Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), has acquired stakes in four major European oil companies, a source familiar with the transaction said.
The four are Royal Dutch Shell, France's Total, Norway's Equinor and Italy's Eni, the source said, confirming a Wall Street Journal report.
The source did not confirm the combined value of the stakes, which the WSJ reported were worth $1bn (roughly R19bn).
"The Saudis have been buying every day almost for the past few weeks, especially since the share prices of many of these companies were in correction territory and dividend yields were very high," said the source familiar with the transactions," said the source.
"They've been buying on the basis that everything is much cheaper and that they are bullish on the long-term outlook for oil prices."