Aramco, Chinese Investors Consider Buying a Stake in Aramco

 Reuters news agency said today, Wednesday, that major Chinese investors are in talks to buy a stake in Saudi Aramco, which is preparing to sell an additional part of its assets to international investors.

And Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in televised statements yesterday, Tuesday, that Saudi Arabia was in discussions to sell 1% of "Aramco" to a leading global energy company.

The crown prince said the kingdom may sell more shares, some of them to international investors, within a year or two.

A 1% stake will be worth about $ 19 billion, based on Aramco's current market value.

Aramco is in talks with "CIC" and with Chinese national oil companies, one of the sources told Reuters.

A second source who works for a government-backed direct investment fund said that Aramco has been in contact with Chinese investors for a few years and that CIC is the most likely investor.

A third source close to Aramco added: "The Kingdom has close ties with China ... the main shareholder will decide what to do with his shares."

Another source indicated that before the Covid-19 pandemic, Aramco conducted a tour around China in search of investors, where it spoke to all major government investors with money abroad.

The source added that only a few showed interest, and the "CIC" and "China Silk Road Fund" were among the entities that Aramco addressed.

Saudi Arabia is the world's largest oil exporter, and in March it remained the largest supplier of crude oil to China for the seventh month in a row.

Aramco listed the world's largest oil company on the Saudi Stock Exchange in late 2019, raising $ 25.6 billion from the initial public offering, and then sold more shares to IPO investors, bringing the total to $ 29.4 billion.ض