Saudi Arabian Oil Co (Aramco) had transferred 4 percent of its shares to the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), state-run news agency SPA reported yesterday.
Quoting Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, SPA reported that the “transfer of 4 percent of Aramco shares to the Public Investment Fund ... is part of the kingdom’s long-term strategy to support the restructuring of its economy.”
The announcement came after the crown prince in April last year said that the world’s largest oil producer was in talks to sell 1 percent of its shares to a foreign refiner.
Photo: AP
“There is a discussion on the acquisition of 1 percent [of Aramco] by one of the world’s leading energy companies, and this will be a very important deal to boost Aramco’s sales in that country,” he said, without naming the country, but describing it as “very large.”
Aramco previously sold a sliver of its shares on the Saudi Arabian bourse in December 2019, generating US$29.4 billion in the world’s biggest initial public offering.
In December last year, Aramco said it had signed a US$15.5 billion lease and leaseback deal for its gas pipeline network with a consortium led by BlackRock Real Estate and Hassana Investment Co, a Riyadh-backed investment firm.
Long seen as the kingdom’s “crown jewel,” Aramco and its assets were once under tight government control and considered off-limits to outside investment.
However, with the rise of the crown prince as the kingdom’s de facto ruler, implementing his “Vision 2030” reform program, Riyadh has shown readiness to cede some control.
The prince yesterday said that the transfer of Aramco shares is aimed at “supporting the PIF’s plans to grow its assets under management to around 4 trillion Saudi riyals [US$1.07 trillion] by the end of 2025,” SPA reported.
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