Aramco Loses Eternal Rights to Saudi Oil

[Marina Schwarz + 1,576]

This from the FT: Aramco's in-perpetuity rights to Saudi oil have been cancelled and replaced with a 40-year contract with a renewal option. According to sources, it's done as part of preparations for guess what. I'm not sure I understand how this would help Aramco's listing. Help?

 

[Tom Kirkman + 8,860]

I was under the impression that all of the oil in Saudi Arabia was owned completely by the Saudi royal family, and Aramco was just the operator.

[John Foote + 1,135]

5 hours ago, Tom Kirkman said:

I was under the impression that all of the oil in Saudi Arabia was owned completely by the Saudi royal family, and Aramco was just the operator.

Correct. Aramco is just a concession. But the political cost of anyone but Aramco having the concession would be catastrophic. Folks forget Aramco was a public traded company once, which was purchased by the royals. You can bad mouth the the Saudis, but the fact is they haven't killed the golden goose, unlike so many other countries, and they deserve credit for that. The population boom, of the general population, and the royals personal population boom, is straining the system. The goose can only put out so many eggs.