Saudi Aramco became the world’s largest publicly traded oil company after its 2019 initial public offering.
Saudi Aramco is the short name of Saudi Arabian Oil Company, the national oil company of Saudi Arabia. Its roots reach back to the 1933 concession granted to Standard Oil of California, later known as Chevron.
The company’s shares began trading on the Saudi Stock Exchange, or Tadawul, in December 2019. The offering made it one of the largest initial public offerings ever recorded and gave public investors a stake in the company.
Saudi Aramco is not the same as Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund. Aramco explores, produces, processes, transports, and sells hydrocarbons, while the fund invests across many industries.