Oriental Petroleum declares cash dividend, eyes investing in renewable energy

MANILA, Philippines — Oriental Petroleum and Minerals Corp. (OPMC) at its annual stockholders’ meeting held on June 25 declared a cash dividend of P0.0005 per common share, with the amount to be paid to stockholders on Aug. 18.

The recent meeting was the first held by the company after celebrating late last year the 50th anniversary of its incorporation.

The company’s full-year net income in 2019 amounted to $2.33 million, representing a 175.5 percent increase over the same 12-month period in 2018. Significantly, OPMC is practically debt-free.

Philippine-registered OPMC is engaged in the exploration, development and production of petroleum and mineral resources in the country, particularly in offshore locations northwest of Palawan where petroleum in commercial quantities are present.

The company is a service contractor to the Philippine government through the Department of Energy.

OPMC is led by James Go, who serves as chairman and chief executive officer, and Robert Coyiuto Jr., who is president and chief operating officer. Go is also chairman of JG Summit Holdings Inc. and Cebu Air Inc., and is in top management positions in numerous other corporations as well.

For his part, Coyiuto Jr. is chairman of Prudential Guarantee and Assurance Inc., PGA Sompo Insurance Corp, PGA Cars Inc. and PGA Automobile Inc.; and vice chairman of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines and First Life Financial Co., Inc. He also serves as director in several other corporations and is the presidential adviser on Capital Market Development.

Coyiuto Jr. has been a director at OPMC since 1982, the company’s chairman and president from 1991 to 1993, and is president and chief operating officer beginning in 1994 up to the present.

In November last year, OPMC mourned the loss of its chairman emeritus, John Gokongwei Jr.

OPMC traces its beginnings to 1969 when Robert Coyiuto – father of Robert Coyiuto Jr. – ventured into oil exploration. OPMC was founded by Coyiuto with Jose Ma. Barcelon, as well as other fellow visionaries including Antonio Caguiat, Felipe Cruz, Alfredo Ramos, Yao Shiong Shio, Fr. Emeterio Barcelon, SJ., Carlos Dyhongpo, Rafael Gonzales and Alejandro Lichauco.

OPMC was incorporated on Dec. 22, 1969, with the registration of its securities approved on March 24, 1970. On April 3, 1970, the company started trading in the “over the counter” market of the era. OPMC was formally listed with the Manila Stock Exchange on Nov. 6, 1970.

At the time of OPMC’s incorporation, it had an authorized capital of P100 million, which was divided between class “A” and class “B” common shares. Shareholders of both classes enjoy the same rights and voting privileges, except that class “A” shares are issued solely to Filipino citizens while class “B” shares may be issued to foreigners as well.

A decade after its incorporation, OPMC raised its capital stock to P125 million. On Feb. 22, 1995, the company pumped its capital stock to P2 billion.

OPMC pioneered oil exploration among Filipino companies, and thus wrote Philippine history when it first struck oil in 1976.

As the company starts a new chapter following its golden anniversary milestone, OPMC bared plans to participate in upstream and downstream natural gas projects, as well as venture into all kinds of renewable energy sources like biomass, solar, wind, hydropower, geothermal and ocean energy. Coyiuto noted this is a fitting way to bolster the company’s status as a pioneer in oil and gas exploration in the Philippines.