PHILEX Petroleum Corp. (PPC) is receiving P1.2 billion in fresh investment from its parent company Philex Mining Corp. for its expansion program.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), J. Ernesto C. Villaluna, Jr., president of Philex, said the infusion of fresh capitalization was approved by the board during their meeting Tuesday.

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He said the investment will be made by way of a subscription to 1.2 billion new shares of PPC at its par value of P1.00 per share or a total subscription price of P1.2 billion.

The new shares in the company will come from the increase in the authorized capital stock of PPC from P2 billion to P6.8 billion.

"The proceeds of the subscription will enable PPC to acquire oil and petroleum assets," Villaluna said.

At present, Philex Petroleum holds 33 percent interest in Forum Energy Plc (FEP), a UK-based company listed at the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange.

FEP, through its 70 percent-owned subsidiary, Forum (GSEC 101) Limited, holds Geophysical Survey and Exploration Contract (GSEC) No. 101 over the Sampaguita natural gas discovery in the northwest coast of Palawan, Philippines.

Villaluna said FEP has a pending application for the conversion of this GSEC into a service contract where further exploration of the Sampaguita property can be commenced.

Aside from FEP investment, Philex Petroleum has 6.4 percent interest in Pitkin Petroleum Ltd (Pitkin), a Texas-based junior exploration company in the United States currently producing on a small-scale basis in Louisiana but with properties in offshore Vietnam and Peru.

Philex Petroleum also acquired 20 percent of PetroEnergy Resources Corporation, a local company listed in the PSE engaged in oil exploration and in providing technical services to companies exploring for oil in the Philippines.

At the same time, it has investments in Brixton Energy & Mining Corporation (BEMC), which is allowed to extract coal from a 2,000 hectare property in Zamboanga Sibugay for 32 years which started May 5, 2008.

The company has stakes in SC-41, Deepwater South Sulu Sea, wherein recoverable reserves with an estimated to be around 150 million barrels; SC-6, Cadlao Block-NW Palawan, which is expected to recover between 1.0-1.5 million barrels of oil; and SC-6A, Octon Block-NW Palawan, which is being linked with the Galoc field. (MSN/Sunnex)