- Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of OPEC, is pushing other nations in the cartel to cut oil supplies to help Saudi Aramco's IPO, according to the Wall Street Journal.
- The Journal said that Nigeria already agreed to the cut and it would be pushing other African members to follow suit so prices would rise.
- Aramco launched its IPO plans on Sunday, and it is due to go public in December.
- Aramco's growth relies upon oil prices staying around $65 a barrel, according to a document prepared for investors seen by the Journal.
Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of OPEC, is pushing other "laggard" nations in the cartel to cut oil supplies to help with Saudi Aramco's IPO next month, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Journal reported that Saudi was pressing OPEC's members that have not cut production as much as others within the group, to ensure the state-owned oil giant's IPO is successful.
"The effort is aimed at bolstering oil prices and reminding potential Aramco investors of Saudi Arabia's considerable sway within OPEC," the Journal wrote, citing sources familiar with the plans.
Aramco's growth relies upon oil prices staying around $65 a barrel, according to a document prepared for investors seen by the Journal.
The paper added that Nigeria agreed to the deal, and would be pushing other African members to follow suit.
OPEC is a group of 14 oil-producing nations, which produce about 44% of the world's oil, according to Statista. Its African members include Algeria, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Libya, Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Saudi Aramco is due to go public on December 11, listing a small portion of its shares on the Tadawul All exchange based in Riyadh, after kicking off the process on Sunday. It's expected to a mammoth public offering and could value the company at roughly $1.5 trillion.
Saudi officials wanted the oil-giant to be valued at $2 trillion, but it may fall short — Bank of America's low valuation was around $1.2 trillion. Nevertheless, it would still be the largest public offering ever, adding to the fact Aramco is currently the world's most profitable company.
On Tuesday, OPEC released its World Oil Outlook for 2019 and it said that it saw its own production falling, while saying American shale oil production will overtake OPEC output by 2024.
In the last year, OPEC cut its oil production by 1.2 million barrels a day, after forming an agreement with Russia in December, leading to price rising about 17% since January.