining Properties related to accumulated accretion on the ARO. PCEC has
informed the Trustee that it expects to continue to make accretion adjustments monthly going forward.

The net profits
deficit for the Developed Properties increased from approximately $11.5 million to approximately $11.8 million in the Current Month,
while the net profits deficit for the Remaining Properties decreased from approximately $132,000 in the Prior Month to approximately
$111,000 in the Current Month. The net profits deficit for the Developed Properties must be recouped from proceeds otherwise payable
to the Trust from the 80% Net Profits Interest. The Trust is not responsible for the payment of the deficit, which will continue to be
repaid out of the proceeds from the Net Profits Interests following the sale thereof in connection with the dissolution of the Trust.
Proceeds from such sale would be used to repay amounts drawn from the letter of credit and borrowed from PCEC and to pay the expenses
of the Trust, including any estimated future remaining expenses, with any remaining net proceeds to be distributed to the Trust unitholders;
sale proceeds will not be reflected in any monthly net profits interest calculation and therefore would not be applied to repayment of
any net profits deficit in existence at the time of such sale.

Based on PCEC’s
estimate of its ARO attributable to the Net Profits Interests, deductions relating to estimated ARO are likely to eliminate the likelihood
of any distributions to Trust unitholders for the foreseeable future, as previously disclosed in the Trust’s Current Report on
Form 8-K filed on November 13, 2019.

As previously disclosed,
the Trust engaged Martindale Consultants, Inc. (“Martindale”), a provider of analysis and compliance review services
to the oil and gas industry, to perform an independent review of the estimated ARO in the Moss Adams report that PCEC provided to the
Trustee. The Trustee also has engaged an accounting expert to advise the Trustee regarding the accruals that PCEC has booked relating
to its estimated ARO. As disclosed in the Trust’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on December 29, 2020, Martindale has
completed its review of the estimated ARO and on December 21, 2020, provided its analysis and recommendations to the Trustee. Based
on Martindale’s recommendations provided in its report to the Trust, as disclosed in the Trust’s Current Report on Form 8-K
filed on December 29, 2020, the Trustee requested that PCEC promptly make several adjustments to its calculations and methods of
deducting ARO from the proceeds to which the Trust is otherwise entitled pursuant to its Net Profits Interests. PCEC has responded to
the Trustee, indicating PCEC’s view that the adjustments would violate applicable contracts and accounting standards, and has therefore
declined to make any adjustments to the estimated ARO calculation based on those requests and the recommendations of the Martindale report.
The Trustee has concluded that it has taken all actions reasonably available to it under the Trust’s governing documents in connection
with PCEC’s ARO calculation and therefore has determined not to take further action at this time.

Status of the
Dissolution of the Trust

As described in
more detail in the Trust’s filings with the SEC, the Trust Agreement provides that the Trust will terminate if the annual cash
proceeds received by the Trust from the Net Profits Interests and the Royalty Interest total less than $2.0 million for each of any two
consecutive calendar years. Because of the cumulative net profits deficit—which PCEC contends is the result of the substantial
reduction in commodity prices during 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and PCEC’s deduction of estimated ARO beginning in the first
quarter of 2020—the only cash proceeds the Trust has received from March 2020 has been attributable to the Royalty Interest,
other than the period from August 2022 through February 2023, when the net profits deficit with respect to the Remaining Properties
had been eliminated. As a result, the total proceeds received by the Trust in each of 2020 and 2021 were less than $2.0 million. Therefore,
the Trust had been expected to terminate by its terms at the end of 2021.

Evergreen Arbitration

As previously disclosed
in the Trust’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on December 23, 2021, on December 8, 2021, Evergreen Capital Management
LLC (“Evergreen”) filed an Amended Class Action and Shareholder Derivative Complaint alleging a derivative action on
behalf of the Trust and against PCEC in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles (the “Court”).

On December 10,
2021, Evergreen filed a motion for temporary restraining order and for preliminary injunction, seeking to (1) enjoin the Trustee
from dissolving the Trust, (2) enjoin PCEC from dissolving the Trust, (3) direct PCEC to account for all monies withheld from
the Trust on the basis of ARO costs since September 2019, and (4) direct PCEC to place such monies in escrow. On December 16,
2021, the Court granted Evergreen’s application for a temporary restraining order only to the extent of enjoining the dissolution
of the Trust. Accordingly, the Trust did not dissolve at the end of 2021 and commence the process of selling its assets and winding up
its affairs.

On January 11,
2022, PCEC and Evergreen filed an agreed stipulation to stay the prosecution of Evergreen’s derivative claims pending an arbitration
of such claims. On January 13, 2022, the Court signed an Order dissolving the December 16, 2021, temporary restraining order
and entering a new temporary restraining order to preserve the status quo until a tribunal of three arbitrators appointed pursuant to
the Trust Agreement could rule on any request by Evergreen for injunctive relief. On April 11, 2022, PCEC notified the Court,
at the arbitrators’ request, that the arbitration panel had issued an order on April 7, 2022, denying Evergreen’s request
for injunctive relief. On April 13, 2022, Evergreen notified the Court that Evergreen had filed a motion for reconsideration with
the arbitration panel that same day, which was denied on May 26, 2022. On August 30, 2022, the arbitration Panel issued a Partial
Final Award dismissing with prejudice Evergreen’s derivative claims against PCEC, including Evergreen’s application for an
injunction. On December 5, 2023, the California Superior Court confirmed that Partial Final Award.

On June 20,
2022, Evergreen filed an amended pleading in the arbitration, adding the Trustee as a party to that proceeding. In early September 2022,
Evergreen informed the Trustee that it was going to seek a preliminary injunction while its claims against the Trustee were pending.
At the request of the arbitration panel, the Trustee agreed to take no steps toward the sale of the Trust corpus until the Panel decided
Evergreen’s application for a preliminary injunction. On September 12, 2022, the Trustee filed a motion to dismiss Evergreen’s
claims against the Trustee. On September 22, 2022, Evergreen filed an opposition to the Trustee’s motion to dismiss. On September 15,
2022, Evergreen filed a motion to enjoin the Trustee from selling the Trust assets or dissolving the Trust during the pendency of the
arbitration. The Trustee and PCEC filed a response in opposition to Evergreen’s motion on September 22, 2022. Both motions
were heard by the Panel on October 24, 2022. On October 31, 2022, the Panel granted the Trustee’s motion and dismissed
Evergreen’s claims against the Trustee with prejudice, which mooted Evergreen’s request for injunctive relief.

Evergreen has sought
appeal of each of the judgments. Those appeals were consolidated in the Second Appellate District on November 1, 2023. On March 20,
2025, the California Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in the appeal, and on May 21, 2025, the Court of Appeals issued its decision
affirming the arbitration awards that dismissed Evergreen’s claims with prejudice.

Subject to the
outcome of the Trustee’s investigation of the relevant allegations in the whistleblower complaint against PCEC described above,
the Trustee plans to move forward with the winding up of the Trust in accordance with the provisions of the Trust Agreement, which will
include selling all of the Trust’s assets and distributing the net proceeds of the sale to the Trust unitholders after payment,
or reasonable provision for payment, of all Trust liabilities, including the establishment of cash reserves in such amounts as the Trustee
in its discretion deems appropriate for the purpose of making reasonable provision for all claims and obligations of the Trust, including
any contingent, conditional or unmatured claims and obligations, in accordance with the Delaware Statutory Trust Act.

PCEC Arbitration

On March 31,
2023, PCEC submitted a demand for arbitration against the Trustee, as trustee of the Trust, seeking, among other things, (1) an
order compelling the Trustee to commence the process of dissolving the Trust pursuant to the provisions of the Trust Agreement, (2) a
declaration that the Conveyance permits the legal fees and costs that PCEC, as operator, incurred in defending the Evergreen litigation
and arbitration proceedings described above to be deducted from the proceeds from the Net Profits Interests, and (3) a declaration
that the Trust must repay, with interest, the legal fees and costs that PCEC paid on behalf of the Trust to defend claims against the
Trustee in the Evergreen proceedings or, alternatively, that PCEC may deduct such legal fees and costs from the proceeds from the Net
Profits Interests.

The hearing before
the arbitration panel was concluded on August 2, 2023, and on September 28, 2023, as previously disclosed, the arbitration
panel issued its Partial Final Award, in which the panel found as follows:

| | · | The
Trustee is not required to immediately commence the marketing and sale of the Trust’s
assets; |

| | · | PCEC
is entitled to deduct from the net profits its own legal fees and the Trustee’s legal
fees paid by PCEC in connection with the Evergreen proceedings; and |

| | · | PCEC
is not entitled to reimbursement of such legal fees from the proceeds of the sale of the
Trust’s assets. |

In its Final Award
issued on October 24, 2023, the arbitration panel set forth its finding of fact that pursuant to the termination provisions of the
Trust Agreement, the triggering event for the dissolution of the Trust occurred on January 1, 2022 and the Trust is dissolved, and
that the Trustee’s remaining duties are as specified in Sections 2.02 (Purpose) and 9.03 (Disposition and Distribution of Assets
and Properties) of the Trust Agreement.

In light of the
arbitration panel’s finding that the Trustee is not required to immediately commence the marketing of the Trust’s assets,
the Trustee has continued to work with PCEC and, until its resignation on July 11, 2025 as previously disclosed in the Trust’s
Current Report on Form 8-K filed on July 17, 2025, the Trust’s prior independent auditor, and since its appointment on
March 16, 2026 as previously disclosed in the Trust’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on March 17, 2026, the Trust’s
replacement independent auditor, Weaver and Tidwell, L.L.P., to complete the audits of the Trust’s financial statements for the
years ended December 31, 2019 through December 31, 2025 and the reviews of the Trust’s quarterly financial statements
for the years 2023, 2024 and 2025 and to prepare a comprehensive annual report on Form 10-K as part of the Trust’s efforts
to become current in its filing obligations under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The Trust expects to file the comprehensive
annual report with the Securities and Exchange Commission as soon as possible after completion of the audits, at which point the Trustee
expects to commence the marketing and sale process; however, additional delays in the completion and filing of the comprehensive annual
report will occur as a result of the Trustee’s investigation of the relevant allegations in the whistleblower complaint against
PCEC described above. In the meantime, the Trustee will continue to communicate material information to unitholders via press releases
and Forms 8-K.

Meanwhile, because
the Partial Final Award confirmed PCEC’s right to deduct from the net profits its own legal fees and the Trustee’s legal
fees paid by PCEC in connection with the Evergreen proceedings, PCEC deducted approximately $4.0 million of PCEC legal fees (plus approximately
$0.4 million in interest), or approximately $3.5 million net to the Trust’s 80% net profits interest, under the net profits interest
calculations for September 2023, which reflected PCEC legal fees paid through September 30, 2023. Through the end of the Current
Month, PCEC had further deducted a total of $2.1 million of PCEC legal fees, including adjustments, or approximately $1.7 million net
to the Trust’s 80% net profits interest, and a total of $1.8 million of the Trustee’s legal fees paid by PCEC in connection
with the Evergreen proceedings, or approximately $1.5 million net to the Trust’s 80% net profits interest. PCEC has indicated to
the Trustee that PCEC continues to incur fees and expenses related to Evergreen’s appeal of its loss in the litigation and arbitration
and will continue to deduct those amounts under the monthly net profits interest calculation as provided in the Conveyance, which could
result in further increases to the net profits deficit for the Developed Properties.

The Trust previously
borrowed funds from PCEC sufficient to pay the approximately $0.9 million of legal fees of the Trustee incurred in connection with the
PCEC arbitration, as well as approximately $59,000 representing the Trust’s share of the fees of the arbitration panel.

Replacement
of the Trustee

As previously disclosed,
at a special meeting of the unitholders of the Trust held on July 12, 2023 (the “Special Meeting”), a majority of the
unitholders voted to remove The Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company, N.A. as trustee of the Trust. A successor trustee was not nominated
for approval at the Special Meeting. Under Section 6.05 of the Trust Agreement, if a new trustee has not been approved within 60
days after a vote of unitholders removing a trustee, a successor trustee may be appointed by any State or Federal District Court having
jurisdiction in New Castle County, Delaware, upon the application of PCEC, any Trust unitholder, or the Trustee.

On September 11,
2023, PCEC filed a petition with the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (the “Court”) seeking to appoint Province,
LLC as successor trustee.

On September 12,
2023, unitholders Evergreen Capital Management LLC, Shipyard Capital LP, Shipyard Capital Management LLC, Cedar Creek Partners LP, Eriksen
Capital Management LLC and Walter Keenan (collectively, the “Unitholder Petitioners”) jointly filed a petition with the Court
seeking to appoint Barclay Leib as temporary trustee and as successor trustee as of January 1, 2024. As Section 6.05 of the
Trust Agreement requires that any successor trustee must be a bank or trust company having combined capital, surplus and undivided profits
of at least $100,000,000, the Unitholder Petitioners requested that the Court modify the Trust Agreement to remove that requirement.
Subsequently, the Unitholder Petitioners elected not to proceed and filed a stipulated dismissal of their petition on October 17,
2023, which was signed by the Court that day.

On October 31,
2023, PCEC filed a motion for summary judgment with regard to the appointment of a successor or temporary trustee, and the Trustee filed
a response in opposition to that motion on November 14, 2023. The Court denied PCEC’s motion at a hearing held on November 28,
2023. PCEC elected not to proceed at this time and filed a stipulated dismissal of its petition, without prejudice, on February 27,
2024, which was signed by the Court that day.

The Trustee is
unable to predict when a successor trustee will be appointed. Until that time, the Trustee will remain as trustee of the Trust and will
continue to have the rights and obligations as trustee pursuant to the Trust Agreement.

The Trust has borrowed
funds from PCEC sufficient to pay the approximately $0.3 million legal fees of the Trustee incurred in connection with the proceedings
initiated by the Unitholder Petitioners, as well as approximately $42,000 representing the Trust’s share of court fees.

Production Update

PCEC has informed
the Trustee that PCEC continues to strategically deploy capital to maintain production within export and transportation constraints resulting
from the previously disclosed termination of the Phillips 66 pipeline Connection Agreement described in greater detail below. These constraints
have led to a curtailment of production at Orcutt, resulting in a decrease of 8,942 Bbls (or 16%) for Orcutt in January 2026, as
compared to December 2022, the last full month of production prior to the termination of the Connection Agreement.

On December 20,
2024, PCEC announced its plans to terminate oil and gas production at the West Pico Unit. To begin the termination process, PCEC indicates
that it expects to submit by the end of the first quarter of 2026 an application for a modification of its conditional use permit (“CUP”)
to temporarily use workover rigs to safely and efficiently plug and abandon oil wells on the site, with mandatory termination of all
oil and gas operations five years from approval of the CUP modification. Termination of production at the West Pico Unit, when it occurs,
will reduce revenues under the Net Profits Interests, while the expected termination could adversely affect the amount of proceeds that
may be received by the Trust from the sale of the Net Profits Interests.

Cancellation
of Connection Agreement with Phillips 66

As previously disclosed,
PCEC has informed the Trustee that on September 22, 2022, PCEC received notice from Phillips 66 of the cancellation of the Connection
Agreement between PCEC and Phillips 66 with respect to the three leases located south of Orcutt in Santa Barbara, California, effective
upon completion of PCEC’s deliveries in December 2022. As a result of the cancellation, and the subsequent shutdown of the
Santa Maria Refinery on January 4, 2023, PCEC no longer has a pipeline interconnection between the Orcutt properties and the Santa
Maria Refinery. This pipeline was the sole means by which PCEC transported its crude oil from the Orcutt properties, which relates to
approximately 86% and 91% of the production attributable to the Trust’s interests in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

The shutdown of
the refinery and the pipeline has adversely affected PCEC’s financial performance, the revenues that may be payable to the Trust,
and PCEC’s ability to provide loans to the Trust on a timely basis in the full amounts requested by the Trustee. PCEC previously
informed the Trustee that it was able to secure a short-term contract to transport oil from the Orcutt properties commencing on January 4,
2023, albeit at reduced volumes and with a higher differential compared to the terms previously achievable through the Phillips 66
Connection Agreement. This contract was terminated at the end of June 2025, as previously disclosed, and the refinery that had taken
the oil produced from the Orcutt properties has since been closed. Effective October 1, 2025, PCEC has made arrangements to sell
its oil to other purchasers on a short-term basis. Unlike Phillips 66, which would use its own trucks to transport the oil from PCEC
locations, the new purchasers do not have their own trucks and therefore PCEC will be required to incur additional costs for such transportation.
Since early 2025, PCEC has incurred additional expenses for transportation from the Orcutt properties and has been deducting from gross
profits the portion of those expenses attributable to the Trust’s interests in accordance with the terms of the Conveyance. PCEC
will continue to deduct from gross profits the transportation expenses incurred under the new arrangements for the sale of oil from the
Orcutt properties. In addition, unlike Phillips 66, which did not reduce the price paid to PCEC for the gravity and quality of the
crude oil delivered, the purchasers under the current arrangements adjust the purchase price paid for the crude oil for the gravity,
quality, and basic sand and water content of the crude oil delivered.

Overview of
Trust Structure

Pacific Coast Oil
Trust is a Delaware statutory trust formed by PCEC to own interests in certain oil and gas properties in the Santa Maria Basin and the
Los Angeles Basin in California (the “Underlying Properties”). The Underlying Properties and the Trust’s net profits
and royalty interests are described in the Trust’s filings with the SEC. As described in the Trust’s filings with the SEC,
the amount of any periodic distributions is expected to fluctuate, depending on the proceeds received by the Trust as a result of actual
production volumes, oil and gas prices, development expenses, and the amount and timing of the Trust’s administrative expenses,
among other factors. For additional information on the Trust, please visit https://royt.q4web.com/home/default.aspx.

Cautionary
Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This press release
contains statements that are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934, as amended. All statements contained in this press release, other than statements of historical facts, are "forward-looking
statements" for the purposes of these provisions. These forward-looking statements include estimates of future asset retirement
obligations, expectations regarding the impact of deductions for such obligations on future distributions to unitholders, estimates of
future total distributions to unitholders, the outcome of the proceedings relating to the appointment of a successor trustee, expectations
regarding the timing of the termination of oil and gas production at the West Pico Unit, uncertainties regarding transportation of oil
from the Orcutt properties and the impact of an inability to transport such oil on future payments to the Trust, expectations regarding
PCEC’s ability to loan funds to the Trust, expectations regarding future borrowing by the Trust and the impact such borrowing may
have on any net proceeds available for distribution following a sale of the Trust’s assets, future legal fees that may be deducted
under the monthly net profits interest calculation, expectations regarding the filing of the Trust’s comprehensive annual report
on Form 10-K, statements regarding the expected winding down of the Trust, expectations regarding any proceeds that the Trust may
receive from a sale of the Trust’s assets, and the amount and date of any anticipated distribution to unitholders. In any case,
PCEC’s deductions of its estimated asset retirement obligations will have a material adverse effect on distributions to the unitholders
and on the trading price of the Trust units and may result in the termination of the Trust. Any anticipated distribution is based, in
part, on the amount of cash received or expected to be received by the Trust from PCEC with respect to the relevant period. Any differences
in actual cash receipts by the Trust could affect this distributable amount. The amount of such cash received or expected to be received
by the Trust (and its ability to pay distributions) has been and will be significantly and negatively affected by low commodity prices,
which could remain low for an extended period of time, and possibly decline further, as a result of a variety of factors that are beyond
the control of the Trust and PCEC. Other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include expenses related
to the operation of the Underlying Properties, including lease operating expenses, expenses of the Trust, reserves for anticipated future
expenses, and difficulties in obtaining alternative arrangements for the transportation of oil produced from the Orcutt properties. Statements
made in this press release are qualified by the cautionary statements made in this press release. Neither PCEC nor the Trustee intends,
and neither assumes any obligation, to update any of the statements included in this press release. An investment in units issued by
Pacific Coast Oil Trust is subject to the risks described in the Trust's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31,
2018, filed with the SEC on March 8, 2019, and if applicable, the Trust’s subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and
Current Reports on Form 8-K. The Trust's Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and Current Reports
on Form 8-K are available over the Internet at the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov.

Contact:

Pacific Coast Oil
Trust

The Bank of New
York Mellon Trust Company, N.A., as Trustee

Sarah Newell

1 (512) 236-6555

601 Travis Street,
16th Floor, Houston, TX 77002