As early as this week, the Saudi Arabian state oil company Aramco intends to issue a new offering of between $10 and $20 billion of its shares, the Wall Street Journal reported late Tuesday, citing people with knowledge of the situation.

The bulk of Aramco is owned by the Saudi Arabian government and its sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund. After the company’s first public offering in 2019, just 1.5% of the business is listed publicly on the Tadawul, the stock market for the country.

The IPO remains the biggest in history, having raised a record $29.4 billion through the sale. In terms of both market capitalization and daily oil output, Aramco is the biggest oil firm in the world.

The kingdom, which in early May recorded its sixth straight quarterly budget deficit because to heavy expenditure on multi-trillion dollar megaprojects and concurrently declining oil income, would benefit from the rumoured new sale.

Aramco made no remarks about the matter.

According to the Journal, the monarchy would see some short-term financial relief if the sale is approved. In May of this year, Saudi Arabia projected a fiscal deficit in 2025 and 2026 in addition to a budget deficit of 79 billion Saudi riyals ($21 billion) for the year. The Journal stated that there is still a chance to postpone or cancel the stock transaction.

(Adapted from CNBC.com)