Saudi Aramco will retain oil rights in Kingdom: Al-Falih

State-owned Saudi Aramco plans to retain exclusive rights to develop the Kingdom's oil reserves despite a multi-billion dollar plan to open up to foreign investment, Bloomberg reported on Sunday, citing Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih.

“There is no intention whatsoever to chip away at Aramco’s exclusivity and its concession. To get ready for the IPO, Saudi Arabia granted Aramco a concession to pump most of the country’s crude," he said.

The world's largest oil producer partners with other multinationals such as Total SA and Exxon Mobil Corp. in refining, but extracts all its hydrocarbons on its own.

“Everything else remains as is for Saudi Aramco as we prepare for what we hope will be a speedy process to prepare for the IPO,” the minister said.

Saudi Arabia’s reserves total 268.5 billion barrels, according to a recent official audit of its deposits.

Meanwhile,  Al-Falih said the market is “going through a soft patch" as demand is "typically weak in the first quarter and oil markets will take time to balance."