In this file photo taken on November 23, 2007, shows the Saudi Aramco oil facility in Dammam, 450 kms east of Riyadh. - Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is expected on November 3, 2019 to formally launch a long-anticipated stock offering of Saudi Aramco - AFP

Saudi regulators on Sunday approved
state energy giant Aramco's request to make its stock market debut, firing the
starting gun on the highly anticipated offering which could be the world's
largest.

The Capital Markets Authority did
not give any details of the Initial Public Offering (IPO) but it is expected to
begin trading in mid-December.

The markets regulator "has
issued its resolution approving the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco)...
application for the registration and offering of part of its shares," it
said in a statement on its website.

The sale, which could value the
company at up to $1.7 trillion, is the linchpin of Crown Prince Mohammed bin
Salman's plan to revamp the economy and wean it off a decades-long dependence
on oil.

Sources close to the IPO have told
AFP that Aramco is expected to sell a total of five percent on two exchanges,
with an initial listing of two percent on the Tadawul Saudi bourse in December.

That will be followed next year by a
three percent listing on an overseas exchange, which has yet to be picked.

Aramco was expected to launch the
first part of the two-stage IPO in October, but the process has been delayed,
reportedly due to the prince's dissatisfaction with the valuation of the firm,
which fell short of the hoped for $2 trillion. - AFP