According to a recent Reuters report, Saudi Aramco has decided to postpone its plans for an IPO launch in the hopes that Q3 earnings will improve investor confidence before dipping its toes into equity markets. The world’s largest oil company was expected to float 1-2% state in a stock exchange in Riyadh sometime next week as per initial plans, in a bid to raise around $20 billion.

Saudi Aramco’s IPO plans suffered on account of the drone attacks on its crude processing facilities at Abqaiq and Khurais in mid-September as the focus shifted on restoring oil output to normal levels. Since then, there were mixed reports coming out about its scheduled IPO launch, with some sources hinting that it could delay until investor concerns around the safety of its facilities died down.

According to unnamed sources, strong performance in the third quarter should boost investor confidence in the company, and support its prices when it lists its stake. However, these sources have also indicated that no new date has been fixed so far for the listing. A previous report on Reuters hinted that Saudi Aramco could put off its IPO plans until early next year at the soonest in the wake of the attacks.