沙特阿美石油公司要上市了

世界上最賺錢(qián)的公司是哪個(gè)公司?蘋(píng)果?還是谷歌?

Nope. Those two don't even come close. The answer is Saudi Arabia's state oil company, Aramco. In 2018, Saudi Aramco made $111 billion dollars in profit. The second-most profitable company, Apple, made $60 billion that year.

都不是，這兩家公司都差遠(yuǎn)了。最賺錢(qián)的公司是沙特阿拉伯的國(guó)家石油公司——沙特阿美石油公司。2018年沙特阿美純利潤(rùn)為1110億美元，同年第二大盈利公司蘋(píng)果公司的利潤(rùn)為600億美元。

On November 3, Aramco officially announced its plan to go public for the first time in the company's 86-year history. And on November 17, the oil giant announced the company could be valued at $1.7 trillion. Energy historian Ellen R. Wald joined Today, Explained to explain why Aramco's initial public offering (IPO) is such a big deal.

11月3日，成立86年的阿美公司首次正式宣布上市計(jì)劃。11月17日這家石油巨頭公司宣布估值為1.7萬(wàn)億美元。能源歷史學(xué)家Ellen R. Wald作客播客《Today, Explained》解釋了為什么阿美公司上市如此重要。

As the most profitable company in the entire world, she says, the company's IPO is going to set major records. And since it's the largest oil company in the world, it's likely that a lot of everyday things we use — from plastic to the energy fueling our cars — touches this company.

她說(shuō)這家公司是全球最賺錢(qián)的公司，首次公開(kāi)募股將創(chuàng)下重大紀(jì)錄。因?yàn)樗鞘澜缱畲蟮氖凸荆覀內(nèi)粘Ｊ褂玫暮芏鄸|西，從塑料到汽車(chē)燃料，可能都與這家公司有關(guān)。

"In the United States," Wald says as an example, "Aramco owns the largest refinery in the entire country. And it also owns Shell Gasoline Stations in the southeastern United States. So many Americans may be buying oil — or gasoline — that is made by Aramco, and they don't even know it."

Wald舉例說(shuō)：“在美國(guó)阿美公司擁有全國(guó)最大的煉油廠，在美國(guó)東南部還有殼牌加油站，所以很多美國(guó)人可能都在買(mǎi)阿美公司的燃油或汽油，而他們自己可能都不知道。”

But some say the timing for the Aramco IPO couldn't be worse. One reason for that: Some people think that the world has or will soon reach peak oil demand. Another, Wald explains, is the "PR nightmare" that Saudi Arabia created with the killing of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

但一些人說(shuō)阿美公司上市時(shí)間選錯(cuò)了，其中一個(gè)原因是：有些人認(rèn)為全世界已經(jīng)或?qū)⒑芸爝_(dá)到石油需求峰值。Wald解釋說(shuō)另外一個(gè)原因是沙特阿拉伯針對(duì)持不同政見(jiàn)的沙特記者賈邁勒·卡舒吉死亡事件制造的“公關(guān)噩夢(mèng)”。