BLK - Blackrock closes on Saudi natural gas pipeline

In a ~$16b deal announced in December, a Blackrock (NYSE:BLK) consortium made plans to acquire a 49% stake in a Saudi natural gas pipeline. The pipe will be used by Aramco (ARMCO), under a 20-year tolling agreement. The transaction closed earlier Wednesday.   The consortium is comprised of Blackrock (BLK) alongside Singapore-based Keppel Infrastructure Trust, China-based Silk Road Fund, and the Saudi state-owned Hassana Investment Co.  The transaction comes as efforts to expand pipeline capacity in the US and Canada have been hit by cost overruns (NYSE:KMI), and shifting policy measures (NYSE:ETRN) (NYSE:TELL). With Blackrock's Fink changing his tune on energy stocks, and the White House increasingly seeking fossil fuel supplies, perhaps some of the ESG barriers to domestic pipeline development ease in coming quarters.

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Blackrock closes on Saudi natural gas pipeline