PANGILINAN-LED PXP Energy Corp. trimmed its attributable net loss for the second quarter to P6.55 million, slightly down from P6.59 million last year.
This reduction occurred despite a 22.7% decline in consolidated petroleum revenues, which fell to P16.62 million, the upstream oil and gas company said in a regulatory filing on Thursday.
The company saw a 16.4% decrease in its overall expenses, which totaled P22 million for the quarter.
Core net loss for the period slightly widened to P6.83 million from P6.81 million last year.
For the six months ending in June, the company recorded an attributable net loss of P9.16 million, down from P12.67 million the previous year. Core net loss for the period narrowed to P9.48 million from P13.42 million due to a higher average crude oil price and higher volume lifted from Galoc operations.
From January to June, consolidated petroleum revenues grew by 9.1% to P42.92 million from P39.35 million, following a 3.2% improvement in the average crude price to $82.1 per barrel of crude oil.
This is in addition to a 2.6% higher output sold at 309,198 barrels of crude oil from its operations in Service Contract (SC) 14 C-1 Galoc, a block located offshore northwest Palawan.
Consolidated costs and expenses rose by 0.7% to P49.05 million as petroleum production costs increased to P26.2 million, offset by a reduction in recurring overhead to P22.9 million.
In May, its board approved a share swap with Hong Kong’s Tidemark Holdings Ltd., which involves the issuance of 430,243,903 common shares in exchange for 24,125,383 shares held by Tidemark in Forum Energy Limited.
Subject to confirmation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, PXP has said it intends to issue its shares to Tidemark at an aggregate value of P1,557,482,928.86, at an issue price of P3.62 per share. Tidemark’s shares are valued at approximately P64.5579 per share.
Tidemark is a wholly owned subsidiary of Atok Big Wedge Co., Inc. PXP and Tidemark are shareholders of Forum Energy, a corporation organized under the laws of the United Kingdom.
PXP holds a 50% operating interest in SC 75 located in northwest Palawan. Forum Energy, through its wholly owned subsidiary Forum (GSEC 101) Limited, has a 70% operating interest in SC 72 Recto Bank offshore west Palawan.
PXP said that both the company and Forum Energy “will continue to coordinate with the government on any possible arrangement of activities in SC 72 and SC 75.”
“Exploration work in SC 40 will be pursued. Meanwhile, PXP will assess and study other oil and gas projects within the Philippines,” the company said.
SC 40, or the North Cebu Block, is located in the Visayan Basin, which covers the northern part of Cebu Island and the adjacent offshore areas in the Central Tañon Strait and Visayan Sea.
In 2014, SC 72 and SC 75 were put under force majeure due to the West Philippine Sea maritime dispute.
The moratorium was lifted in 2020. However, it was reimposed in 2022 as the Department of Energy directed to “put on hold any exploration activities for Service Contracts Nos. 72 and 75 until such time that the Security, Justice and Peace Coordinating Cluster has issued the necessary clearance to proceed.”
Shares in the company fell by 7.02% to P3.71 apiece on Thursday. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera
