Aramco is to Saudi Arabia what the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is to Nigeria.
They are both National oil companies (NOCs), which are oil and gas companies owned primarily by their respective governments. The government of Saudi Arabia was the sole owner of Aramco until it pulled off the biggest IPO in history by selling off shares worth 1.5% of the company for close to $30 billion. And the Nigerian government owns 100% of the NNPC.
Key takeaways
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Saudi Arabia’s national oil company Aramco is one of the most highly valued and profitable companies globally. It’s currently valued at $2.3 trillion, after Apple and Microsoft.
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It took four years to find oil in Saudi Arabia in 1937. Still, since then, Aramco has leveraged the country’s cheap production costs, and it has made investments in oil and even renewables to ensure that it stays relevant.
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While Nigeria’s oil company, the NNPC, is leaps and bounds away from Aramco, it has some important lessons it can still learn.
But, the similarities end there. Comparing Aramco to the NNPC is like comparing apples to oranges—their only similarity is that they’re both NOCs, and in every other way, they’re entirely different.
For starters, Saudi Aramco is the third most valuable company globally, with a $2.3 trillion valuation.
