Saudi Aramco weighs IPO of trading unit amid oil boom

Saudi Aramco weighs IPO of trading unit amid oil boom

Saudi Aramco is considering an initial public offering of its trading arm amid a boom in oil prices in what could be one of the world’s biggest listings this year, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The state-controlled oil major is working with banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley as it studies a potential listing of Aramco Trading Co., the people said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public.

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The trading unit could fetch a valuation of tens of billions of dollars, the people said, with two of them saying it could be potentially worth more than $30 billion.

Aramco, which recently became the world’s most valuable company, could sell a 30 percent stake in the division, two of the people said, which would make it one of the world’s biggest IPOs this year. South Korea’s LG Energy Solution raised about $10.8 billion in January.

Other major oil producers have mostly kept their trading units under wraps, wary of revealing the secrets of a major source of profit. Aramco is still debating the merits of the potential listing, and