MANILA - Earnings of publicly listed PNOC-Exploration Corp. (PNOC-EC) fell 26.5% in the first half of the year due to lower revenues.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, PNOC-EC said its net income in January to June 2009 declined to P1.08 billion from P1.46 billion in the same months in 2008 as revenues went down 23.76% to P3.24 billion from P4.25 billion.

Revenues from the company's coal operations fell 27.8% to P846.49 million from P1.17 billion while sales of its Energy Supply Base (ESB) also declined substantially or by 77.61% to P34.03 million from P151.97 million. The ESB is a private commercial port located in Mabini, Batangas which offers berthing, cargo handling, storage and warehousing facilities to energy companies and other commercial clients.

Meanwhile, revenues from PNOC-EC's Malampaya project dropped 18.73% to P2.36 billion from P2.91 billion.

But according to the company, it was able to prevent further sales drop with the full payment of a Malampaya-related loan at the end of 2008, which resulted to a zero financing cost in 2009 and a decrease in operating cost.

The company said the expiration of the Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking with state-owned firms of China and Vietnam in the South China Sea last year likewise helped decrease its operating expenses by 28.96% from P214.09 million to P152.10 million.

Initially starting out as the Exploration Department of PNOC in April 1975, PNOC-EC was eventually incorporated as a PNOC subsidiary and registered with the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission on April 20, 1976.

In its early years, PNOC-EC served mainly as a catalyst in petroleum exploration, focusing its activities in frontier onshore areas in Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon and Samar.

In 1994, PNOC-EC's 3-megawatt San Antonio Gas Power Plant in Echague, Isabela was commissioned, providing electricity to more than 10,000 households. The company then started to expand its operations in offshore areas of Northern Palawan, Ragay Gulf and offshore Mindoro.