MANILA - Philex Mining Corp. is investing an additional P1.2 billion in wholly-owned oil exploration subsidiary Philex Petroleum Corp. (PPC) in preparation for possible acquisition of new assets.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Philex president J. Ernesto Villaluna Jr. said the investment was approved by the company's board of directors in a meeting held on Tuesday.

Philex will infuse fresh capital into PPC by way of subscription to 1.2 billion new shares of the unit at a 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.

PPC has a 33% interest in Forum Energy Plc. (FEP), a UK-based company listed at the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange. Together with another Philex subsidiary FEC Resources Inc.'s 28.4% interest in FEP, the Philex group’s total interest in the UK company stands at 61%.

FEP, through its 70%-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.

FEP has a pending application for the conversion of this GSEC into a service contract, after which further exploration of the Sampaguita property can be commenced.

Aside from FEP, PPC also owns 6.4% of Pitkin Petroleum Ltd. (Pitkin), a Texas-based junior exploration company in the United States currently producing on a smallscale basis in Louisiana but with properties in offshore Vietnam and Peru. Philex also owns a stake in Pitkin, bringing the group's total holdings in the company to 21%.

PPC also controls 20% of PetroEnergy Resources Corp., a local company listed in the PSE engaged in oil exploration and in providing technical services to companies exploring for oil in the Philippines.