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Petroleum exploration and development firm Philodrill Corp. expects
profits to skyrocket this year after revenues from the Galoc oil
field starts to pour in.
In the company’s annual stockholders’
meeting yesterday, company officials said they expect profits to
surge from P28 million in 2007 to P1.2 billion in 2008.
A large chunk of the projected profits is
expected to be culled from the Galoc oil field, which is set to
start production in July.
Operated by the Galoc Production Co. with a
32-percent stake, Galoc is said to contain proven reserves of up to
14 million to 16 million barrels of oil.
Philodrill initially held a 6.40-percent
participating interest in the project but jacked this up further 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 Australian
firm Nido Petroleum Ltd. with a 22.28-percent stake and other local
upstream oil companies.
Philodrill’s projected net income this year is
expected to maintain at roughly the same level in 2009, at which
time half of the field’s reserves would have been recovered.
Company officials said revenues from the Galoc
field may start coming in by October, which means a steady cash flow
for Philodrill for the next two years. Their projection, however,
does not yet take into account the potential reserves to be produced
from the next phase of the field’s development, which is expected
to kick off in 2010.
Francisco Navarro, Philodrill executive vice
president, said the three wells lined up under Galoc’s next phase
will offer the company the highest probability of churning out oil
among its other petroleum projects in the country.
Philodrill’s shares at the Philippine Stock
Exchange closed higher yesterday at P0.03 from P0.029.
-- Euan Paulo C. Añonuevo
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