An employee walks past crude oil storage tanks at the Juaymah Tank Farm in Saudi Aramco’s Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal in Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia, on Monday, Oct. 1, 2018.
Simon Dawson | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Saudi Aramco asked several banks to bid for roles in its possible initial public offering.
The the world’s biggest oil company requested major banks to propose roles in the potential IPO, people familiar with the matter told CNBC Monday.
Reuters first reported news of the company’s talks with banks.
An initial public offering of the state-controlled oil company has been a long-time goal of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who values the company around $2 trillion. The state-owned oil company would be the world’s biggest IPO.
Recently, Saudi energy minister Khalid Al-Falih said Aramco would likely go public in 2020 or 2021.
The company’s board was meeting with bankers in Boston earlier last month and the debt offering gave the Saudi officials confidence the IPO could happen as soon as 2020, sources told CNBC.
CNBC’s sources did not specify which banks received requests from Saudi Aramco.
Oil prices rose on Monday as the market started to price in the current geopolitical risk of a weekend drone attack on a Saudi Arabia oil facility.
Saudi Aramco said oil production was not affected by the attack.
