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Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said in a statement that its wholly owned subsidiary Kuwait Oil Company signed a lease-and-leaseback agreement valued at $16 billion with a consortium led by Blackstone, Brookfield and KKR for the full domestic and export crude oil pipeline network. The pact establishes a new Kuwait-incorporated joint venture that assumes usage rights to 13 pipelines spanning roughly 320 kilometres while granting KOC exclusive operational and maintenance rights over a 20.5-year term in return for volume-based tariffs. KOC retains full ownership and operational control of the assets throughout the agreement, which imposes no restrictions on national production or refining volumes.
According to the KPC statement, KOC will hold a 51 percent majority stake in the joint venture with the three global investors collectively owning the remaining 49 percent on equal terms. The transaction is set to deliver $7.85 billion in upfront proceeds directly to Kuwait Oil Company that will support further investment across its exploration and production activities. This financial arrangement allows the company to unlock capital from existing infrastructure while maintaining strategic oversight.
The corporation described the partnership as the largest foreign direct investment in Kuwait’s history. KPC said the deal reflects strong international appetite for high-quality energy infrastructure in the Gulf state. The agreement aligns with ongoing efforts to attract foreign capital into non-core segments of the oil sector.
Kuwait Oil Company has outlined plans to raise national production capacity to four million barrels per day by 2035, a target the company has highlighted across its strategic updates. The fresh capital from the pipeline transaction will help advance these expansion goals by funding development of upstream fields and related midstream facilities. Reliable pipeline networks remain essential to moving increased volumes from producing areas to export terminals and domestic refineries.
Centerview Partners, HSBC and J.P. Morgan acted as financial advisers to KPC on the deal, the statement said. The agreement is governed by Kuwaiti law and remains subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions. Completion is expected to provide a model for future infrastructure partnerships that balance investment inflows with national control of key assets.
