Since 2019, the national oil and gas system reform has continued to advance “Controlling the middle and opening up the two ends” is the basic direction.
In October 2020, the newly established Pipe China Corporation took over 10 LNG terminals invested by three oil & gas companies (7 of which have been put into operation, with Diefu and Yuedong terminals in Guangdong province), and broken the previous monopoly situation of “integrated production, transportation and selling" by three SOE oil & gas companies in China, which opened the door to have LNG direct supply to end users in China.
The new policy encourages multi-channel and multi ownership enterprises in the upstream to import, explore and develop natural gas to supplement the shortage of domestic natural gas supply. The natural gas transportation pipe line network and sales will be separated, and Pipe China was established to form "one network in the country, fair and open", and further promote the fair opening of infrastructure to enable third parties access(TPA). In the downstream sector, it will deepen the reform of natural gas pricing, reduce taxes and fees, and increase the use of natural gas.
At present, there are 22 LNG terminals in operation and 13 under construction. The total annual capacity is 90 million tons, which is expected to reach 150-180 million tons in 5-10 years
