FILE PHOTO: A Saudi Aramco employee sits near the Saudi Aramco stand at the Middle East Petrotech 2016 in Manama, Bahrain, September 27, 2016. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia is having “serious discussions” with the New York Stock Exchange about having the NYSE as one of the exchanges for state oil giant Saudi Aramco’s IPO, the Saudi foreign minister told Fox News on Thursday.

“Our objective is to try to complete the IPO sometime in 2018. There are serious discussions with the New York Stock Exchange about having the NYSE be one of the exchanges for the Aramco IPO and I believe the decision will be made on the financial merits,” Adel al-Jubeir told Fox News.