Saudi Aramco IPO could be delayed until 2019

The initial public offering of Saudi Aramco—currently slated for the second half of 2018—could be pushed into 2019, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih hinted in an interview with Bloomberg published on Thursday—the first such hint from a high-ranking Saudi official that the highly anticipated listing of Saudi Arabia’s oil giant may not see the light of day this year as promised.

“Between December 31st and January 1st there is no value lost for the kingdom,” al-Falih told Bloomberg in London. “So, I don’t see this artificial deadline that you refer to as being significant,” Opec’s most influential minister said.

“The only certain thing about the Saudi Aramco IPO is that a) it will happen, b) the anchor market will be the Tadawul exchange in Saudi Arabia,” al-Falih told Bloomberg.


For months now, various analysts have been wondering whether Saudi Arabia will manage to pull off the listing of 5 per cent of Aramco this year, amid speculation as to which foreign stock market the Saudis will choose, if any, and if the price of oil would be high enough to support a high valuation for the company.

The planned sale of 5 per cent of Aramco — in what would likely be the world’s largest IPO ever — could bring Saudi Arabia $100 billion if Saudi officials’ valuation of the company at $2 trillion stands. Analysts value the Kingdom’s oil giant at much less, with the majority putting the valuation at between $1 trillion and $1.5 trillion.