Aramco more likely to sell shares in refining assets than parent

London

INVESTORS hoping that a Saudi Arabian Oil Co initial public offering (IPO) will provide a chance to buy a stake in the world's largest crude producer may have to wait. The company said that one option is to sell shares in its refining assets rather than the parent.

While that would lock private capital out of the world's biggest oil fields, it still offers an immense global business with plants spread from Louisiana to Japan, processing more than 3.1 million barrels a day.

"The Saudis aren't just pumping crude out of the ground and selling it anymore," said Jim Krane, energy research fellow at t…