Saudi Aramco IPO on track for 2021?
Saudi Aramco continues to dangle possible dates for its several times delayed initial public offering in front of the market. At the ADIPEC oil forum in Abu Dhabi last weekend, the company’s CEO Amin Nasser said the listing is still on track, but not before 2021.
Repeating earlier statements, Nasser told the network CNBC that the Saudi government will decide “when the time is right,” but added that both crown prince Mohammed bin Salman and energy minister Khalid al-Falih are targeting an ipo within three years.
The crown prince, who has persistently pushed for the state-controlled firm to go public, has suggested Aramco could be worth in excess of $2 trillion. Many financial market observers, however, believe this target is unrealistically high.
Analysts have commented that in seeking a listing the Saudis may have overlooked the amount of work this necessitates. While volatility on international stock exchanges could be an extenuating factor, the movement of oil prices is also deemed to be of primary interest. Until recently, prices have been moving mainly south.
Plans for Aramco to take a majority stake in the country’s leading chemical producer SABIC -which are proceeding apace- could cause further delays, as Nasser acknowledged in Abu Dhabi. The government’s plan is said to be to shift some sales of crude oil to petrochemicals and diversify more downstream.
Through Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), the oil group is picking up the state’s 70% stake in the Saudi chemicals giant – the remaining shares are listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange.
Reports from the meeting quoted Nasser as saying – in response to questions – that he didn’t think the “unexplained death” of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey had tarnished Saudi Arabia’s image.
