Overview
- Kuwait Petroleum Company announced on Saturday, July 25, 2026, that it signed a $16 billion agreement with Blackstone, Brookfield and KKR to form a four-way joint venture to lease use rights to KOC’s crude pipelines.
- Under the deal KOC will hold a 51% stake in the joint venture and retain exclusive operational and maintenance rights to 13 pipelines for 20.5 years in exchange for a volume-based tariff.
- The transaction will deliver $7.85 billion in upfront proceeds to KOC to fund capital spending, including a push to raise crude output toward four million barrels per day by 2035.
- KKR said this is its first direct investment in Kuwait and the financing is part of roughly $5 billion of equity commitments into the Middle East over the past 18 months, a vote of investor interest in Gulf energy assets.
- Security remains a key risk because recent Iranian strikes have hit regional infrastructure, including a Kuwaiti power and desalination plant, making protection of pipelines and related facilities a close focus for investors and officials.