Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest oil exporter, may consider listing its shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, according to the kingdom’s Energy Minister, Khalid al-Falih.

“I think (it is) a little bit early for selecting which stock exchange to list, but we’ve looked at the Tokyo Stock Exchange,” Al-Falih, who is also the chairman of Saudi Aramco, as quoted by Japan’s Nikkei business daily as saying.

Saudi Arabia, has recently received a proposal from Japan concerning Aramco’s possible listing in Tokyo, which is ranked among the top global financial hubs.

“Our first priority is to list on the (Saudi Stock Exchange), and if we need a secondary stock exchange… we want to make sure that (the) secondary exchange will attract a lot of international capital,’’ he said. “I understand that there is a lot of international capital that today participates in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, which is very encouraging,” Al-Falih added.

An IPO of Saudi Aramco is at the heart of Saudi Arabia’s plans to diversify its economy away from oil. The kingdom plans to sell less than 5 per cent of shares to public and transfer the rest of its ownership to Public Investment Fund (PIF), which will generate most of its income from investment activities.

Several options are being considered for the Saudi Aramco IPO, which is expected to be completed by 2018.

Saudi Aramco, which owns 15 per cent of Showa Shell Sekiyu KK, will continue to hold shares in the Japanese oil refiner, Al-Falih also told the paper.

Showa Shell aims to merge with Japan’s Idemitsu Kosan Company, but Idemitsu’s founding family has been trying to block the deal, according to media reports.