Open up "point supply" and promote positive competition in pipeline gas

The reform of the oil and gas pipeline network is still on the way, but breakthrough measures in some places have brought considerable competitive pressure to the pipeline network. According to recent interviews, Shandong Province has issued multiple documents to encourage industrial natural gas users to make market-oriented choices for pipeline gas, CNG, and LNG gas sources. In the eyes of industry experts, this is a groundbreaking proposal that means opening up market access and allowing "point supply" to compete with pipeline gas.

Shandong opens up 'point supply'

The so-called "point-to-point" supply refers to the natural gas "point-to-point" supply mode, which is to select a location to build a gasification station among one or more adjacent end users, and then lay a local pipeline network to achieve small-scale local gas supply and consumption.

The province that explicitly opens up "point supply" is Shandong. The Provincial Department of Housing and Urban Rural Development recently issued a documentImplementation Plan for Implementing the Opinions of the Provincial Government on Accelerating the Clean Utilization of CoalAmong them, it is proposed to encourage the adoption of LNG and CNG gas supply stations as transitional models and establish and improve natural gas reserve peak shaving stations. ”Afterwards, the Development and Reform Commission of Shandong Province issued the "Guiding Opinions on Accelerating the Development of Natural Gas Utilization", requiring that by 2020, the province's natural gas consumption strive to reach 25 billion cubic meters, accounting for more than 7% of energy consumption. It is specifically mentioned that industrial natural gas users are encouraged to make market-oriented choices for pipeline gas, CNG, and LNG gas sources.

In the view of Liu Yijun, a professor at the School of Business Administration of China University of Petroleum, this is a groundbreaking proposal because market-oriented choice means opening up market access and allowing LNG "point supply" to compete with pipeline gas.

Throughout‘LNG point supply’There is a legal ambiguity. For safety and other reasons, many places require‘LNG point supply’We adopt a cautious attitude. Shandong's approach has made a breakthrough in this regard, and in my impression, it is still at the provincial level. ”Liu Yijun said.

Reduce gas costs

Breakthrough allowed“LNG point supply”Or it may be related to the special investment distribution and gas supply pattern of Shandong's pipeline network. Due to the large number of refining and gas consuming enterprises in Shandong Province itself, and the early layout of the two major oil companies in the local area, there are many investment entities in the local natural gas pipeline, with a high density of pipeline networks and overlapping branches. As a result, the provincial government can only adopt the method of "one network, one core" for pipeline transportation fees.

In the above context, 'point supply' has its place. In order to reduce the cost of gas consumption within the province and improve competition in the natural gas terminal market, the Shandong Provincial Government has opened up the door to "point supply".

Liu Yijun told the Shanghai Stock Exchange reporter that after allowing LNG "point supply", some companies with LNG resources can directly deliver natural gas to customers through tank trucks. In some places, during the process of developing coal to gas conversion, projects are increasingly far away from cities, and objectively, it is necessary to ensure gas supply. Therefore, the "point supply" method has been adopted.

The potential of the "point supply" model should not be underestimated

Previously, 'point supply' was usually not within the area of franchise rights, so there was no competition issue. However, in recent years, with the expansion of the natural gas market, various parties have also been competing for market share, and conflicts have emerged. Traditional distribution networks have begun to penetrate into the past 'point supply' areas, and 'point supply' is also bringing impact to traditional gas distributors. However, relatively speaking, this part of regulation is relatively weak, and there were no relevant supporting measures in the past. Liu Yijun said that 'point supply' projects urgently need to be standardized due to issues such as mixed quality, safety, and short-term behavior.

The reporter noticed that the Office of Zibo Municipal Government in Shandong Province recently issued a documentOpinions on Strengthening the Safety Management of Self provided Gas Supply Stations in Industrial EnterprisesStandardize the LNG "point supply" market.

Although the current 'point supply' model still has a very small market share in the entire natural gas terminal market, its development potential should not be underestimated. Professor Guo Qingfang from China University of Petroleum said that for state-owned oil companies, the 'point supply' model may not only expand the demand scale, enrich the content and form of the domestic natural gas terminal market, but also squeeze the * of state-owned oil companies in the domestic natural gas terminal consumption field.

To this end, he suggested that PetroChina take practical and effective measures, including moderately changing the original integrated model of natural gas production, supply, and sales, allowing each link to independently coordinate and arrange its own gas suppliers and end consumer markets, while implementing a more scientific and strategic layout of gas supply and consumption regions, and even fully utilizing the "point supply" model to consolidate and strengthen its dominant position in the domestic natural gas market.

At the recent 2017 annual shareholders' meeting of China National Petroleum Corporation, Chairman Wang Yilin specifically mentioned that this year we will focus on resource coordination and market development, and improve the operational level of natural gas and pipeline businesses.

With the transition from coal to gasPoint supplyThe user policy has been fully implemented, and a nationwide 'coal ban order' has been launched. Coal fired boilers are gradually being phased out, while the number of gas-fired boilers is increasing,Natural gas pricesAs market demand continues to rise. Driven by profit, some gas merchants, in order to obtain considerable economic profitsMixing liquid nitrogen into LNGAccording to industry insiders, liquid nitrogen was originally only used to adjust the fixed calorific value of LNG, but due to profit driven factors, it has gradually become a method for some illegal merchants to make profits. Shanghai Xuansheng Company has developed a convenient solution to recover losses for LNG users in response to this phenomenonPortable fully automatic gas calorific value analyzerIt can achieve full analysis of nitrogen, methane, ethane, carbon dioxide, propane, butane, pentane and other components in various gases with a single injection. A method of using calorific value software to automatically calculate the content of detected gas components, high calorific value, low calorific value, density, relative density, white number, combustion potential, and generate reportsNatural gas analyzer for natural gasAnalysis instrument.