PNOC EC's coal business was initially limited since 1997 to the operatorship of Coal Operating Contract No. 122 in the province of Isabela, in northern Luzon, where the company is embarking on an integrated coal mining and mine-mouth power plant project. However, the company experienced a sudden upturn in coal operations in early 2002 with its takeover of the operations of its affiliate, PNOC Coal Corporation, which was then into coal exploration and mining, integrated coal services, coal trading and marketing. As a result, PNOC EC now produces and imports coal and supplies the resource to the power and cement industries in the Philippines. The company now operates four coal terminals in various parts of the country namely, Malangas in Zamboanga Sibugay, Naga in Cebu, Bauan in Batangas and Poro Point in La Union. Related to these coal handling services are the coal laboratories in Malangas and Bauan which offer laboratory testing (proximate analysis) of coal samples for various clients.

PNOC EC continues to support the development of the local coal industry and the overall utilization of coal using new and constantly improving technologies that are more environment-friendly. The utilization of coal as an energy resource is, after all, recognized as a component of the PNOC EC's mandate of helping provide a stable energy supply for the Philippines.