MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Aramco, the state-owned company seeking to sell up to a 5% stake in an IPO, will list its shares on the local Saudi exchange on December 11, with a final price for the flotation set to be announced on December 4, according to S&P Global with reference to Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV report on Tuesday.
The Capital Market Authority, the country's financial regulator, will announce the launch of the Aramco IPO on November 3, according to a report on the Al Arabiya TV's website, citing unnamed sources. The report didn't mention the size of the stake to be listed on the local exchange, known as Tadawul. Aramco couldn't be reached immediately for comment.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said he wants a local and international listing for Aramco, which he has valued at USD2 trillion, but some analysts are skeptical the company could fetch such a price.
Saudi officials have yet to choose an international jurisdiction for Aramco, but Aramco CEO Amin Nasser has said the local listing will be the "primary" one.
The IPO, which was supposed to take place in 2018, was delayed partly to allow Aramco to finalize the $69 billion acquisition of a 70% stake in SABIC, the Middle East's largest petrochemical company, Saudi officials have previously said.
The Aramco IPO is a cornerstone of the Crown Prince's Vision 2030, the economic roadmap to wean the kingdom off oil income.
As MRC informed earlier, Saudi Aramco, which temporarily lost half of its oil production following the September 14 attacks on two key oil facilities, is running its local refineries at full capacity and is forging ahead with plans to start up new refineries. The company is also starting up a joint venture refinery in Malaysia next year. According to Aramco's bond prospectus released in April, the refining and petrochemical joint venture with Petronas - the Malaysian national oil company - collectively known as PRefChem, was supposed to start this year.
The PRefChem joint venture includes a 300,000 b/d refinery, an integrated steam cracker with capacity to produce 1.3 million mt of ethylene located in Johor, Malaysia. Aramco was supposed to provide a significant portion of PRefChem's crude supply under a long-term supply agreement. Jazan and PrefChem will help Aramco reach a gross refining capacity of 5.6 million b/d, it said in the prospectus. The company currently owns and has stakes in four refineries abroad with a total refining capacity exceeding 2 million b/d.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polyprolypele (PP).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,436,390 tonnes in the first eight months of 2019, up by 9% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, the PP consumption in the Russian market was 909,260 tonnes in January-August 2019, up by 10% year on year. Shipments of PP block copolymer and homopolymer PP increased.
Saudi Aramco is an integrated oil and chemicals company, a global leader in hydrocarbon production, refining processes and distribution, as well as one of the largest global oil exporters. It manages proven reserves of crude oil and condensate estimated at 261.1bn barrels, and produces 9.54 million bbl daily. Headquartered in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, the company employs over 61,000 staff in 77 countries.
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