KPC has held early talks with a group of investment firms as it aims to monetize its crude oil pipeline network through ‘lease and leaseback’ agreements. Reuters reported on 24 February that these ‘Shaheen’ initiative meetings involved BlackRock, Brookfield Asset Management, EIG Partners, KKR, China Silk Road Fund, China Merchants Capital, I Squared Capital and Macquarie Infrastructure Partners.
Kuwait launched the Shaheen initiative in early February, and hopes it can raise up to $7bn for KPC to reinvest in its core operations (MEES, 6 February). Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmed Al Abdullah Al Sabah said that the project will represent “the largest single foreign direct investment in the history of the Kuwaiti oil sector.” (CONTINUED - 136 WORDS)