Ziad al-Murshed, chief financial officer of Saudi Arabia's national oil giant Aramco, said the company could issue new bonds this year to optimize its capital structure.
Reuters reported that the executive said at the Saudi Capital Markets Forum in Riyadh that Saudi Aramco would consider bond maturities of up to 50 years in terms of bond issuance.
The last time the world's top oil company exploited the bond market was in 2021, when Aramco raised $6 billion with more than $60 billion in orders through its first dollar-denominated sukuk, the so-called Sukuk.
Regarding the rumored IPO, Al Murshed said, "*Existing*** is not an Aramco decision, adding that he will not comment further." Last month, it was reported that Saudi Arabia was working with advisers to resume a new lease on Aramco. Aramco is the largest oil company in the world in terms of market capitalization and oil production.
Currently, Saudi Arabia sold Aramco in its initial public offering (IPO)** in December 2019After 7% of the shares, it owns more than 98% of Aramco's shares. Of the 98% stake held by Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia** owns 90% of Aramco, while sovereign wealth** owns the other 8%. At the end of January, anonymous sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that Saudi Arabia wanted to raise at least $10 billion in the domestic market for Aramco and through a follow-on offering.
Saudi Aramco made its debut on the Saudi Exchange in December 2019 and raised approximately $30 billion in its listing, the largest in its history. Since the IPO, Saudi rulers, including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, have repeatedly said that Saudi Aramco will have more shale oil in Tadawul in the future. (Compiled by Xiao Chen).
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