- Saudi Arabia's government is preparing contingency plans for a possible delay to the IPO of its state-owned oil company into 2019, Bloomberg reports.
- The government says the IPO "remains on track. The IPO process is well underway and Saudi Aramco (Private:ARMCO) remains focused on ensuring that all IPO related work is completed to the very highest standards on time,” but it does not give a timeframe; officials previously have said the most likely schedule is H2 2018.
- Saudi Arabia has not yet announced where it will sell shares in the IPO other than the domestic stock exchange in Riyadh and may not make an announcement until late October; the delay in selecting a foreign exchange, mostly likely London or New York, has had a knock-on effect on other preparatory work, according to the report.
- The Saudis also are coping with weaker oil prices, which will help determine the Aramco's value; the government has said the valuation may reach $2T, although analysts have tended to give lower estimates.
- ETFs: USO, OIL, UWT, UCO, DWT, SCO, BNO, DBO, DTO, USL, DNO, OLO, SZO, OLEM, OILK, WTIU, OILX, WTID, USOI
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