Kuwait's state-owned Kuwait Oil Company signs a US$16 billion lease-and-lease-back deal with a consortium led by Blackstone, Brookfield, and KKR to lease its 13 pipelines for 20.5 years, with KOC holding 51% and the investors 49%, generating about US$7.85 billion in upfront proceeds to support expansion to 4 million barrels per day by 2035 while preserving Kuwait's control over production and refining. The move, framed as Kuwait’s largest foreign direct investment to date, comes amid regional tensions and Iranian attacks on energy infrastructure.
