Aramco Appoints International Board Members Amid IPO Plans

Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest crude exporter, appointed new board members with experience in international oil and petrochemical businesses as it plans a possible overseas share sale in what could be a record initial public offering.

Andrew Liveris, the outgoing chairman and chief executive officer of Dow Chemical Co., will join the board on July 1 when he retires from the U.S. chemicals producer, Aramco said Sunday in a statement. Saudi Arabian Oil Co., as Aramco is formally known, appointed Lynn Elsenhans, former chairwoman of Sunoco Inc., as the only woman on its board.

Peter Cella, former president and CEO of Chevron Phillips Chemical Co., also joins, as do Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan and Economy Minister Mohammad Al Tuwaijri, the state-owned oil giant said.

Saudi Arabia’s planned sale of shares in Aramco is the cornerstone of an economic transformation program that aims to build new industries and diversify away from a decades-long reliance on oil. The biggest producer in OPEC plans as early as this year to list shares in Aramco on the domestic Saudi exchange and at least one international bourse.

Source: bloomberg