Dana Gas is set to conclude a major deal in the region, which would help make a big mark on the oil and gas industry, Shaikh Sultan bin Ahmed Al Qassimi, deputy chairman Sharjah Petroleum Council (SPC) and director of Dana Gas, said.
He was speaking after Dana Gas was listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Market (ADSM). However, he did not give any details of the deal, said a report.
He said that Dana Gas is involved in many initiatives, as the oil and gas sector is offering exciting opportunities in the areas of exploration, production, transportation, processing, and petrochemicals.
Earlier, Dana Gas closed a 2.1 billion dirham ($560 million) initial public offering after attracting so much interest from Gulf investors that the incoming rush of funds affected the Saudi riyal.
Bankers said institutional investors, mainly from the Gulf Arab states, subscribed to as much as 200 times the amount on offer in the run-up to the close. The IPO was open to all Gulf investors and to wholesale investors from outside the region.
Such was the demand for the IPO that scuffles broke out at banks and travel agents struggled to cope with bookings of flights into the UAE, the only country with banks authorised to receive subscriptions. Newspapers said many investors were Saudis.
Dana Gas was set up by a group of energy companies in the UAE. The IPO represented 34.33 per cent of the firm's capital of six billion dirhams, with shares priced at one dirham each.
Steve Brice, an economist at Standard Chartered in Dubai, said the flow of money to the UAE from Saudi Arabia had caused the biggest drop in the Saudi riyal since the 1998 Asian crisis, although actual moves in the currency were tiny.
"The amount of money coming in was huge. We think it is going to be 150 to 200 times oversubscribed," he said.
The Dana Gas IPO caused a bigger drop in the riyal than the death of King Fahad in August, one trader in Riyadh said.
"We haven't seen in this market so many people coming in with applications before," said Hassan Abas, vice-president of corporate and commercial banking at Dubai's Mashreqbank, one of the receiving banks.
"There has been a rush outside all collecting banks, and we have been no exception."
The terms of the IPO required that retail investors appear in person to deliver their applications.
Analysts said most investors were applying for shares in the hope that the price would rise on Dana Gas's stock market debut, as with most recent IPOs in the UAE. The UAE government approves all IPO valuations, usually insisting on a conservative figure.
Dana Gas, which will start with gas supply, transportation, processing and marketing assets, has said it plans to expand in the Gulf and wider Middle East into upstream exploration and production and into downstream gas-related industries.
