A company statement said options include the listing "of an appropriate percentage of the company's shares and/or the listing of a bundle of its downstream subsidiaries".

Aramco controls 261 billion barrels in oil reserves, more than 10 times what Exxon Mobil - the largest publicly traded oil company - has.

Aramco has not revealed the details of the plan, however, said various option will be studied to allow broad public participation in its equity.

Despite this, he believes that an IPO would be well supported, although he also expressed doubts about how much of the company's shares would be made available - especially to overseas corporations.

Saudi Aramco has confirmed that it is considering an initial public offering.

In The Economist interview, Mr. bin Salman said mining and subsidy reforms will be key target areas for diversification.

Oil accounts for 75% of Saudi Arabia's revenue, and the plunge in prices is hurting the kingdom's budget big time. "I believe it is in the interest of the Saudi market, and... of Aramco, and... of more transparency, and to counter corruption, if any, that may be circling around Aramco".

That Saudi Arabian Oil Co., better known as Saudi Aramco, is considering selling shares to the public has generated a lot of chatter about what the company might be worth.

Aramco is the world's largest oil firm with crude reserves of about 265 billion barrels, over 15% of all global oil deposits.

Last year's deficit totalled $98 billion, prompting the government to raise fuel and utilities charges, shooting petrol prices up by 40 percent at the pump.

Saudi Arabia must diversify its economy away from oil into sectors including mining, religious tourism, banking, dairy and other agriculture, he said. The company traces its origins back to the oil shortages of World War I and is deeply intertwined with the rise of one of the most powerful forces of the past half century: the modern petro state.

Opening Aramco up to investors would be the most dramatic change in the kingdom's economic policy since it started nationalisation in the 1970s, with Prince Mohammed comparing his plans to Margaret Thatcher's shake-up of the British economy in the 1980s.

Pires also said that, in theory, the listing of the Saudi company could harm Petrobras.

The funds will generate profits from unused assets, turning them into companies that will eventually go public, Salman said, citing as one example five million square metres of land on the coast in central Jeddah that are now owned by the air defence system.

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