Highly leveraged U.S. exploration and production (or E&P) companies have lately been struggling with dwindling valuations and endless bankruptcies as investors lose their appetite for shale while private equity markets increasingly close their doors. In sharp contrast, Middle East state-owned oil and gas companies (national oil companies, or NOCs) seem to be having little trouble courting foreign investments. Middle East NOCs tend to be notoriously secretive, with Saudi Aramco’s much-hyped IPO and subsequent $2 trillion valuation an exception rather than the rule. But they are increasingly coming to the limelight as they tap into foreign markets in a bid to modernize their operations and expand. And while anyone who hasn’t been living under a rock knows about the highly publicized Saudi Aramco IPO, few hear about the other Middle East oil giant that actually beat Aramco to the public punch. The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company ( Adnoc ) […]