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Saudi Arabia transfers more Aramco oil shares to wealth fund

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Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="President and CEO of Saudi Aramco Amin Nasser (L) and Aramco chairman Yasir al-Rumayyan attend a press conference to announce an initial public offering of the state oil producer, in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, Nov. 3, 2019. EPA-EFE/Stringer" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/tvpatrol/11/01/saudi-aramco-amin-nasser.jpg"/><figcaption>President and CEO of Saudi Aramco Amin Nasser (L) and Aramco chairman Yasir al-Rumayyan attend a press conference to announce an initial public offering of the state oil producer, in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, Nov. 3, 2019. <em>EPA-EFE/Stringer</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>RIYADH - Saudi Arabia has put a second four-percent chunk of shares of the Aramco energy giant, worth tens of billions of dollars, under the control of the country&#x27;s sovereign wealth fund, state media said.</p><p>The move underscores Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman&#x27;s campaign to use the Gulf kingdom&#x27;s vast energy resources to open up the economy under his &quot;Vision 2030&quot; domestic reform agenda.</p><p>The official Saudi Press Agency said the shares had been transferred to Sanabil Investments, a firm controlled by the kingdom&#x27;s Public Investment Fund (PIF), one of the world&#x27;s biggest sovereign wealth funds with more than $620 billion in assets.</p><p>Last year, four percent of Aramco shares, estimated at the time to be worth $80 billion, were transferred directly to PIF.</p><p>The latest shares are worth nearly $80 billion, based on the current market capitalization of Aramco, one of the world&#x27;s most valuable companies.</p><p>Prince Mohammed, the kingdom&#x27;s de facto ruler, &quot;indicated that the transfer of part of the state&#x27;s shares in Saudi Aramco is a continuation of Saudi Arabia&#x27;s long-term initiatives to boost and diversify the national economy and expand investment opportunities,&quot; the report said.</p><p>&quot;The transfer will also solidify PIF&#x27;s strong financial position and credit rating,&quot; it added, noting Riyadh still owns 90 percent of Aramco&#x27;s shares.</p><p>Sanabil&#x27;s investments &quot;include venture, growth capital and small buyouts&quot;, according to its website.</p><p>Aramco and its assets were once kept under vice-like government control, off-limits to outside investment.</p><p>But under Prince Mohammed the kingdom has shown readiness to cede some of that control.</p><p>The oil giant sold 1.7 percent of its shares on the Saudi bourse in December 2019, generating $29.4 billion in the world&#x27;s biggest initial public offering.</p><p>The firm, which reported record profits totalling $161.1 billion last year, has pledged to achieve &quot;operational net-zero&quot; carbon emissions by 2050.</p><p>That applies to emissions that are produced directly by Aramco&#x27;s industrial sites, but not the CO2 produced when clients burn Saudi oil in their cars, power plants and furnaces.</p><p>Aramco CEO Amin Nasser and other top Saudi officials have simultaneously called for further investment in fossil fuels to ensure global energy security.</p><p>The PIF has made high-profile investments in firms including Uber and Disney, and its so-called giga-projects -- centerpieces of Prince Mohammed&#x27;s reform agenda -- include Neom, a $500 billion futuristic megacity under construction in the Saudi desert.</p><p>The crown prince has said he wants the fund to have one trillion dollars in assets by the end of 2025.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/04/28/21/aramco-1-percent-sale-foreign-firm">Talks underway to sell 1 percent of Saudi Aramco to foreign firm: prince</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/11/01/22/saudi-aramco-posts-39pct-jump-in-q3-profits">Saudi Aramco posts 39 percent jump in third-quarter profits</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/02/14/22/80-billion-in-aramco-shares-moved-to-saudi-sovereign-fund">$80 billion in Aramco shares moved to Saudi sovereign fund</a></li></ul><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2157844" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Saudi Arabia has put a second 4-percent chunk of shares of Aramco, worth tens of billions of dollars, under the control of the sovereign wealth fund.