By Clara Denina , Saeed Azhar and Hadeel Al Sayegh
LONDON/DUBAI, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Saudi state oil companyAramco has hired UBS Group and Deutsche asbookrunners for its initial public offering, two sourcesfamiliar with the matter said, in a sign that the deal is movingahead despite a recent attack on Saudi oil facilities.
Aramco has started informing banks about the bookrunners'roles, one of the sources said.
Aramco finalised nine banks for top roles as globalcoordinators in recent weeks, Reuters has reported. More banksare expected to be named in junior roles, the sourcessaid.
Aramco has also added Barclays Plc and BNP ParibasSA as bookrunners, Bloomberg reported https://bloom.bg/2kxFZoW,citing people familiar with the matter.
Doubts had emerged about the timeline of the potentially $20billion domestic leg of the IPO among investors after lastSaturday's attacks on two sites that usually process and cleanup about 5.7 million barrels per day.
Aramco has that by the end of September it will resume fullcrude output at Abqaiq and Khurais, the two oil facilitiesdamaged by attacks last weekend that U.S. officials have blamedon Iran.
Aramco's planned meeting with analysts, ahead of theexpected IPO in late November, is also scheduled for early nextweek, two other sources said.
Aramco was not immediately available to comment.
Deutsche Bank declined to comment and UBS did not respond toa Reuters request for comment over the weekend.
Aramco's Riyadh listing is the first step towards aneventual sale of up to 5%, sources have told Reuters, withanother 1% expected to be sold domestically next year, followedby an international listing.
Initial hopes for a blockbuster international listing weredashed when the share sale was halted last year amid a debateover an overseas venue and valuation.
Aramco had said the delay was due to its deal to acquire a70% stake in petrochemicals maker Saudi Basic Industries Corp.
Although Crown Prince Mohammed put a $2 trillion valuationon the company in early 2016, bankers and company insiders sayAramco's value is closer to $1.5 trillion.(Reporting by Clara Denina, Saeed Azhar and Hadeel Al Sayegh;additional reporting by Sylvia Westall, Abhnav Ramnarayan,Alexander Cornwell, Davide Barbuscia in Dubai, Abhnav Ramnarayanin London and Sabahatjahan Contractor in Bengaluru and; Editingby Giles Elgood and Deepa Babington)