PETROENERGY Resources Corp. said on Thursday that it will be focusing more on the power generation business as it hopes to grow into one of the most profitable listed energy companies in the Philippines.

“These are exciting times for our company as we transition more and more into the power generation business. We have a lot on our plate, which we aim to put ‘onscreen’ as we have done with the other projects now in our portfolio,” PetroEnergy President Milagros V. Reyes said during the company’s virtual annual stockholders meeting.

“This is to fulfill our mission to provide optimum value to our shareholders who are keeping our focus on our vision to grow into one of the most profitable publicly listed energy companies in our country,” she added.

PetroEnergy has three projects “ready for takeoff” and two offshore wind service contracts, Ms. Reyes said.

The projects are the 25-megawatt (MW) direct current solar power plant in Bohol; the 10-MW wind hybrid project in San Vicente, Palawan; and the 14-MW Nabas-2 wind power project in Aklan.

“We have also successfully been awarded two offshore wind service contracts which we shall pursue in earnest,” Ms. Reyes said, referring to sites in Northern Luzon (Ilocos region) and Northern Mindoro where wind energy projects will be built.

During the annual meeting, she said PetroEnergy’s power generation ventures were not greatly affected by the pandemic because these renewable energy sources have fixed power rates under the feed-in-tariff (FiT) scheme or under long-term bilateral agreements.

However, the company’s upstream petroleum ventures were hard-hit as crude oil prices fell.

“The global crude oil market was in turmoil due to these uncertainties [and the] deep dive in prices would not be compensated by higher production volumes, which we attempted from our newer wells,” Ms. Reyes said.

PetroEnergy is engaged in petroleum production through the Etame consortium in the African country of Gabon; and in renewable energy at home through its subsidiary PetroGreen Energy Corp.

The Yuchengcos’ listed energy and petroleum exploration company is chaired by Helen Y. Dee, with Yvonne S. Yuchengco as treasurer.

The firm previously registered an attributable net income to its parent of P106.30 million in the three months ending March, lower by 16% compared with the P126.04 million recorded in the same period last year.

Last year, it reported an attributable net income of P319 million, 9% higher due to increased revenues from its 20-MW Tarlac-2 solar plant amid the prolonged summer season and FiT rate adjustments.

PetroEnergy’s shares at the local bourse shed 2.96% or 12 centavos to finish at P3.93 apiece on Thursday. — Angelica Y. Yang

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