Oman Oil Co is planning to list between 20% to 25% of shares by the end of 2020, according to Oman’s Oil Minister Mohammed bin Hamad al-Rumhy.
The share sale would help raise funds to address the nation’s debt, which has ballooned since oil prices crashed. Between January and September 2019, the nation posted a budget deficit of $4bn (1.54bn Omani rials). Al-Rumhy also said that Oman could invite strategic partners to invest in Oman Oil Co alongside the IPO.
Reuters reported al-Rumhy as saying that financial advisors have already been assigned, although their identities have not been disclosed.
He noted that downstream would be a major area of focus in the future, with more than $20bn to be invested into downstream operations in the next five years.
A potential listing for Oman Oil Co would make it the second national oil company in the region to publicly list its shares, as Saudi Aramco’s IPO is set to start on 11 December 2019.
