Falih: Saudi Aramco IPO depends on oil, stock market

Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Saudi Aramco depends on oil and stock market conditions, Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid Al-Falih told German newspaper Handelsblatt.

“The size and complexity of an initial public offering of Saudi Aramco will require a great deal of internal preparation,” he said.

“The actual IPO timeframe will also be subject to a number of external factors including equity market conditions, oil price outlook, and domestic capital market readiness,” Falih told the German newspaper.

During the interview, Falih also discussed Saudi Vision 2030 and how important it is that German companies take part in it.

It is expected that the Saudi Aramco IPO will become the world’s largest-ever public offering given that the government plans to sell about 5% of the shares before the end of 2018. Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, second deputy premier and minister of defense, estimated it to be between 2 and 3 trillion dollars.

The energy minister’s interview comes a day after Siemens won a contract to develop gas turbines in Saudi Arabia of an estimate of $500 million.
Falih also announced on Sunday that the Kingdom will continue keeping the price of oil low.

“The Kingdom secures the flow of oil supplies as it retains a spare production capacity,” he said in a statement.