Oman’s OQ plans IPO that could raise $2 billion for energy firm
The state-owned company will pay $600 million in annual dividends from 2024 to 2026, along with a performance-linked dividend in 2025 and 2026
An Omani investor follows stock movements on the Muscat Securities Market. (Getty Images)
Oman’s state energy company OQ may be about to pull off the Gulf’s biggest IPO this year.
In an offering that could raise some $2 billion, the Muscat-based firm said on Monday it will sell a 25% stake next month in its OQ Exploration & Production subsidiary. The company also plans to pay $600 million in annual dividends from 2024 to 2026, along with a performance-linked dividend in 2025 and 2026.
The IPO would value OQEP, as the business is known, at around $8 billion, according to Bloomberg, though the company did not provide details of the valuation. OQ’s effort to raise the large sum may reflect the drop in oil prices, which tumbled last week to the lowest point in three years amid concerns over slumping global demand.
If successful, the IPO would be the largest in the Gulf region since ADNOC Gas raised $2.5 billion in February 2023. Last year, OQ raised almost $750 million in its gas pipelines and oil-drilling businesses.