Export of natural gas A global venture Shares fell 4% in their first day of trading, as the company looked to test investor appetite for energy stocks amid the Trump administration's efforts to implement a sweeping agenda that aimed at promoting oil and gas production.
“The Trump administration has made it very clear that they support the growth of LNG exports,” Venture CEO Mike Sabel told CNBC in an interview on Friday.
Shares ended the day at $24, putting the company's market capitalization at around $58 billion. Venture is the second largest exporter of LNG in the US behind Cheildi.
The company had put a price on it initial public offering of 70 million shares at $25 to raise $1.75 billion for a total valuation of about $60.5 billion. But the stock opened 3.8% lower than that price at $24.05 in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday afternoon.
Even before that opening trade, Venture had already significantly reduced its IPO price from its original target. The company had originally planned to offer 50 million shares in a range of $40 to $46, which would have raised about $2.2 billion at the midpoint for a total valuation of $110 billion.
However, Venture's IPO is the largest by an oil and gas company in a decade and the fourth largest since 2000. At a valuation of about $60 billion, it would be the tenth largest public energy company.
An initiative is in various stages of commissioning, construction and development of five natural gas extraction and export facilities near the Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana. These projects are expected to have a maximum production capacity of 143.8 million tons per year, according to the company's forecast.
However, Venture is locked in an arrangement with customers, including such majors Shellwhich accuses the company of not delivering LNG cargo under a long-term contract from its Calcasieu Pass terminal in Louisiana.
At the same time, President Donald Trump Monday named a national energy crisis and issued an executive order suspending the Biden administration's freeze on new LNG export projects, removing a potential roadblock to Venture's growth.
Trump's policies, along with cold winter weather and expected strong demand from artificial intelligence, are helping to drive the prices of natural gas and related stocks higher. Shares of Cheniere, for example, are up more than 20% since Trump was elected. Natural gas prices rose 44% over the same period.
Correction: Mike Sabel is the CEO of Venture Global. An earlier version of this story misspelled his name.
