PNOC Exploration Corp. said net income in the first nine months fell 20 percent to P825.4 million from P1.043 billion a year ago, on lower revenues.
Revenues declined to P2.937 billion from P3.494 billion in the same period last year on account of lower oil prices.
PNOC Exploration, the oil and gas arm of state-owned Philippine National Oil Co., derives bulk of its revenues from its 10-percent share in the Malampaya gas-to-power project in northwest Palawan.
The company has been unable to pursue other exploration projects due to Executive Order 556 requiring the company to conduct a bidding on oil and gas exploration ventures.
EO 556 mandated government corporations engaged in the upstream and downstream oil industries to conduct public bidding in farm-in or farm-out agreements.
“This has been our major stumbling block simply because oil exploration is a very expensive business, high risk and it would be absurd for us to ask would-be investors or partners to undergo public hearing,” PNOC Exploration president Pedro Aquino said earlier.
He said PNOC Exploration was “finding it difficult to comply” with the EO since the ruling was issued in 2006.
