Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has “amassed stakes worth roughly $1 billion in four major European oil companies,” the WSJ reports, as the deep-pocketed sovereign wealth fund goes on a buying spree of assets on the cheap amidst a global economic downturn.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
The PIF bought stakes in Equinor ASA, Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Total SA, and Eni SPA, all energy companies that had seen their value lessened during the coronavirus pandemic.
As the Wall Street Journal notes, the moves by the PIF, combined with this week’s decision to purchase a stake in battered cruise line company Carnival, represents a “significant tactical shift” for the sovereign wealth fund.
According to reports, the purchases were made on the open market – stock acquisitions made by the PIF on international exchanges.
The move to acquire stakes in European energy companies comes also at a precarious time for oil markets as Saudi Arabia and Russia seek to convince the United States to join them in cutting oil production to bolster low oil prices.
