Saudi Aramco Stake Sale: Newspaper Retracts Report On Oil Giant’s Plans

A Saudi Arabian daily retracted its report which said Riyadh was planning to sell 49 percent stake in the state-owned oil giant Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) within the next 10 years. The al-Eqtisadiah newspaper apologized Sunday for its “completely wrong” report published Saturday.

“Al-Eqtisadiah apologizes for the information published on Aramco,” the Saudi Arabian financial newspaper reportedly said, calling its report “far from reality.”

The retracted report cited an unnamed source who said the kingdom would sell nearly half the stake in the world's largest oil company within the next decade.

“The shares for sale and the timeframe are different to those mentioned in the article,” the newspaper reportedly clarified Sunday, adding that the story was based on an unverified source.

The kingdom is planning on selling some shares in the company in 2018 in what could be the world’s biggest initial public offering. Aramco’s CEO Amin Nasser said in October up to 5 percent stake was being discussed for the public offer but the exact size would be determined by the Saudi Supreme Court.

The oil giant is also looking to expand overseas and is considering potential joint ventures in several countries, including China, India, U.S. and Vietnam, Nasser said at the time.

“We are looking at the current market status that, even though challenging, is an excellent opportunity for growth,” Nasser said.

However, Aramco could face problems in the U.S., where it wants to own refineries, once President-elect Donald Trump takes office. Trump’s energy adviser and CEO of oil producer Continental Resources Inc., Harold Hamm said earlier in December that Washington should look into and potentially block foreign companies from owning U.S. oil refineries.

Speaking about the partnership between Saudi Aramco and Citgo — the U.S. subsidiary U.S. subsidiary of Petroleos de Venezuela SA — Hamm reportedly said foreign owners “buy a refinery, and they move in just their oil, nobody else. They don’t buy oil from me. They don’t buy oil from anybody else… I’m sorry. We’re on to that. It shouldn’t be permitted.”