Necessity for establishing a state-owned natural gas pipeline company and proposals

At present, the rapid development of China's natural gas industry is still restricted by several factors. For example, gas transportation and marketing are bound together, the pipeline is not fairly accessible to the third party and the pipeline transportation price is generally higher. Therefore, pipeline network reformation is extremely urgent. In this paper, development status, management systems/ mechanisms and existing issues of natural gas pipelines in China and some developed countries around the world were investigated. It was proposed that a state-owned natural gas pipeline company is an optimal option for the independence of natural gas pipeline network in China, since it is conducive to the realization of market-based natural gas pricing, the reduction of pipeline transportation price, the enlargement of natural gas application scale and the improvement of pipeline peak shaving and emergent supply capacity. In view of the situations in China, it is recommended to implement the reformation from the following aspects. First, establish a state-owned natural gas pipeline company step by step. Second, separate the gas marketing from the gas transportation compulsorily as soon as possible. Third, put it in the pipeline scope of the state-owned pipeline company definitely. Fourth, reform the pipeline construction examination & approval and management mechanisms. Fifth, monitor and inspect the cost of the state-owned pipeline company and control its income level strictly. Sixth, get policy support from relevant authorities. Seventh, speed up the construction of peak-shaving gas storage facilities. Eighth, conduct agent-construction and buy-back mechanism of supporting pipelines for new gas source projects. And ninth, strengthen the study on high-efficiency safe operation mechanisms of the state-owned pipeline company. © 2016, Natural Gas Industry Journal Agency. All right reserved.