Riyadh – Mubasher: The state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco has been granted a 40-year concession to exploit the country’s hydrocarbon reserves.
The deal was a part of the oil producer's preparation for a potential initial public offering (IPO), informed sources told Bloomberg.
“The pact replaces norms dating in some cases from 1933, when the kingdom first agreed to let companies drill for oil there,” the international media corporation reported, quoting the sources.
Earlier in August, unofficial sources told Reuters that Saudi Arabia had cancelled its mega IPO for Saudi Aramco, which was considered the largest IPO in history and which valued the whole company at $2 trillion.
Saudi Arabia denied these reports, while its energy minister Khalid Al-Falih said that “the [Saudi] government remains committed to the IPO of Saudi Aramco at a time of its own choosing when conditions are optimum.”
