US investor Blackrock is planning to resell its stake in Saudi Aramco’s natural gas pipeline network to the oil giant.
The companies are in talks to close a potential deal, Bloomberg reported quoting unnamed sources.
In 2021, the US investment bank-led consortium invested $15.5 billion to buy 49 percent of the business, which holds leasing rights over the pipelines.
Blackrock will consider other options for the asset if the discussions fail, the report said.
In 2021, Aramco also sold a 49 percent stake in Aramco Oil Pipelines Company, a subsidiary, to a consortium led by the UAE’s Mubadala and US-based EIG Global Energy Partners for $12.4 billion.
Last year Abu Dhabi completed a similar move. Asset manager Lunate bought back BlackRock and KKR’s 40 percent stake in Adnoc Oil Pipelines. The company was established in 2019 to lease ownership interests in 22 pipelines from Adnoc for 23 years through a concession agreement.
In May, Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said the company will continue borrowing to support its expansion and effectively leverage its balance sheet.
In earnings calls after its first quarter 2025 results were announced, Nasser said the company expects demand for oil to be higher this year than in 2024 and to hold “steady”.
Aramco has one of the world’s lowest oil extraction costs, at nearly $3 a barrel, and can sustain itself during periods of weak prices, Nasser said.
The Saudi government directly controls 81.5 percent of Aramco, the world’s largest oil producer. Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, controls a further 16 percent stake and the remainder is listed on the Saudi stock exchange.
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