Aramco’s green plans look rosy ahead of IPO

FOR those who may consider buying Saudi Aramco shares when the energy giant goes public in 2018, one factor to weigh is the company’s green plan.

The company wants to add more renewable and clean energy projects to its huge oil and gas portfolio. It has established a renewable office to develop all those projects. Saudi Aramco is already working on some initiatives in this field.
First, it already has a few projects such as the solar panels it installed to cover the parking lot in one of its administrative buildings in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
Secondly, the company wants to go beyond these small-scale projects and plans to create a local manufacturing base for renewables like solar.
Saudi Aramco Chief Executive Amin Nasser told Bloomberg in an interview in September 2016 that the company wants to look for international partners to boost local initiatives. Aramco wants to utilize the vast resources in the Kingdom, such as the silica that goes into the production of solar panels, he said.
This step reflects Saudi Aramco’s new strategy. It no longer wants to be an importer of technology and this aspect is applied to all kinds of activities it is involved in. For example, it is already in partnership to manufacture drilling rigs out of the new marine complex it is currently constructing on the shores of the Arabian Gulf.
Thirdly, the company may even bid later this year to build, own and operate local plants that will generate electricity from solar and wind powers, its acting senior vice president for downstream Abdulaziz Al-Judaimi said in Riyadh on April 17.
Fourthly, in addition to all of this, Saudi Aramco is already working on developing cleaner cars with more efficient engines that limit the amount of CO2 sent into the atmosphere.
Fifthly, Saudi Aramco is reportedly considering investments to the tune of around $5 billion in renewable companies and it has already appointed banks including HSBC, JPMorgan, and Credit Suisse to help it identify potential acquisition targets and advising on deals, Bloomberg reported on Jan. 29 citing people it did not name. The first investments under this plan could occur sometime this year, the report added.
So when the initial public offering (IPO) nears, Aramco might be able to offer investors a slice of its green power projects.
This could be good news for foreign investors who want to put their money into environmentally friendly companies.

Source: Arab News