Aramco to IPO

Saudi Arabia is trying to change itself. The kingdom wants to diversify away from oil. Old habits are hard to break.

One big step will be an IPO for Aramco. This would be, by far, the largest company in the world. One of the Saudi princes thinks the value of the company could exceed $2 trillion.

Saudi Aramco’s sale is a key part of the “Saudi 2030 Vision” announced Monday to overhaul the economy and reduce the kingdom’s reliance on oil, he said. It will help increase transparency, he said.

“If Saudi Aramco is listed then it must announce its statements and it will do that every quarter,” he said. “It will be under the supervision of all Saudi banks, all analysts, all Saudi thinkers. Even more all international banks and research and planning centers in the world will monitor it intensively.”

Aramco’s crude reserves of about 260 billion barrels are almost 10 times those of Exxon Mobil Corp. Its daily production of more than 10 million barrels is more than the domestic output of every U.S. oil company combined.

“In 2020, I think we will be able to live without oil,” Prince Mohammed said. “We will need it but we can live without it.”

Posted by on April 25th, 2016 at 11:20 am


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