The Globe and Mail reports in its Monday edition that Kuwait Petroleum Corp. has signed a $16-billion (U.S.) deal to lease and lease back its crude oil pipeline network with a consortium comprising Blackstone, Brookfield and KKR. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe quotes the state-owned Gulf oil company saying on Saturday that it was the largest foreign direct investment in the country's history. Under the investment called Project Peregrine, KPC's unit Kuwait Oil Company is establishing a joint venture with the three global investors in a lease and leaseback structure for a 20.5-year period that includes a volume-based tariff. "This transaction sends a powerful signal that Kuwait continues to rise as an attractive destination for global capital, even amid a challenging regional environment," the statement said. The process for the stake sale was launched just before joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran on Feb. 28. Iran continues to attack infrastructure in Kuwait after an interim truce between the U.S. and Iran that was meant to end the war collapsed last month. The KPC deal is part of a broader push by Gulf state oil companies and sovereign investors to raise funds from infrastructure assets and attract foreign capital.