São Paulo – Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), the Gulf country’s state-owned oil and gas company, announced over the weekend that its subsidiary, Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), had signed a USD 16 billion agreement with international companies in what it described as the largest foreign direct investment in Kuwait’s history.
Dubbed Project Peregrine, the agreement involves a lease-and-leaseback transaction covering the country’s domestic and export pipeline network with an investor consortium led by Blackstone, Brookfield and KKR. KOC is responsible for the exploration, production and transportation of crude oil in Kuwait.
A newly established joint venture will lease from KOC the rights to use all 13 of its pipelines, spanning about 320 kilometers. In return, the joint venture will grant KOC the exclusive rights to use, operate and maintain the pipelines for 20.5 years under a volume-based tariff arrangement. KOC will hold a 51% stake in the joint venture, while the consortium will collectively own the remaining 49%.
According to KPC, the deal is expected to generate an initial USD 7.85 billion in proceeds for KOC upon closing, supporting KPC’s capital investment plans, including its goal of increasing crude oil production capacity to 4 million barrels per day by 2035.
“Project Peregrine represents the largest foreign direct investment in Kuwait’s history and a defining milestone for our country’s economic development,” KPC Vice Chairman and CEO Shaikh Nawaf Saud Al-Sabah said in a statement. He described Blackstone, Brookfield and KKR as long-term partners. “Their investment reflects confidence in Kuwait’s resilience, the quality of KPC’s assets and our long-term vision for the country’s energy sector.”
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Translated by Guilherme Miranda
