PXP Energy Corp., the upstream oil and gas firm led by businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan, has tightened its grip on Service Contract (SC) 72, a potentially rich petroleum block off Palawan, after raising its direct stake in FEC Resources Inc. to 81.25 percent from 78.39 percent.

In a stock exchange report on Friday, the company said the transaction was done through the conversion of a loan and accrued interest worth $1.16 million, or roughly P67 million, into 131.56 million new FEC shares at $0.0088 apiece.

“This increases PXP’s total economic interest in Forum Energy Limited (FEL) from 97.88 percent to 98.08 percent and in SC 72 from 68.52 percent to 68.65 percent,” the company said in a disclosure.

FEC, a Canada-based holding firm, holds a 6.8 percent stake in FEL. FEL, in turn, owns a 70 percent interest in SC 72, a key petroleum exploration license covering 8,800 square kilometers off Palawan Island.

The deal did not result in any board changes at FEC or FEL.

During the first half of the year, PXP saw a wider core net loss of P21.1 million in the first half of 2025, up from P9.5 million a year ago, due to weaker crude prices, lower Galoc output, and rising production costs. Its consolidated net loss also ballooned to P22.8 million from P9.2 million last year.

Revenues fell to P33.2 million from P42.9 million, as sales volume dropped 9.2 percent and average crude prices slipped nearly 14 percent to $70.7 per barrel.

Despite the decline, PXP said Galoc operations in northwest Palawan remained stable.