Oil tanks at an oil processing plant operated by Saudi Aramco, a Saudi Arabian state oil and gas company, in the Abqaiq oil field.
Stanislav Krasilnikov | TASS via Getty Images
Saudi Arabia is in talks to sell 1% of state-backed oil giant Saudi Aramco to a “leading global energy company,” the kingdom’s crown prince told a Saudi news channel this week.
“I don’t want to make any promises, but there is a discussion about the acquisition of a 1% stake by a world-leading energy company,” said Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in an interview on Saudi television Arab Comments.
“This will go a long way towards increasing Aramco’s sales in the country where the company is based,” he said. The prince did not name the company, but said it came from a “huge” country.
He also said there are talks with other companies and some Aramco shares could be transferred to the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund. Some stocks may also be listed on the Saudi market.
The interview marked the fifth anniversary of Saudi Vision 2030, a multi-billion dollar plan to diversify the country’s economy away from dependence on oil.
Saudi Aramco was the world’s largest public offering when it went public in December 2019, listing around 1.5% of its shares on the local Tadawul Stock Exchange.
The initial public listing raised $ 25.6 billion, and the company later exercised its “greenshoe option” to sell 450 million more shares, bringing the total to $ 29.4 billion.
The Saudi government owns more than 98% of the shares in Aramco.
Relations between the US and Saudi Arabia
In the interview, the Crown Prince also spoke about relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia.
He said Saudi Arabia and the Biden government disagree on only a few points.
“We are more than 90% in agreement with the Biden government when it comes to Saudi and US interests, and we are working to strengthen those interests,” the prince said, according to a Reuters translation.
The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman will attend the 41st Summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Al-Ula, Saudi Arabia, on January 5, 2021.
Royal Council of Saudi Arabia | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
“The issues we disagree on make up less than 10% and we are working to find solutions and understanding. There is no doubt that the United States is a strategic partner,” he said, according to Reuters.
The prince, who is the de facto leader of the kingdom, was berated by the US earlier this year when the White House announced that President Joe Biden would work with his counterpart, King Salman, instead of speaking to the crown prince. It was part of a re-calibration of US-Saudi Arabia relations after the kingdom enjoyed good relations with Washington under the Trump administration.
The US also released an intelligence report in February identifying the Crown Prince as the one authorizing an operation to arrest or kill journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a strong and outspoken critic of the Saudi kings.
Foreign Minister Antony Blinken imposed visa restrictions on 76 Saudi people “believed to have threatened dissidents overseas, including but not limited to the killing of Khashoggi”.
– CNBC’s Mila Latoof and Michael Awad contributed to this report.
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