Aramco has agreed to a $15.5 billion lease and leaseback transaction with a consortium led by BlackRock Real Assets and Hassana Investment Company, the investment management arm of Saudi Arabia’s General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI).

Aramco will own a 51% majority ownership in its newly formed subsidiary Aramco Gas Pipeline Company and sell the remaining 49% to investors led by BlackRock and Hassana. The new company will lease usage rights in Aramco’s gas pipeline network for 20 years before returning them to Aramco. In exchange, Aramco Gas Pipelines Company will be paid a tariff for the gas products that will flow via the network, as well as minimum throughput commitments.

The Chairman and CEO of BlackRock, Larry Fink, said: “Aramco and Saudi Arabia are taking meaningful, forward-looking steps to transition the Saudi economy toward renewables, clean hydrogen, and a net zero future. Responsibly-managed natural gas infrastructure has a meaningful role to play in this transition.”

“We plan to continue to explore opportunities to capitalize on our industry-leading capabilities and attract the right type of investment to Saudi Arabia,” Aramco’s president and CEO Amin Nasser said at the closing of the deal.

The gas pipelines transaction is Aramco’s second big infrastructure asset sale this year. Earlier this year, the Saudi corporation sold a 49% stake in its oil pipeline business to a consortium led by US EIG Global Energy Partners for $12.4 billion, marking its first large asset transfer.