DUBAI - Shares in the United Arab Emirates' ADNOC Gas rose 19 percent in their first day of trading on Monday in a $2.5-billion initial public offering that aims to tap into growing demand for the fuel.
ADNOC Gas, a subsidiary of state-owned energy giant Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), closed at 2.82 dirhams ($0.77) after opening at 2.37 and briefly hitting 2.96 on the Abu Dhabi stock exchange.
ADNOC Gas, which only became operational at the start of this year, is the bourse's biggest flotation yet. The overall market was down 0.6 percent at 9,767.63.
At more than 50 times oversubscribed, it was the biggest demand ever seen for an initial public offering in the Middle East and North Africa, outstripping oil firm Saudi Aramco's world-record $29.4-billion listing just over three years ago.
The final offer price of 2.37 dirhams, near the top of its range, implied a market capitalisation of around $50-billion for the new company.
"Demand for the stock was expected to remain strong after listing with the favourable pricing," Monica Malik, chief economist at UAE bank ADCB, told AFP.
The rapidly organised IPO follows last year's scramble for alternative gas resources after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and comes as countries search for cleaner fuels to mitigate global warming.