PXP Energy Corp., the upstream oil and gas company of businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan, managed to slash its net loss by 29.63 percent to P9.5 million in the first half from P13.4 million in the same period a year ago.

In a Thursday stock exchange report, the company highlighted that the narrower losses experienced during the period were primarily attributed to several factors including an increase in the average crude oil price, higher volume lifted from Galoc operations, a slight reduction in overhead expenses, and lower interest expenses.

From January to June, PXP’s consolidated net loss attributable to equity holders of the parent company was also lower at P9.2 million from P12.7 million last year.

Notably, consolidated petroleum revenues increased by 9.1 percent to P42.9 million, up from P39.4 million in the same period the previous year.

The growth was driven by a combination of factors, including a 3.2 percent improvement in the average crude price to $82.1/bbl and a 2.6 percent increase in output sold to 309,198 bbls in SC 14C-1 Galoc.

On the other hand, consolidated costs and expenses reached P49.1 million, compared to P48.7 million in the same period last year.

While petroleum production costs rose to P26.2 million from P25.4 million, recurring overhead expenses saw a decreaseto P22.9 million, down from P23.3 million a year ago.

Exploration to continue

Despite dropping exploration and development of the Linapacan block in offshore northwest Palawan under Service Contract (SC) 74, PXP said it will continue to “assess and study other oil and gas projects within the Philippines.”

“PXP and Forum Energy Limited will continue to coordinate with the Government on any possible arrangement of activities in both SC 72 and SC 75. Exploration work in SC 40 will be pursued,” the company said.