Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has invited investment banks to pitch for roles in the initial public offering (IPO) of its natural gas business during the first half of 2023.
Several investment banks have been asked for proposals to act as joint global coordinators and bookrunners in the IPO to join New York-based Goldman Sachs as part of a planned banking syndicate, according to bankers familiar with the plans.
Adnoc is combining its gas-processing subsidiary with its main gas export unit, Adnoc LNG, into a single listed entity and has engaged Goldman Sachs as the principal bank to oversee the various transactions.
Adnoc plans to offer investors a minority stake in the new company through an IPO on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange in 2023.
Adnoc LNG was the first production company in the Arabian Gulf and processes feed gas at Das Island, located 160 kilometres (100 miles) off the coast of Abu Dhabi.
The LNG company also supplies one billion standard cubic feet of gas per day to the United Arab Emirates national grid, contributing to Adnoc’s commitment towards gas self-sufficiency in the UAE.
Current stakes
Adnoc LNG is majority owned by the Abu Dhabi-based firm with a 70 percent share of the company. The other shareholders are Japan’s Mitsui & Co with 15 percent, UK major BP with 10 percent and TotalEnergies with 5 percent.
Adnoc said late last month that the consolidation of the two entities would create one of the world’s largest gas-processing companies with a processing capacity of around 10 billion standard cubic feet per day.
Analysts note that Adnoc in the UAE and other nations in the region such as Qatar are overhauling their corporate capabilities to replace all Russian energy imports as early as mid-2024 as Western sanctions were imposed over the Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The UAE is comprised of seven emirates and the leading energy emirate is Abu Dhabi, which also has the Ghasha mega-project, the world’s largest offshore sour-gas development.
The emirates, outside of Abu Dhabi, have varying degrees of more limited energy resources in Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al-Quwain, Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah,
The multi-billion-dollar Ghasha project will play a vital role in meeting the UAE’s gas self-sufficiency objectives.
Adnoc says that the Ghasha mega-project draws on its long-standing sour-gas expertise, including its Shah onshore ultra-sour gas field project, its pioneering work in the creation of artificial islands and the wide and deep sour-gas capabilities of its concession partners.
Adnoc is also currently unlocking potential unconventional gas resources as part of its integrated gas strategy and since late 2019 it has announced the discovery of 160 trillion standard cubic feet of recoverable unconventional gas.
