National Petroleum & Natural Gas Pipe Network Group Co., Ltd. Official Established!

According to the report of the Xinhua News Agency, the China National Petroleum and Natural Gas Pipe Network Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as National Pipe Network Company) was officially established in Beijing on Dec. 9, 2019, which marking a key step forward in the market-oriented reform of the operation mechanism of oil and natural gas pipeline network in China.

 The National Pipe Network Company is currently set up, and assets and specific personnel will be further adjusted until probably the end of 2020. At present, National Pipe Network Company consists of nine departments and four centers, including technology, procurement and pipeline construction.

Te members of the preparatory group include key executives from PetroChina, Sinopec and CNOOC. Assets range from major long-haul pipelines, some underground gas storage and LNG receiving stations from three major oil companies in China. Specifically, it includes: natural gas pipelines and affiliated facilities with designed maximum working pressure greater than 4Mpa and crude oil and product pipelines with maximum working pressure greater than or equal to 6.4mpa, which are wholly owned or controlled by the three major oil companies. In addition, assets also include the pipeline scheduling business of the three major oil companies, the provincial pipeline network equity held by the three major oil companies, part of the LNG receiving stations and gas storage reservoirs.

The National Pipe Network Company is the product of China's deepening reform of oil and gas system. Its main responsibilities are to take charge of the investment and construction of the national oil and gas pipelines, part of the facilities for storing and regulating gas peaks, as well as the interconnection of different level of pipelines to forming a "national pipe network". At the same time, it is also responsible for the pipeline transportation of crude oil, refined oil and natural gas, the unified operation and scheduling of the national oil and gas pipeline network and disclosure of capactiy of the remaining pipeline transportation and storage to the public regularly, to realize a fair and open infrastructure to all eligible users.

The establishment of the national pipe network company will further improve the marketization degree of the oil and gas industry, promote the participation of diversified players in the market, and improve the ability of infrastructure construction, which is an important step of China's oil and gas marketization reform.