Saudi Aramco market value exceeds $2 trillion on Thurs.

By Ovunc Kutlu & Busranur Begcecanli

ANKARA (AA) - Saudi Arabia's national oil company Aramco saw its market value surpass the $2 trillion mark on its second day of public trading on the Saudi stock exchange Tadawul on Thursday.

Aramco's initial public offering (IPO) was completed last Thursday with a final offer share price of 32 Saudi riyals ($8.53), securing the company’s market value at $1.7 trillion.

When Aramco started publicly traded for the first time in Tadawul on Wednesday, its share price immediately climbed 10% to settle at 35.2 Saudi riyals ($9.39), which raised the company's market value to around $1.87 trillion.

Aramco shares gained another 9.9% to reach 38.7 Saudi riyals ($10.32) at 1024 local time (0724 GMT) on Thursday, raising the firm's market capitalization to $2.05 trillion, according to Tadawul figures.

With that result, Aramco's market cap reached the $2 trillion mark that was set by Saudi Crown Price Mohammad bin Salman in 2016 when he had first introduced the idea of the IPO as part of his Vision 2030 Plan. The plan aims to decrease the kingdom's dependency on the oil sector and raise capital for other industries.

Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said last week at the conclusion of the OPEC meeting that he expects Aramco's market capitalization to soon climb above $2 trillion.

Aramco produces one in every eight barrels of oil in the world. Its net income surpassed the collective earnings of nine oil majors ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Total, Eni, Equinor, Rosneft in 2018 and during the first half of 2019.

Its net income reached $111.1 billion in 2018 and stood at $46.9 billion during the first half of this year.