據彭博新聞社2023年5月11日報道，知情人士稱，沙特阿拉伯國家石油公司（沙特阿美）正在推遲旗下能源貿易板塊在利雅得的大規模首次公開募股（IPO）計劃。這筆交易本將成為今年全球規模最大的股票發行之一。

因信息保密而要求匿名采訪的知情人士透露，這家沙特國有石油巨頭最近幾個月大幅放慢了交易的準備工作。其中一位知情人士說，沙特阿美尚未為能源交易板塊上市設定新的時間表，除非市場好轉，否則上市可能會推遲到明年。

據彭博新聞社此前報道，沙特阿美一直計劃在去年年底或今年年初將能源交易單位上市，并考慮尋求超過300億美元的資產估值。知情人士表示，沙特阿美現在覺得，目前可能很難讓這么大的一家企業在利雅得證交所上市。

知情人士表示，在進行IPO之前，沙特阿美還希望花更多時間完成其主要交易部門與其美國煉油業務莫蒂瓦企業公司的交易部門的整合。

通常是海灣地區最大最繁忙上市市場之一的利雅得，今年在對全球經濟增長的擔憂中一直非常安靜，而阿布扎比等其他交易市場則成為人們關注的焦點。彭博新聞社匯編的數據顯示，今年迄今在利雅得上市的公司僅籌集了7200萬美元，這是自2014年以來的最低水平。去年這個時候，IPO收入接近40億美元。

知情人士說，沙特阿美一直在與高盛集團、摩根大通和摩根士丹利等銀行合作，研究可能的IPO。

知情人士說，相關討論仍在進行中，IPO的細節可能會發生變化。沙特阿美的一名代表拒絕置評。

石油、天然氣和精制燃料交易的利潤最近大幅飆升。根據Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.公布的數據，bp、殼牌公司和道達爾能源公司去年共實現了370億美元的貿易收入，原因是爆發軍事沖突后能源價格和波動性大幅上升，經濟也從疫情中復蘇。

李峻 編譯自 彭博新聞社

原文如下：

Saudi Aramco to Postpone Mega IPO of Energy Trading Unit

Saudi Aramco is pushing back a planned Riyadh initial public offering of its energy-trading business, a deal that would have ranked as one of the world’s largest share sales this year, people with knowledge of the matter said. 

The state-controlled oil company has significantly slowed down preparatory work on the deal in recent months, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. It hasn’t set a new timeline for the listing, which may be postponed until next year unless the market improves, one of the people said. 

Aramco had been planning to list the business in late 2022 or early this year and was considering seeking a valuation of more than $30 billion, Bloomberg News reported previously. It now feels it could be difficult to list such a large business on the Riyadh bourse at the moment, the people said. 

The Saudi firm also wants to take more time to complete the integration of its main trading unit with the trading arm of its US refining business Motiva Enterprises LLC before proceeding with the IPO, the people said. 

Saudi Arabia, typically one of the Gulf’s biggest and busiest listing markets, has been very quiet this year amid concerns over global economic growth, while other exchanges like Abu Dhabi have stepped into the limelight. Just $72 million has been raised from listings in Riyadh, the least since 2014, data compiled by Bloomberg show. This time last year the IPO haul stood at almost $4 billion.

Aramco has been working with banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley as it studies the potential IPO, people with knowledge of the matter have said. 

Deliberations are ongoing, and details of the offering could change, the people said. A representative for Aramco declined to comment. 

Profits from trading oil, gas and refined fuel have soared recently. BP Plc, Shell Plc and TotalEnergies SE together made $37 billion of trading income last year, according to Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., as energy prices and volatility jumped following the war and as economies recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic.