The Saudi government is mulling a follow-on offering of Saudi Aramco as early as February, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The kingdom is working with a group of advisers and is exploring the possibility of raising nearly SAR 40 billion ($10 billion) through share sale on the Saudi stock exchange, the sources added. 

Shares in Aramco, which trades on the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul), fell 1.92% to SAR 30.7 after the report on Wednesday. The stock closed the day at SAR 30.60, down 2.4%.

The move comes four years after Saudi Arabia raised about $30 billion in Aramco’s initial public offering, the world’s largest stock sale. 

The timing of the proposed sale is still not finalised, with a possibility of a delay, the news agency reported.

In January 2021, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said that the government would consider the sale of more shares in the oil company, with proceeds transferred to the Public Investment Fund (PIF). 

The Saudi government directly owns about 90% of Aramco, with a further 8% held by the sovereign wealth fund. 

On January 30, 2024, Aramco received a directive from the kingdom’s energy ministry to maintain its Maximum Sustainable Capacity (MSC) at 12 million barrels per day (MMBD), and not to continue increasing MSC to 13 mmbd.

(Editing by Seban Scaria Seban.scaria@lseg.com)