Saudi Arabia on Thursday transferred a new tranche of shares in the Saudi oil giant Aramco to the Public Investment Fund, which is the center of a large-scale reform program in the kingdom, AFP reports.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “announced the completion of the transfer of 8% of the total number of shares issued by Aramco (…) to companies wholly owned by the State Investment Fund,” the official SPA news agency said, adding that the state’s stake would rise to 82,186 %, compared to 16% for the Fund.

The transfer is valued at “approximately $164 billion” based on the company’s current market capitalization, an Aramco spokesman told AFP.

In 2022, the oil monarchy has already transferred the first tranche of shares, equivalent to 4% of the capital, directly to ond.

A second transfer of the same amount of shares in the company, owned by Aramco, was made last year, worth almost $80 billion at the time.

This new operation “is in line with Saudi Arabia’s long-term initiatives to stimulate and diversify the economy (…) as part of Vision 2030,” a major reform program led by the crown prince and de facto ruler of the kingdom, overseen and reported by the SPA Investment Fund.

It will also “strengthen the reliability of the financial position and credit rating of the fund,” she added.

The crown jewel of Saudi Arabia’s economy, Aramco, posted a net profit of $30.08 billion in the third quarter of 2023, following a record profit of $161.1 billion in 2022.

In 2019, the kingdom earned $29.4 billion from listing a 1.7% stake in the oil giant.

The world’s largest exporter of crude oil is counting on its oil revenues to finance an ambitious diversification strategy, the main instrument of which is the Investment Fund.