Saudi Arabia’s Aramco chief says IPO on track for 2018

Logo of Saudi Aramco is seen at the 20th Middle East Oil & Gas Show and Conference (MOES 2017) in Manama, Bahrain, March 7, 2017.(Reuters)

RIYADH: The head of Saudi oil giant Aramco has said a much-anticipated IPO is on track for 2018, but declined to give a fixed date — or venue.
“We should be ready for listing in the second half of 2018,” CEO Amin Nasser told Bloomberg Television on Monday, conceding that the oil giant was looking at a “complex process.”
“There’s a lot of work that is still ongoing, the IPO is ongoing,” Nasser said.
“The venue and the timing is the government... Don’t forget this is a very complex process. Aramco’s size and complexities is something that requires time.”
Saudi authorities plan to list five percent of Aramco on an as-yet unspecified stock market.
Placing Aramco on a foreign stock exchange could potentially be the largest stock sale recorded, with New York, London and Hong Kong among the potential sites.
Nasser, however, said there was “a lot of demand for the listing.”
Saudi Arabia’s energy minister has raised concerns that litigation would complicate a listing in New York, although President Donald Trump has publicly lobbied for a US Aramco listing.
The Aramco IPO plan is a pillar of the petro-state’s “Vision 2030” reform program, which aims to wean the economy off its reliance on oil revenues.