PXP Energy Corp looks for investments

MANILA, Philippines – Fresh from its change in corporate name, PXP Energy Corp., the upstream oil and gas unit of listed Philex Mining Corp., is now scouting for investments in the renewable energy (RE) sector.

PXP Energy just received last month approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to change its name from Philex Petroleum Corp. to allow it to include other sources of energy in its business.

Other energy investments include the RE, Philex Petroleum president Daniel Stephen Carlos told The STAR.

“We are considering going into RE but we are still looking for prospective projects,” he said.

The company first announced its change in corporate name in April this year, which was approved by shareholders a month after.

The move will allow the company to have other sources of income, as it currently operates a net loss because of the low oil price environment and as most of its oil and gas prospects have yet to start production.

It also has several projects under force majeure, namely Service Contract (SC) 72 Reed Bank offshore west Palawan and SC 75 in offshore Northwest Palawan Basin because these projects are located in the disputed West Philippine Sea.

In the first half of 2016, Philex Petroleum reduced its losses to P21.8 million compared with last year’s P48.7 million amid cost reduction efforts.

Last year, it registered a net loss of P87.5 million, 61 percent lower than the P225.6-million net loss in the previous year.