Kuwait Said to Mull Pipeline Deal to Raise Billions

Kuwait Petroleum Corp. is considering leasing part of its pipeline network to help fund a $65 billion investment plan that covers everything from upstream to petrochemicals, according to people familiar with the matter.

Centerview Partners LLC is advising the state-backed firm on the deal, one of the people said, asking not to be identified discussing non-public information. The transaction would likely be similar to those done by neighboring Gulf states like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates that have sought to monetize government assets to attract foreign investment. 

KPC is aiming to raise $5 billion to $7 billion through the deal, two of the people said. As part of the transaction, the firm is weighing leasing 13 pipelines over 25 years, the people said.

Deliberations are ongoing and no final decisions have been made, the people said. The plan would also still require the final approval of the government of Kuwait, which is OPEC’s fifth-biggest producer. 

Representatives for KPC and Centerview declined to comment.

Foreign Investment

KPC’s investment program, which began in April 2024, includes plans to spend about $33 billion on boosting oil production capacity toward a 4 million barrel-a-day target by 2035.

Chief Executive Officer Sheikh Nawaf Al-Sabah told Bloomberg News in November that the firm is considering multiple funding sources for future projects, including possible pipeline deals.

“I’m looking at where the cheapest money is going to come from,” Sheikh Nawaf said in an interview. “If it comes from a pipeline monetization deal, which would be open to domestic and foreign investors, like what Adnoc and Aramco did recently, I’ll pursue that.” 

Any such agreement would likely be done through “lease and leasebacks,” he said at the time.

The latest deliberations come just weeks after BlackRock Inc.’s Global Infrastructure Partners signed a $11 billion deal to lease the infrastructure serving the Jafurah gas project and then rent it back to Aramco for 20 years. 

Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. sold a 40 percent stake in its oil pipeline network to BlackRock Inc. and KKR & Co. in 2019, though an entity based in the emirate bought back that stake. Adnoc also sold a stake in its gas pipeline unit to an investor group led by GIP, while an investor group led by BlackRock acquired 49 percent of Aramco Gas Pipelines Co. some years ago.