Saudi Aramco will have the right to book the kingdom’s oil reserves through the initial public offering (IPO) it plans for next year, Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said yesterday.
“The reserves under the ground are by constitution owned by the state but the state will give Aramco through the concession the exclusive right to monetise those reserves,” al-Falih told reporters in Riyadh. “Aramco through its IPO will basically offer investors an ownership in that right.”
Aramco’s crude oil and condensate reserves were 261.1bn barrels, it said in its 2015 annual report.
Reuters reported last week that the first independent audit of Aramco oil reserves had confirmed the company’s own figures.
Aramco had asked two US oil reserve auditing specialists to review its deposits.
“The reserves are being certified and the certification process is ongoing...We are well under way in the certification that is very, very reassuring,” al-Falih said.


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