Saudi Arabia will consider selling more shares in Saudi Aramco, the world's largest exporter of oil, once market conditions improve, according to the chairman of the state-run company.
"Once we see more appetite from different investment institutions and investors, we will definitely consider selling more shares," Yasir Al Rumayyan, who also serves as governor of the Public Investment Fund told CeraWeek by IHS Markit. The annual energy industry event is being held online due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
"This is not for [the] Aramco board to decide on, it is the government of Saudi Arabia who will decide," he added.
In January, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the kingdom's state oil firm may have a second listing which will help increase the assets of the PIF to $1.1 trillion.
Aramco listed its shares on the Saudi Stock Exchange, Tadawul, the world’s biggest IPO in 2019, raising $25.6 billion and later selling more shares boosting the total to $29.4bn. In the run up to the 2019 listing, Tokyo and Hong Kong were touted as potential venues for a second share sale.
Mr Al Rumayyan, who become chairman of Aramco ahead of its IPO has been at the helm of the kingdom's sovereign wealth fund since 2015.
The PIF is a seminal part of the kingdom's Vision 2030 initiative, which seeks to diversify the economy, nurture local industries, create jobs and reduce the reliance on oil revenue. The fund is an investor in ride-hailing company Uber and has made technology investments through SoftBank Vision Fund of Japan's Masayoshi Son.
In January, the fund launched a five-year strategy, with the aim of doubling its assets to $1.07 trillion and plans to invest a minimum of $40bn a year into the domestic economy until 2025 and create 1.8 million jobs. It will contribute $320bn to the kingdom's non-oil economy. The fund aims to grow assets under management to over $2tn by 2030
"Prior to 2015, we had less than 2 per cent of our investments going internationally. However, since 2015 until 2020, we increased our international allocation to about 30 per cent," Mr Al Rumayyan said.
The PIF is looking to increase its investments at home and is lowering its international allocation to "a range between 21 to 25 per cent", he added.
"We are committed to invest a minimum of $40bn on annual basis in the domestic economy," he told CeraWeek.
The investments will be directed not to the financial markets but into large multibillion dollar projects such as the sustainable city Neom as well as the Red Sea Development project on the west coast of Saudi Arabia.
The kingdom's diversification efforts over the last five to six years are but the "tip of an iceberg" Mr Al Rumayyan said.
"The things that we would like to achieve in 2030 will be our optimal way of starting the next stage, which is what are we going to do after 2030 to 2040," he said.
Saudi Arabia, which plans to meet 50 per cent of its energy needs from clean sources by 2030 and the remainder coming from gas, is "interested in renewables".
"We are thinking of ourselves as an energy and petrochemical company. So part of the things that we're doing is to consider renewable investments within Aramco," he said.
Last year, the company shipped blue hydrogen produced in Saudi Arabia to Japan. Blue hydrogen is formed when natural gas is split using steam methane reforming.
Aramco shipped the hydrogen in the form of the more easily transportable ammonia for use in zero-carbon power generation in Japan, one of its top importers of crude.
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Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
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Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
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Race card
5pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m; 5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m
6pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m; 6.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 (PA) 1,400m
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The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
Results
57kg quarter-finals
Zakaria Eljamari (UAE) beat Hamed Al Matari (YEM) by points 3-0.
60kg quarter-finals
Ibrahim Bilal (UAE) beat Hyan Aljmyah (SYR) RSC round 2.
63.5kg quarter-finals
Nouredine Samir (UAE) beat Shamlan A Othman (KUW) by points 3-0.
67kg quarter-finals
Mohammed Mardi (UAE) beat Ahmad Ondash (LBN) by points 2-1.
71kg quarter-finals
Ahmad Bahman (UAE) defeated Lalthasanga Lelhchhun (IND) by points 3-0.
Amine El Moatassime (UAE) beat Seyed Kaveh Safakhaneh (IRI) by points 3-0.
81kg quarter-finals
Ilyass Habibali (UAE) beat Ahmad Hilal (PLE) by points 3-0
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Temple numbers
Expected completion: 2022
Height: 24 meters
Ground floor banquet hall: 370 square metres to accommodate about 750 people
Ground floor multipurpose hall: 92 square metres for up to 200 people
First floor main Prayer Hall: 465 square metres to hold 1,500 people at a time
First floor terrace areas: 2,30 square metres
Temple will be spread over 6,900 square metres
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FA Cup semi-finals
Saturday: Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur, 8.15pm (UAE)
Sunday: Chelsea v Southampton, 6pm (UAE)
Matches on Bein Sports
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 1 (Rashford 36')
Liverpool 1 (Lallana 84')
Man of the match: Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)
UAE SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Ali Khaseif, Fahad Al Dhanhani, Mohammed Al Shamsi, Adel Al Hosani
Defenders: Bandar Al Ahbabi, Shaheen Abdulrahman, Walid Abbas, Mahmoud Khamis, Mohammed Barghash, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Hassan Al Mahrami, Yousef Jaber, Salem Rashid, Mohammed Al Attas, Alhassan Saleh
Midfielders: Ali Salmeen, Abdullah Ramadan, Abdullah Al Naqbi, Majed Hassan, Yahya Nader, Ahmed Barman, Abdullah Hamad, Khalfan Mubarak, Khalil Al Hammadi, Tahnoun Al Zaabi, Harib Abdallah, Mohammed Jumah, Yahya Al Ghassani
Forwards: Fabio De Lima, Caio Canedo, Ali Saleh, Ali Mabkhout, Sebastian Tagliabue, Zayed Al Ameri
Calls
Directed by: Fede Alvarez
Starring: Pedro Pascal, Karen Gillian, Aaron Taylor-Johnson
4/5
