Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister, Khalid El Falih, said that the initial public offering (IPO) of Aramco will not mean an end to a long-time policy of keeping some of its production capacity idle to guard any disruption in supply, Bloomberg reported. “We can demonstrate to investors that it pays over time to have that spare capacity,” El Falih said in Vienna OPEC meeting, adding that “They are going to have to accept it. It’s part of the package of buying into the lowest cost producer.”

The government will continue to own the majority of the company through the Public Investment Fund, and some proceeds from the IPO would also go into the fund, he said, Gulf News informed. In addition, he stated that it is studying the possibility of separate or combined IPOs for its joint ventures, and considering who would be allowed to buy shares in the company.

Earlier in May, Saudi Aramco announced it was planning to raise output levels in order to capture more customers ahead its IPO.