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Saudi Aramco IPO Could Be 5% of Value
Saudi Arabian Oil Co., the largest energy firm in the world, is considering listing up to 5% of its value on a stock exchange in New York within the next year, a top Saudi oil official said Thursday. By listing even a tiny fraction of the company, known as Saudi Aramco, the offering would create one of the world’s most valuable energy firms. Estimates of Saudi Aramco’s value have varied, but using a conservative number of $2.5 trillion , a 5% listing would give it a potential value of $125 billion—bigger than BP BP -0.38 % PLC and French oil titan Total SA TOT -0.49 % . The Saudis are considering listing Aramco at a time when the kingdom is trying to raise cash during a period of sharply lower oil prices and transition […]
The $2 Trillion Project to Get Saudi Arabia’s Economy Off Oil
Eight unprecedented hours with “Mr. Everything,” Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Prince Mohammed Early last year, at a royal encampment in the oasis of Rawdat Khuraim, Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia visited his uncle, King Abdullah, in the monarch’s final days before entering a hospital. Unbeknown to anyone outside the House of Saud, the two men, separated in age by 59 years, had a rocky history together. King Abdullah once banned his brash nephew, all of 26 at the time, from setting foot in the Ministry of Defense after rumors reached the royal court that the prince was disruptive and power-hungry. Later, the pair grew close, bound by a shared belief that Saudi Arabia must fundamentally change, or else face ruin in a world that is trying to leave oil behind. For two years, encouraged by the king, the prince had been quietly planning a major restructuring of […]
Eni Hopes To Develop Supergiant Gas Field By 2017
Egypt offers a bright spot for natural gas development, a lone bright spot in an energy world undergoing harsh austerity. The friendly business environment in Egypt right now stems, in part, from a painful shortage in energy. Egypt has suffered blackouts due to shortages in natural gas, and has been scrambling to make up for the shortfall. Natural gas prices are regulated, and the state gas company, EGAS, has offered generous prices for gas in order to attract investment. The Financial Times reports that the blackouts have eased a bit since 2015. But a more enduring solution could soon arrive as Italian oil giant Eni develops the gigantic Zohr natural gas discovery in the Mediterranean Sea. The field could hold 30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, enough to make it the largest gas discovery ever recorded in the Mediterranean. Eni announced the discovery in the summer of 2015, […]
Police Patrol Gas Stations as Nigeria Gripped by Fuel Crisis
Nigeria deployed police and soldiers to gasoline stations to maintain order as fuel shortages grip Africa’s biggest oil producer. The most severe fuel scarcity in a year in Africa’s most populous nation has left motorists paying more than double the government’s official price for gasoline and put increasing pressure on a stagnating economy that’s been hit by tumbling oil prices. The national statistics office blames the shortages, which have been on and off since May and have peaked again in the last month, for contributing to an 8 percent drop in labor productivity in the fourth quarter. “The fuel industry is holding the whole economy to ransom,” Nema Ramkhelawan-Bhana, an analyst at Rand Merchant Bank in Johannesburg, said by phone. “Nigeria is already suffering from low oil prices, and now fuel shortages are exacerbating […]
Death Toll in Mexico Petrochemical Plant Blast Rises to 13
The death toll from an explosion at a petrochemical plant owned by chemicals company Mexichem SAB and state oil company Petróleos Mexicanos has risen to 13, Pemex Chief Executive José Antonio González Anaya said Thursday. The explosion Wednesday afternoon at the plant at Coatzacoalcos, in Veracruz state, also injured 136, of whom 88 remained hospitalized, Mr. González Anaya said in an interview on Mexico’s Televisa network. A number are in serious condition and the number of casualties could increase as work continues at the site, he added. The fire was under late Wednesday, and there was no danger to communities in the area, officials said. The plant produces vinyl chloride used for making PVC plastic. The apparent cause of the blast was a leak at the plant, where raw materials include chlorine and […]
Venezuela Plans Electricity Outages to Save Energy
President Nicolás Maduro’s government said on Thursday that it would cut electrical power by four hours a day for 40 days across much of Venezuela to save energy, even though the country is already reeling from frequent blackouts. The rationing will begin Monday in 10 of Venezuela’s 23 states, said Electricity Minister Luis Motta Dominguez. The move would cover many of the country’s largest cities, including the capital. Mr. Motta said the cuts were necessary to reduce electricity consumption in homes, as the government awaits rain needed to power the turbines at El Guri, a massive hydroelectric dam in eastern Venezuela that provides 65% of the country’s power supply. “With God’s help, the rains will come,” said Mr. Motta, who called the sacrifice patriotic and asked Venezuelans to show solidarity. The announcement comes […]
