Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil giant Aramco, the world's largest oil company, is walking back plans for a massive public share offering on an international exchange. Aramco is now expected to list public shares on the Saudi Arabian domestic stock market, perhaps as soon as the second half of this year, according to sources familiar with the situation. But a potential international listing is now expected to come later, if at all, the sources said. The initial public offering of Saudi Aramco in cities like New York or London was expected to be the largest ever share listing. But plans to list on a major foreign stock exchange have been delayed as Aramco grapples with the challenges of taking the company public. Currently, there is no international listing planned, but sources said Aramco continues to hope it will list in a foreign financial centre some time next year. "The company continues to review options for the listing," Saudi Aramco said in a statement after the news was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. "In addition to listing on Tadawul, the home exchange, a range of international options are still being held under active review. The company will not provide a running commentary on the course of the IPO." Sources said that the Aramco listing will be much smaller than anticipated in the international market and that an Asian cornerstone investor is likely to participate. A big investment in Aramco by China's sovereign wealth fund has long been rumoured but never confirmed by the Saudi Arabians.