Riyadh:
Saudi Arabia could still decide to sell shares of oil giant Aramco in New York, Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir said, even after the US passed a law that allows victims of the September 11 attacks to sue the kingdom.
Riyadh is looking at markets from Hong Kong to New York as possible international venues of what could be one of the biggest share sales in history, Al Jubeir told a news conference with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Riyadh on Sunday. The decision is still a “work in progress,” he said.
Saudi authorities plan to sell less than 5 per cent in Saudi Arabian Oil Co. by 2018 as part of a plan by Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman to set up the world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund and help reduce the economy’s reliance on hydrocarbons.
In addition to the tension caused by the September 11 law, Al Jubeir’s comments follow a US decision to block the transfer of an arms sale to Saudi Arabia because of concerns about rising civilian casualties in the war in Yemen. The kingdom is backing forces of an internationally-recognised government against pro-Iranian militia.
Al Jubeir also dismissed speculation that Saudi Arabia would reduce its US investments. “Saudi Arabia has tremendous investments in the United States and we review those investments on a regular basis,” he said. “There are issues associated with risk, but our objective is to increase those investments, we will not decrease them.”
A former Saudi ambassador to Washington, Al Jubeir said he visited the US recently “to get to know the positions of the new administration” lead by President-elect Donald Trump, and to try to persuade Congress to amend the September 11 law, also known as JASTA. The Obama administration had vetoed the law, but its proponents gathered enough votes to override the presidential action.
“The Obama administration has great concern about the victims and we will continue to find ways to help the victims of 9/11, but we are convinced that JASTA as it was written is a bad law,” Kerry said. “We tried very hard to move on changing it and will continue to do that.”
