Irish oil and gas engineering company Kentz began trading on the main market of the London Stock Exchange yesterday.

Evolution Securities and Morgan Stanley are acting as joint sponsors to the listing.

The firm, which originated in Clonmel and now has operations in 27 countries and employs 11,000 people, was previously listed on London’s junior AIM market.

Kentz is the sixth company to move from London’s AIM to the main market so far this year. Its share price has already doubled this year, reaching a record high of 494.5p last week.

Last week the company announced a $2.3 billion (€1.6 billion) contract had been awarded by Chevron to a Kentz joint venture to support the Gorgon gas field project in Australia.