Monte Oro gets SEC approval for capital hike

MANILA, Philippines - Monte Oro Resources & Energy Inc. (MORE) has obtained the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission to raise its authorized capital stock to P7 billion from P5 billion.

SEC documents show that MORE, led by businessman Walter Brown, had a subscribed and paid up capital of P5.02 billion.

Incorporated in 2005, MORE is engaged in metals mining and oil and gas production in the Philippines. It offers petroleum products and metals mining and exploration services. It also engages in infrastructure investments and real estate development activities.

MORE was part of the consortium that won the right to operate the country’s power transmission highway until late December when it decided to sell its stake to a son of retail tycoon Henry Sy.

MORE has withdrawn from a farm-in, or exploration, agreement with APC Group Inc. in connection with Service Contract (SC) 48 located at the Cagayan Basin in Northeast Luzon. It pulled out of the project after determining the results of a gravity survey as marginal.

The farm-in agreement for SC 48 was sealed way back in 2007 with Aragorn Power and Energy Corp. (APEC), a majority-owned subsidiary of the APC Group.

In August 2007, MORE entered into an agreement with Forum Ltd. to acquire a 30 percent participating interest in geophysical survey and exploration contract (GSEC) 101.

MORE is exploring prospective coal areas in Catanduanes, which are seen to yield high-grade coal.   – Zinnia Dela Peña