Pipeline Network Facilities (tentative) in April
2014. The measures state that: “the state shall
encourage and support various kinds of capital to
participate in the investment and construction of
natural gas infrastructure included in integrated
planning”; “third parties shall be allowed to use
gas infrastructure, including liquefied natural gas
(LNG) terminals”; “oil and gas pipeline network
operators shall, in the case of spare network
capacity, share their pipeline network facilities
equally with third-party market participants and
provide transport, storage, gasification, liquefaction, compression and other services”; and “oil
and gas pipeline network facility operators shall
use facility capacity to the full, ensure services
are maintained for existing users, and provide
access to the facilities for new users in a fair and
non-discriminatory manner”. After these measures were declared, some oil companies provided third parties with access to their LNG
terminals. For example, CNPC provided Beijing
Gas Group with access to its Dalian and
Tangshan LNG terminals and the YongqingTangshan-Qinhuangdao pipeline, thereby providing unloading, storage, gasification and
transmission services for imported LNG (450
million cubic metres of gas was transmitted in
2016). CNPC’s Caofeidian terminal received
15,000 tonnes of LNG imported by China Gas
from Nigeria. Sinopec transmitted 210 million
cubic metres of natural gas for Kunlun Gas,
China Gas, China Resources Gas and Shanxi
Guohua Energy. CNOOC transmitted 54 million
cubic metres of natural gas in its Guangdong gas
pipelines for China Resources Jiangmen and
ENN Dongguan.
To improve the supervision and regulation of
fair access to oil and gas pipeline facilities and to
provide information that could form the basis for
fair access, the NEA issued the Notice on
Information Disclosure of Access to Oil and Gas
Pipeline Facilities in September 2016. The notice
specifies the parties required to disclose information, the information to be disclosed, the
methods of disclosure and the arrangements for
supervision and regulation. CNOOC, Sinopec
and CNPC published on their websites the
information required on all their infrastructure,
including long-distance pipelines and LNG terminals. Some provinces, including Shanxi, also
disclosed information on their pipelines to the
public. After three years, gas infrastructure
information was transparent, providing the basis
for fair access to, and supervision and regulation
of, the facilities.
5.1.4 Reform of the Right to Import
Crude Oil and the Right
to Use It
Crude oil is imported to China by state-owned
and non-state-owned trading companies. Permits
for state-owned trading companies are issued by
the State Council. Those companies with permits
include Sinopec, CNPC, CNOOC and Sinochem.
Import volumes are not limited. Non-state-owned
trading companies are managed by quota. Their
import volumes are capped. Permits and import
volumes are managed by the Ministry of Commerce. Crude oil imported by non-state-owned
trading companies can enter approved refineries
only. There were more than 20 non-stateoperated trading companies before 2012,
importing around 10% of China’s total imported
crude oil. China began to deregulate crude oil
import rights in 2012, granting them to
state-owned enterprises like China National
Chemical Corporation, and in 2014 to private
companies like Xingjiang Guanghui Petroleum.
China began to speed up reform in 2015, by
extending the right to import and use crude oil to
approved Chinese refineries. The NDRC issued
the Notice on Issues Concerning Use Management of Imported Crude Oil in February 2015.
This allows crude oil processing companies that
meet energy consumption, quality, environmental and safety conditions to use imported crude
oil, on condition that they shut down outdated
capacity or construct gas storage facilities of a
certain size. The notice marks the point when
crude oil import rights were officially opened up
and the eradication of oil and gas monopolies
began to gain pace. In 2018, 32 local refineries
(excluding those operated by Sinochem) were
granted permits to import more than 90 million
tonnes of crude oil. The Ministry of Commerce
issued the Circular on the Application by Crude
458
S. Yaodong and A. Gillespie
2014. The measures state that: “the state shall
encourage and support various kinds of capital to
participate in the investment and construction of
natural gas infrastructure included in integrated
planning”; “third parties shall be allowed to use
gas infrastructure, including liquefied natural gas
(LNG) terminals”; “oil and gas pipeline network
operators shall, in the case of spare network
capacity, share their pipeline network facilities
equally with third-party market participants and
provide transport, storage, gasification, liquefaction, compression and other services”; and “oil
and gas pipeline network facility operators shall
use facility capacity to the full, ensure services
are maintained for existing users, and provide
access to the facilities for new users in a fair and
non-discriminatory manner”. After these measures were declared, some oil companies provided third parties with access to their LNG
terminals. For example, CNPC provided Beijing
Gas Group with access to its Dalian and
Tangshan LNG terminals and the YongqingTangshan-Qinhuangdao pipeline, thereby providing unloading, storage, gasification and
transmission services for imported LNG (450
million cubic metres of gas was transmitted in
2016). CNPC’s Caofeidian terminal received
15,000 tonnes of LNG imported by China Gas
from Nigeria. Sinopec transmitted 210 million
cubic metres of natural gas for Kunlun Gas,
China Gas, China Resources Gas and Shanxi
Guohua Energy. CNOOC transmitted 54 million
cubic metres of natural gas in its Guangdong gas
pipelines for China Resources Jiangmen and
ENN Dongguan.
To improve the supervision and regulation of
fair access to oil and gas pipeline facilities and to
provide information that could form the basis for
fair access, the NEA issued the Notice on
Information Disclosure of Access to Oil and Gas
Pipeline Facilities in September 2016. The notice
specifies the parties required to disclose information, the information to be disclosed, the
methods of disclosure and the arrangements for
supervision and regulation. CNOOC, Sinopec
and CNPC published on their websites the
information required on all their infrastructure,
including long-distance pipelines and LNG terminals. Some provinces, including Shanxi, also
disclosed information on their pipelines to the
public. After three years, gas infrastructure
information was transparent, providing the basis
for fair access to, and supervision and regulation
of, the facilities.
5.1.4 Reform of the Right to Import
Crude Oil and the Right
to Use It
Crude oil is imported to China by state-owned
and non-state-owned trading companies. Permits
for state-owned trading companies are issued by
the State Council. Those companies with permits
include Sinopec, CNPC, CNOOC and Sinochem.
Import volumes are not limited. Non-state-owned
trading companies are managed by quota. Their
import volumes are capped. Permits and import
volumes are managed by the Ministry of Commerce. Crude oil imported by non-state-owned
trading companies can enter approved refineries
only. There were more than 20 non-stateoperated trading companies before 2012,
importing around 10% of China’s total imported
crude oil. China began to deregulate crude oil
import rights in 2012, granting them to
state-owned enterprises like China National
Chemical Corporation, and in 2014 to private
companies like Xingjiang Guanghui Petroleum.
China began to speed up reform in 2015, by
extending the right to import and use crude oil to
approved Chinese refineries. The NDRC issued
the Notice on Issues Concerning Use Management of Imported Crude Oil in February 2015.
This allows crude oil processing companies that
meet energy consumption, quality, environmental and safety conditions to use imported crude
oil, on condition that they shut down outdated
capacity or construct gas storage facilities of a
certain size. The notice marks the point when
crude oil import rights were officially opened up
and the eradication of oil and gas monopolies
began to gain pace. In 2018, 32 local refineries
(excluding those operated by Sinochem) were
granted permits to import more than 90 million
tonnes of crude oil. The Ministry of Commerce
issued the Circular on the Application by Crude
458
S. Yaodong and A. Gillespie