The United Arab Emirates’ state oil and gas major, ADNOC, has said it expects to raise some $2 billion from the listing of its gas business.

The price range for the IPO would give the business a market valuation of between $47 billion and $50.8 billion, Reuters reported.

If the offering ends up at the higher end of the range it will become the largest ever for Abu Dhabi.

Separately, Bloomberg reported that the share offering had been subscribed in full in a matter of hours, suggesting there was still strong investor appetite for Gulf stocks.

Cornerstone investors, the report noted, had committed $850 million in the offering.  These included funds with links to the Abu Dhabi government, Bloomberg said.

The Emirati state energy major announced it would be listing its gas business last year before the business was even set up as a separate unit.  This took place at the beginning of this year.

The new unit, ADNOC Gas, has a production capacity of some 10 billion cu ft daily and operates a pipeline network of over 2,000 miles.  The new company said it expects to pay its new shareholders a total of $3.25 billion this year

The shares of the new business entity will be floated on March 13, with institutional investors having until March 2 to subscribe.  Retail investors can make orders until March 1.

Two years ago, just as oil markets began recovering after the pandemic hit they suffered in 2020, ADNOC announced spending plans of $127 billion for the period between 2022 and 2026.

The money, the company said, would go towards expanding the UAE’s oil and gas production capacity and building a greater presence in low-carbon energy.  LNG capacity expansion is among the priorities, with ADNOC eyeing an annual export capacity of 15 million tons.