RIYADH, 4 November — The government is studying the viability of privatizing some of the operations of Saudi Aramco, according to a source at the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources.
The government share in the newly proposed companies will be 20 percent, the source said.
The ministry seeks to establish a holding company with the aim of setting up support industries and services in the oil and energy sector both in the Kingdom and international markets in collaboration with private investors, according to the source. The proposed company will serve as an umbrella for a group of subsidiary companies, providing scope for international companies to invest in joint projects.
The source added that privatization will involve sale of government shares in private companies. The proceeds of such sales would be spent for the payment of public debts.
Ali Naimi, minister of petroleum and mineral resources, said in a recent seminar on the futuristic vision of the Saudi economy that his ministry was playing an encouraging role to support private sector participation in the petroleum industry. The proposed projects would be in such areas as engineering services, manufacturing operations, seismological survey, digging oil and gas wells. These are items that come under the purview of the government’s privatization plan, the source added.
