Saudi Aramco (2222.SE) hit the $2 trillion target sought by de-facto Saudi leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Thursday as its shares racked up a second day of gains, despite some scepticism about the state-owned oil firm’s value.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia sold 3 billion shares (excluding any exercise of the Purchase Option), equivalent to 1.5% of the Company’s share capital. Priced at the top of the indicated range, the Offering generated proceeds of SAR96.0 billion / USD25.6 billion (assuming no exercise of the Purchase Option), making it the world’s largest IPO.

This would make Aramco's listing the world's largest, beating Alibaba's $25bn IPO at $25.6bn.

In total, the Saudi government plans to sell 0.5% of Aramco to individual investors and the remainder to domestic institutions and international firms registered in the kingdom, known as qualified foreign investors.

Russia, a key non-OPEC ally, has so far opposed deeper cuts or a longer extension. But Moscow has often taken a tough stance before every meeting before approving the policy. Sources said Saudi Arabia was working on convincing Russia.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had been seeking a valuation for the world's biggest oil and gas company of $2 trillion. Saudi Arabia's government currently owns all of Saudi Aramco's 200 billion shares outstanding.

ACWA Power and Saudi Aramco signed a deal with Bangladesh Power Development Board to develop a 3,600-megawatt LNG-based power plant and terminal in the country.

Saudi Aramco signed crude oil sales agreements for 2020 with five Chinese customers, increasing total volume by 151,000 barrels per day compared to their 2019 supply contracts.

Saudi Aramco is joining the World Bank Initiative: ‘Zero Routine Flaring by 2030’. Saudi Aramco has a strong focus on flaring reduction, which remained at less than 1% of its total raw gas production in the first half of 2019.

Saudi Aramco earned net income of $68.2 billion compared with $83.1 billion for the same period a year ago, it said in a statement posted on its website. The state company’s revenue slipped to $217 billion from $233 billion.