Why opening up Aramco’s upstream assets to global partners could lead to long term gains

Why opening up Aramco’s upstream assets to global partners could lead to long term gains

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s recent comments on selling an additional stake in Saudi Aramco attracted worldwide attention. The company’s initial public offering in December 2019 makes further flotations plausible. It is also understood to be inviting investors to secure stakes in upstream oil and gas assets.

Aramco has sought more innovative ways to bring in external capital. It sold a minority stake in its oil pipelines unit last month to EIG Global Energy Partners, an American investor. Such deals, though, are essentially securitisations rather than privatisations: they have a fixed term (25 years in this case). Aramco retains a majority stake