Philodrill sheds P18 million as oil revenues dip

THE Philodrill Corp. lost P18 million in the first quarter as its revenues from petroleum projects took a dive.

Its overall revenues dwindled by 59% to P30 million in the first three months of 2020 from P73.2 million it posted in the same period in 2019.

This was mainly dragged down by the 79% drop in petroleum revenues to P14 million over P62.6 million for the same quarter last year.

The decline in petroleum revenues was due to the falling crude prices and output volume in the January-March period.

Its combined gross production level faltered to 172,097 barrels from 213,619 barrels in the same period a year ago. The average price per barrel fell to $23.70, compared to $67.53 from last year.

Philodrill shed P18 million in earnings over a net income of P9 million in the same quarter last year.

The listed oil and gas exploration and development company runs nine petroleum projects under various service contracts in the country.

Earlier, Galoc Production Co., the operator of the Galoc oil field in Palawan, announced the temporary suspension of operations in the petroleum prospect starting September 24. This came after Rubicon Offshore International, which owns the floating production storage and offloading vessels used in the oil field, ended its service to the production block.

The Galoc oil field under Service Contract 14 C-1, in which the company holds a minority interest, produced 173,600 barrels, slightly lower than 185,671 barrels it yielded in the previous quarter.

Meanwhile, its joint application with PXP Energy Corp. to explore Area 7, a possible oil discovery site located in the Sulu Sea, remains pending with the Department of Energy. The block is one of the pre-determined areas of fered by the department under its Philippine Conventional Energy Contracting Program. —