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THE Philodrill Corp. said its second-quarter profit
plunged because of a steep revenue drop with the temporary halt in
its oil field operations off Palawan.
In its unaudited financial
statement, Philodrill registered a net loss of P4.92 million for the
quarter compared with P5.55 million in profits for the same period
in 2007. The second-quarter results led the company’s net income
to fall 40 percent to P4.14 million in the first half of the year.
Its second-quarter losses were
due to a drop in revenues, which fell almost half to P23.96 million,
after the suspension of production in its Nido and Matinloc oil
fields for two months starting May to meet maritime standards on the
use of double-hulled shipping vessels.
Because of this, the company
managed to deliver only 19,590 barrels of crude to its off taker
Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. for the quarter for a total of
61,721 barrels in the first half, or about 38 percent lower than its
production in the same period last year.
Philodrill said the average price
a barrel was $88.23 as against $56.03 last year.
Despite its second-quarter
losses, company officials earlier said they expect profits to surge
from P28 million last year to P1.2 billion this year once revenues
from the Galoc oil field start pouring in.
Operated by the Galoc Production
Co. with a 32-percent stake, the petroleum block is said to contain
proven reserves of up to 16 million barrels of oil.
The country’s first oil
development project in years, the Galoc field is expected to start
production next month after several delays because of bad weather
and technical problems.
Philodrill initially held a
6.40-percent participating interest in the project but raised this
to 7.02 percent after it acquired Phoenix Gas and Oil Co., which has
interests in several petroleum exploration blocks, for P32.6 million
in May last year.
Other shareholders in the project
are Australia’s Nido Petroleum Ltd. with a 22.28- percent stake
and other local upstream oil companies. Besides Palawan,
Philodrill’s active petroleum projects cover production and
exploration areas in South Sulu Sea and onshore Mindoro.
Although primarily involved in
oil and gas exploration and production activities, Philodrill also
maintains investments in financial services, property development,
and mining and infrastructure development.
--Euan Paulo C. Añonuevo
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