There's no stopping Saudi Aramco in its pursuit of an ambitious initial public offering (IPO) even as it works to restore production following the drone attacks on Saturday. Officials confirmed that the IPO is still on track.
According to CNBC, Aramco Chairman Yasir al-Rumayyan said on Tuesday that despite the shock attacks that halted more than half of the country's overall oil production, the IPO "will continue as is."
Al-Rumayyan noted that the process will not be halted at any point, especially since the IPO involves shareholders and investors who have shown interest in the world's most profitable company.
Aside from confirming the continuation of the IPO process, al-Rumayyan said the compay will be prepared for the listing "anytime in the coming 12 months." While industry experts have been predicting when the listing will debut, this is technically the first time an Aramco official provided a timeline.
Energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman added on Tuesday that production of oil in the kingdom will be back in full by the end of this month. The prince's statements triggered oil prices to contract following a significant hike the previous day.
According to bin Salman, all orders will be fulfilled this month through reserves that were prepared beforehand. He said the kingdom's capacity for September could reach 11 million barrels, while November capacity is expected to hit 12 million on a daily basis.
Shortly after the drone attacks on Saturday, governments from around the world offered to support global demand by extracting from their reserves. Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser pointed out that the company still has enough supply for domestic demand.
Due to concerns about global demand not being met after Aramco's production was hampered, oil prices spiked. The hike in prices further rattled markets and sent some stocks into retreat.
Meanwhile, governments have been reaching out to Saudi Arabia after the shocking strikes. According to Reuters, French President Emmanuel Macron reached out to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman through a phone call on Tuesday.
State news agency SPA revealed that the two leaders discussed the impact of the strikes. Macron reportedly expressed France's willingness to help investigate with international groups to find out where the attacks came from.
In satellite images released by the U.S. government on Monday, it was revealed that 17 of the 19 strikes landed directly on targets. Co-founder of satellite firm TankerTrackers.com, Samir Madani, noted that the strikes were "extremely surgical."
Official details from the investigations on the origin of the attacks that hit three oil processing trains and 14 Aramco storage tanks have yet to be revealed.
