Saudi Arabia is considering plans for a follow-on share offering in state oil company Saudi Aramco, opens new tab to raise at least 40 billion riyals ($10 billion) as early as February, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The report follows the Saudi government's order on Tuesday for Aramco to halt its oil expansion plan and to target a maximum sustained production capacity of 12 million barrels per day (bpd), 1 million bpd below a target announced in 2020 Ednews informs.
Saudi Arabia's surprise reversal of its oil expansion ambitions was at least six months in the making, said an industry source, after Riyadh concluded its vast spare capacity was enough to supply markets during crises and further investments in new fields would make no economic sense.