New York: Saudi authorities are considering whether to delay an initial public offering (IPO) oil giant Aramco after this weekend’s attack on its oil facilities shut down much of its production, people with knowledge of the matter said, Monday.
“They’re in the process of assessing the damage. It’s a possibility but it’s still very early,” said one of the persons who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Aramco had planned to debut in November on a local stock market before listing on an international one next year, sources had told this agency last week. The IPO could be the largest ever, with the company’s valuation poised to top USD one trillion.
The company’s plans appeared to have accelerated in recent weeks after it chose JPMorgan to lead the IPO, sources said. Goldman Sachs and Bank of America among others are also among the banks involved. The IPO is part of Riyadh’s efforts to diversify its economy away from petroleum.
The drone attacked has shut down about half of Saudi production, or some five per cent of global production. No one was injured during the attacks but it remained unclear how soon Saudi Arabia could bring its production capacity back to normal.
The weapons used to strike two Saudi oil plants were provided by the kingdom’s arch-foe Iran, the Riyadh-led coalition fighting in Yemen said Monday.
“The investigation is continuing and all indications are that weapons used in both attacks came from Iran,” coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki told reporters in Riyadh. He added they were now probing ‘from where they were fired’.
“This strike didn’t come from Yemen territory as the Huthi militia is pretending,” Maliki said, adding that an investigation was ongoing into the attacks and their origins.
Agencies
