Kuwait agrees to buy North Sea oil pipeline firm

Kuwait's sovereign wealth fund has agreed to buy out a North Sea oil and gas firm in a $1.7 billion deal, according to Reuters news agency.

The UK's North Sea Midstream Partners (NSMP) rejected bids from JP Morgan and others and agreed to the sale to Wren House, the London-based infrastructure investment arm of the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA).

"Wren House was bidding against some very big players and they simply offered the best terms," a source told the news agency, despite the bid being lower from others.

Wren House is the infrastructure arms of KIA and run by Hakim Drissi Kaitouni.

KIA is the world's oldest sovereign wealth fund and the fourth largest in the world - after Norway, China and the UAE - managing $592 billion.

In the UK, it has invested in London City Airport and Thames Water, among others.

NSMP owns some of the North Sea's biggest pipelines, terminals and processing plants. 

North Sea oil and gas has helped make Norway hugely wealthy and also benefited the UK, Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany.

Kuwait is OPEC's third biggest producer and has 8 percent of the world's oil supplies.