Prince Mohamed expects Aramco IPO by early 2021

Saudi Aramco's initial public offering (IPO) is likely to take place by late 2020 or early 2021, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Bloomberg in an interview at the royal court.

“Everyone heard about the rumors of Saudi Arabia canceling the IPO of Aramco, delaying that, and that this is delaying Vision 2030. This is not right.”

Prince Mohammed said that he expects Aramco to finalize acquisition of a 70 percent stake in giant petrochemical producer, SABIC in 2019, after which Aramco will wait for one fiscal year to launch the IPO.

"The investor will decide the price on the day. I believe it will be above $2 trillion. Because it will be huge," Prince Mohammed added, reiterating his view that Aramco is worth $2 trillion, though analysts have estimated the giant oil producer's valuation between $1 and $1.5 trillion.

Prince Mohammed said Saudi Aramco will remain owned by the state, while proceeds from the planned initial public offering will be directed to the Kingdom's Public Investment Fund.

Saudi Arabia plans to sell 5 percent of Aramco shares, in what is expected to be the world’s largest ever IPO, Argaam earlier reported.

Saudi officials repeatedly said the deal was on track for H2 2018, but earlier this year they said it would be delayed into 2019.

Furthermore, the Prince said that the Kingdom does not control oil prices, reiterating Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih’s previous comments to the public.

“The oil price depends on trade –consumer and supplier– and they decide the oil price based on trade and supply and demand. What we are committed in Saudi Arabia is to make sure there is no shortage of supply.”