MANILA – PXP Energy said Friday it raised its stake in a UK firm that has a controlling interest in the Reed Bank oil exploration project.

The company said it raised its direct holdings in Forum Energy to 69.5 percent from 48.8 percent after it subscribed to 39,350,920 new Forum shares.

This also increased the Filipino firm’s total direct and indirect holdings to 77.5 percent from 67.5 percent, PXP Energy, formerly called Philex Petroleum, told the stock exchange.

PXP Energy Chairman Manuel Pangilinan said earlier this month that it was seeking to revive talks with China National Offshore Oil Corp for possible joint exploration as relations between Manila and Beijing improved under President Rodrigo Duterte.

Duterte’s predecessor, Benigno Aquino, won an arbitration case against China over disputed areas in the South China Sea, including Reed Bank, where Chinese vessels allegedly interdicted a survey ship contracted by Forum in 2011.

“It makes it good speculation. I’m not so sure it would make good investment at this time,” Eagle Equities President Joey Roxas told ANC’s “Market Edge with Cathy Yang.”

“Drilling for oil is not easy. They still have to do a lot of preparations before they actually drill, that’s aside from talks with China,” Roxas added.

Shares of PXP Energy were up 1.03 percent to P2.95 in early trading Friday.