British officials have been informed by their Saudi counterparts that oil giant Saudi Aramco's IPO-ARMO.SE initial public offering is likely to be delayed until 2019, the Financial Times reported.

The Saudi government had targeted a market listing by the second half of 2018, but preparedness for the offering and also willingness for a simultaneous or sequential flotation on a foreign exchange had been questioned, the FT reported, citing sources.

London still had a good chance to secure the listing, which would value the company at $2 trillion, but a foreign flotation would likely happen only in 2019 at the earliest, according to the FT. 

New York and London have been front-runners to host the company's international flotation, alongside a Riyadh listing.

Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said in an interview with CNN last week that he was concerned about the risks that Aramco would run into by choosing New York as the venue for its $100 billion market listing. 

The state-run oil company is expected to sell about 5 percent of Aramco in what would likely be the world's biggest IPO.

Saudi Arabian Oil Co, known as Saudi Aramco, was not immediately available for comment.

(Reporting by Sangameswaran S in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Cooney) ((Sangameswaran.S@thomsonreuters.com; within U.S.+1 646 223 8780; outside U.S. +91 80 6749 3544; Reuters Messaging: Sangameswaran.S.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))