Kuwait Oil Company will keep 51% and operational control of the 13-pipeline network, while the 20.5-year joint venture is expected to deliver $7.85 billion in upfront proceeds.
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said its subsidiary Kuwait Oil Company has signed a $16.0 billion lease-and-lease-back agreement covering KOC’s entire domestic and export pipeline network with a consortium led by Blackstone, Brookfield and KKR. The structure creates a newly formed Kuwaiti-incorporated joint venture in which KOC will hold 51% and the investor group 49%, split equally among the three firms, while KOC retains full ownership and operational control of the assets. The joint venture will lease usage rights to all 13 pipelines, spanning about 320 kilometers, and then grant KOC exclusive use, operational and maintenance rights for 20.5 years in return for a volume-based tariff. KPC said the deal is expected to generate $7.85 billion in upfront proceeds for KOC on closing, supporting capital expenditure plans including its target to reach 4 million barrels per day of crude oil production capacity by 2035. The company described the transaction as Kuwait’s largest energy infrastructure partnership to date, the largest foreign direct investment in the country’s history, and one of the first major inward investments in the Arabian Gulf region since recent tensions, framing it as a sign of continued global investor confidence in Kuwait’s energy sector and broader economic diversification agenda.