Onshore natural gas driller Memorial Resource Development Corp. rocked the Nasdaq Friday, its first trading day, with the stock gaining close to 17% from the opening price of $19.00.

The Houston-based producer raised more than $813 million by offering 42.8 million shares at $19.00, above the original plan to sell 36 million shares in the range of $16.00 to $18.00. Net proceeds, originally estimated at $382.1 million, are to be used to reduce debt.

The stock (MRD) ended the day at $22.18, up 16.7% from the opening. The offering is scheduled to close Wednesday (June 18).

Memorial primarily develops gas-heavy assets in North Louisiana and East Texas. It also has a portfolio of other onshore properties.

Its launch is in line with other recent offerings as investors look for ways to get into the U.S. oil and gas renaissance. This year already has seen a record number of initial public offerings (IPO) worth close to $15 billion, according to Dealogic. The number of IPOs year-to-date has risen is about 40 from 34 at the same time a year ago.

Appalachia pure-play Eclipse Resources (ECR) has an IPO set to launch Monday (June 16) (see Shale Daily, June 9; May 9). The State College, PA-based producer earlier set its sights to raise $864 million on the New York Stock Exchange with an offering of 30.3 million shares priced at $27.00-30.00.

Also expected to draw investors is the spinoff on Tuesday (June 17) of Chesapeake Oilfield Services LLC from Chesapeake Energy Corp. (see Daily GPI, June 9). Last year the oilfield services unit, to be renamed Seventy Seven Energy, generated revenue by itself of $2.2 billion.