Preparations for a $2 trillion listing of Saudi Arabia’s state oil giant have ceased as the kingdom shelves indefinitely its plans for the world’s biggest initial public offering.
The proposed listing of Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, was the centrepiece of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s plans to diversify the Saudi economy away from oil.
The kingdom had hoped to raise $100 billion by listing 5 per cent of Aramco’s shares, under plans initially unveiled in 2016. It had been eyeing an international listing, possibly in London, as well as a listing in Saudi Arabia and originally planned to hold the IPO this year.
Saudi Aramco is the world’s biggest oil exporter. It pumps about ten million barrels of oil per day and
