OQ, the national oil company of Gulf producer Oman, plans to put more of its subsidiaries up for stock listing, following the record-breaking IPO of its OQ Exploration and Production Company earlier this year, a senior executive told Bloomberg in an interview.
In October, OQ Exploration and Production Company (OQEP), Oman’s wholly-state-owned upstream oil and gas operator, raised $2.03 billion from its IPO which was the largest ever for the Gulf oil nation and the biggest in the region so far this year.
OQEP sold 2 billion shares in the IPO during the subscription period, representing 25% of the company’s total issued share capital.
OQEP’s record-breaking listing in October was 2.4 times oversubscribed with orders amounting to about $4.7 billion. The offering that raised $2 billion from 25% of OQEP’s shares valued Oman’s oil and gas exploration firm at up to $8.1 billion (3.12 Omani billion rials).
Now OQ is looking to list more of its units on the local stock exchange, and the next share sale could take place at the end of 2025 or in 2026, OQ’s Chief People & Technology Officer, Ali Al Lawati, told Bloomberg in an interview published on Friday.
The proceeds from several share sales have helped the Omani state energy firm to reduce its debt by $6 billion in recent years—from $13 billion in 2021 to $7 billion now, Al Lawati told Bloomberg.
The IPO of the exploration firm in October followed the successful listings of two other OQ companies, Abraj Energy Services and OQ Gas Networks, last year.
Oman’s drilling and well services provider Abraj Energy Services, indirectly owned by OQ, was listed last year after an IPO raised $244 million (94 million rials). Pipeline operator OQ Gas Networks also debuted on the local stock market after raising $771 million in an IPO that sold out in one day.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
