Philex Petroleum widens net loss in H1

MANILA, Philippines - Philex Petroleum Corp., the upstream oil and gas subsidiary of Philex Mining Corp., registered a bigger net loss in the first half of 2015 on the back of lower petroleum output and crude prices.

In a disclosure yesterday, the firm said it incurred a consolidated net loss of P85.99 million in the six months to June, higher compared with the net loss of P40.71 million during the same period last year.

“The net loss primarily resulted from lower petroleum revenues contributed by its subsidiary, Forum Energy Plc, due to lower crude oil prices and lower production from Service Contract 14C1 Galoc,” Philex Petroleum said.

Consolidated revenues slumped to P83.45 million from P198.24 million a year ago, which all came from petroleum sales.

Petroleum revenues came from subsidiary Forum Energy Plc., which has stakes in the Galoc, Nido, Matinloc and Libertad oil fields, all in Palawan.

There were no coal sales for the period.

The company’s income from coal used to come from wholly-owned subsidiary Brixton Energy & Mining Corp. that operates in Northern Mindanao.

However, the underground coal mines under Coal Operating Contract (COC) 130 in Diplahan and Buug in Zamboanga Sibugay were closed in September 2013 after suspension of operations in January 2013 due to low coal prices.

Philex Petroleum, through Brixton, eventually transferred the contract to Grace Coal Mining and Development Inc. (GCMDI), which was approved by the Department of Energy (DOE) last month.

Consolidated costs and expenses offset revenues which amounted to P179.27 million. It was lower than the P250.14 million costs and expenses incurred a year earlier.

Moving forward, the company said it “will continue its efforts to reduce operating expenditures through the rationalization of the company’s business structure and asset portfolio particularly in the current low oil-price environment.”