COMMENT | Listing the national oil corporation Petroleum Nasional Bhd or Petronas is not the wild idea that it sounds like. It is very feasible and can be done in a manner which will benefit the oil firm and the country tremendously, bringing depth and value into the market too.

It has been done before - Saudi Arabia listed its wholly owned oil company, the world’s largest oil producer Saudi Aramco, in 2019, on its Tadawul exchange, by selling just 1.5 percent to investors and raising US$25.6 billion (RM113 billion at current exchange rates).

Its current market value is about US$1.8 trillion or RM8 trillion, among the most valuable companies in the world and its most profitable by far. Our initial calculations show Petronas could be valued at over RM1 trillion (US$226 billion) and will account for a third of Malaysia’s expanded market capitalisation if it is listed.

Potential listing benefits are huge...