Business & Money | Tuesday 24 October, 2017 12:05 am |

Saudi Aramco’s initial public offering will take place in the second half of 2018, CEO Amin Nasser said Monday, dismissing reports that the oil giant’s plans could be shelved.

“We have always said that we will be listing in 2018, and to be more specific, in the second half of 2018,” Nasser said in an interview with CNBC television.

“The IPO is on track. The listing venue will be discussed and shared in due course,” Nasser told the channel in Riyadh.

The Aramco chief also said Saudi authorities were not in talks with Chinese or other investors to sell a stake in the firm.

Aramco, which controls Saudi Arabia’s massive energy assets, plans to list nearly five percent of its shares in the stock market.

Nasser predicted on Sunday it will be easy to convey to investors how Saudi Aramco’s focus on long-term planning has allowed the company to drive past results.

He believes the interests of its sole current shareholder — the government — and its future investors are aligned.

“I think both are looking for results,” he said. “Both are going to be looking for a better performance, and I don’t see any issues between our current shareholder and the public that will be participating when we are listed because ultimately we need to deliver better results.”

Saudi Aramco has kept up a robust exploration program, even through the three-year oil price downturn, allowing it to add to its reserves, according to Nasser.

He promised that Saudi Aramco will “meet all the requirements of that market in terms of reserve assessment” and other rules of the country where it chooses to list.

Ultimately, Saudi Arabia is largely operating in line with its closest peers, the integrated international oil companies like Exxon Mobil and BP, Nasser claimed.

“I can say Aramco has always been run like a publicly traded company,” he said.

“If you look at our governance, we have independent board members. Everything that has been done in the company is similar to any international oil company in terms of the way we do business.”