Investing.com -- Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc (NYSE:FCX) announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Freeport-McMoran Oil & Gas filed for an initial public offering on Tuesday, a move its Board of Directors had hinted for weeks following the release of its first quarter earnings in April.
Freeport-McMoRan, one of the world's largest gold and mining producers, will retain 100% of the company's outstanding Class B shares. The company plans on listing Class A shares for its subsidiary on the New York Stock Exchange, under the ticker FOMG. Barclay's will serve as the underwriter for the IPO.
Freeport's major Oil & Gas assets include holdings in the Deepwater Gulf of Mexico, oil production facilities in California, and onshore natural gas resources in the Haynesville shale formation in Louisiana.
After updating its 2015 full-year guidance in late-April, Freeport anticipates recording consolidated sales of 52.6 million barrels of oil equivalents (MMBOE) this year, including 12.9 MMBOE during the second quarter. Consolidated sales for the first quarter dipped to 12.5 MMBOE on a year-over-year basis from 16.1 MMBOE during the same period in 2014. Realized cash gained on derivative contracts, however, increased to nearly $12 a barrel during the quarter.
At the time, Freeport also expected to incur $6.5 billion in capital expenditures on the year, including $2.8 billion in its Oil & Gas division.
"We are pleased to report important progress on our mining development projects and ongoing success in our oil and gas exploration and development activities that will provide future growth," Freeport CEO James Moffett said in a statement following the quarterly earnings release. "We have taken actions to maintain financial strength and flexibility during this period of weak and uncertain commodity prices. We remain optimistic about our business, the long-term commodity markets for the commodities we produce and the significant values embedded in our large-scale, long-lived assets."
Freeport-McMoRan ended Tuesday's session as the top performer on the S&P 500 behind Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), rising more than 3.5% to 20.11.