Saudi oil minister plays down prospect of Aramco abandoning IPO

Saudi Arabia still plans to publicly list a portion of its state oil company in 2018, the kingdom’s oil minister said Tuesday, after reports that the effort may be abandoned.

“We are on track,” Saudi oil minister Khalid al-Falih said on Tuesday outside the Oil and Money energy conference in London.

Doubts about the IPO of Saudi Arabian Oil Co., better known as Aramco, have grown in recent days as news organizations including The Wall Street Journal have reported that the kingdom may not go forward with the plan. The Journal reported last week that Aramco was interested in selling a stake to a private investor and that a Chinese company had made an offer.

Asked if Saudi Arabia still planned a local listing for Aramco in Riyadh and an international listing, Mr. Falih said, “No change.”

“You will know the venue and the exact date in due course,” said Mr. Falih, who also is Aramco’s chairman.

Prince Mohammad bin Salman, the kingdom’s heir apparent, announced the IPO of up to 5% of Aramco in January 2016 and estimated the company’s value at between $2 trillion and $3 trillion. If that valuation held true, the IPO could fetch over $100 billion—by far the largest ever.

The Journal has reported that the IPO has been delayed by questions over the valuation and difficulty untangling the vast state company from the government.