However, earlier this month, Saudi Energy Minister and Aramco chairman Khalid al-Falih said in the company's 2017 annual report that Aramco "continued to prepare itself for the listing of its shares, a landmark event the company and its board anticipate with excitement." Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil giant has suspended its plans to go public, a decision that puts on hold what would have been by far the biggest initial offering on record — or perhaps signals its cancellation. LONDON/RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has called off plans for the domestic and international listing of state oil giant Aramco, billed as the biggest stock flotation in history, four senior industry sources said on Wednesday. The Financial Conduct Authority went as far as to create a new category that allows sovereign-controlled companies to sidestep some of the requirements for premium listings on the London Stock Exchange. “The message we have been given is that the IPO has been called off for the foreseeable future,” one of the sources, a senior financial advisor, told Reuters earlier.
Senior industry sources say that the previously announced initial public offering of Saudi Aramco has been halted.