Aramco share sale planned for summer could net Saudi Arabia a welcome $10 billion amid its Neom project struggles

“Decisions about share sales are matters for our shareholders and are not something we are able to comment on,” an Aramco spokesperson told Reuters.

The government of Saudi Arabia remains the largest shareholder in Aramco, which is the world’s largest oil company by market cap.

Saudi Aramco did not immediately reply to a request for comment from Business Insider.

The news comes amid Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 plan to diversify the kingdom’s economy and pivot away from oil.

The plan has involved big spending on sports, entertainment, and infrastructure — largely financed by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF).

The kingdom has embarked on a number of “gigaprojects” as part of the 2030 plan, including its Neom megacity.

The project, which is expected to cost at least $500 billion — with some estimates putting the figure at $1.5 trillion — includes the much-talked-about “The Line,” a futuristic city in the northwest of the country.

But recent reports suggest Saudi Arabia has been seeking to borrow funds for the project, while also scaling back population estimates for The Line.

The Saudi government had previously said it wanted to move 1.5 million residents into The Line by 2030, but that number is now likely to be fewer than 300,000, Bloomberg reported in April, citing an unnamed person familiar with the matter.

And while the city was set to stretch over 170 kilometers (roughly 105 miles) to the Red Sea, the Bloomberg report said that officials expected just 2.4 km (around 1.5 miles) of the project to be completed by 2030.

The PIF has also been hit with falling cash levels. In January, it said that its cash as of September had dropped to around $15 billion — the lowest level since December 2020, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Saudi Arabia’s finance minister said in April that while the kingdom was “very pleased” with the state of its Vision 2030 progress, “challenges” meant adjustments would be made to some aspects of the project.