A sale of shares of the UAE’s largest oil and gas producer, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) is ‘not being contemplated’, the country’s Energy Minister has confirmed.
“I am not the right person to answer that question. It is a matter of the Abu Dhabi Government and ADNOC,” Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei told John Defterios of CNN at the 7th Gulf Intelligence Forum in Abu Dhabi.
“However, I don’t think such an IPO or sale of shares of ADNOC is being contemplated,” Mazrouei added, when asked about a market listing of ADNOC.
Speculation was rife that ADNOC could also consider a sale of its shares to raise much needed cash in the current low oil price situation, after Saudi Arabia recently confirmed it was thinking of floating some of the shares of Saudi Aramco, although not anytime soon.
Experts even went to say that Aramco going public signals the start of a trend of other GCC National Oil Companies (NOCs) following suit by listing on stock markets.
Commenting on the question of what he thinks of a possible Aramco IPO (Initial Public Offering), Mazrouei said, “It is fair to assume that every country and its government has the right to do what it wants with its assets.”
The Energy Minister cited the example of Norway’s Statoil to make a point. The Norwegian government sold 23% of the oil and gas producing company’s shares in 2007. The government of Norway still is the largest shareholder, holding 67% of Statoil’s shares.
