Heilongjiang Natural Gas Pipeline Network Company, which has been listed for less than one year, has entered the embarrassing situation of entering and leaving the valley. “The related work of Heilongjiang Natural Gas Pipeline Network Company has basically stagnated and it is almost impossible to carry out.” Some people in the gas industry in Heilongjiang Province told eo.

The resistance of the Heilongjiang provincial network is not sudden, and there is a signal at the beginning of the formation. The bidding for the Heilongjiang natural gas pipeline network is scheduled for the end of January 2018, and the listing was established in July 2018. The establishment of the natural gas pipeline network in Heilongjiang Province is a provincial-level natural gas pipeline network company established by the Heilongjiang Provincial Development and Reform Commission under the decision of the Heilongjiang Provincial Party Committee and the provincial government. As a local enterprise, it will carry the will of the local government when it is formed. The relevant personnel of the Oil and Gas Department of the Heilongjiang Development and Reform Commission said in an interview with the media that the establishment of the Heilongjiang Natural Gas Pipeline Network Company is also a major investment attraction.

Through bidding, Heilongjiang Natural Gas Pipeline Company introduced Beijing Gas Group Co., Ltd. (30%), Zhonghua Gas Industry (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. (25%), Shaanxi Natural Gas Co., Ltd. (20%), Xinao (China) Gas Investment Co., Ltd. (15%).

However, this list of shareholders does not have PetroChina's dominant position in the Heilongjiang natural gas market. According to industry insiders, PetroChina has proposed to hold the Heilongjiang provincial network with 50% or more equity, but it was rejected by the Heilongjiang provincial government. Some people also pointed out that PetroChina missed the opportunity to buy shares due to non-compliance with documents at the time of bidding.

The provincial network company docked PetroChina on the gas source and pipeline route, and PetroChina basically avoided it. "The natural gas people in Heilongjiang Province said that the original intention of the Heilongjiang government to set up a provincial-level pipe network company is to seize the opportunity of the entry of Russian gas, and start the investment construction of the province's "one network" around the use of Russian gas and the interconnection of pipelines.

According to the plan, after the completion of the Heilongjiang Natural Gas Pipeline Network Company, the construction of the dry branch pipeline network directly connected with the Sino-Russian East Line natural gas pipeline will be started. At the end of 2018, the Heilongjiang Development and Reform Commission approved the approval of the Heihe River Line project of the first phase of the Heilongjiang Natural Gas Pipeline Project. The branch pipeline has a mileage of 12.5 kilometers and an estimated investment of 69.39 million yuan. This is the only project currently launched by Heilongjiang Province. The pipeline was originally planned to start construction at the end of 2018 and has not yet started. It is understood that the main reason is that there is no agreement with PetroChina on the opening of the pipeline. "The parameters of the upstream pipeline are not available, and there is no way for the feasibility study to proceed." People in Heilongjiang Province told eo。

In addition, according to informed sources, as of now, many cities and counties near the Sino-Russian line have signed an agreement with China Petroleum to initially determine the willingness to supply gas. The construction of the “one network” in the province has not been really difficult to start.

In order to save the progress of the project by the provincial network company, the shareholders of Heilongjiang government and Heilongjiang provincial network intend to introduce China Petroleum into the stock and even control. At the moment when the national pipe network company is about to come to a close, the PetroChina holding Heilongjiang provincial network may be just a wishful thinking of the place.

For the difficulties encountered by the Heilongjiang provincial network, natural gas people in Heilongjiang Province bluntly said that there were signs earlier, but they did not expect that the difficulties would be so great. "At the time, I felt that the Longjiang government's determination was great, but then the situation changed and the conditions were not available." Some shareholders said frankly.

At the same time, due to the localization management of the routing approval authority, the construction of the provincial branch line that PetroChina intends to carry out has also entered a stagnation phase.

Guangdong Province network rushed to work in the province

In preparation for the establishment of the provincial-level pipe network, Heilongjiang conducted a more detailed investigation of the provincial-level pipe network operation in the country, trying to learn from the operational experience of other provinces. The important target of the reference is the Guangdong model.

The natural gas pipeline network company in Guangdong Province, which has been quiet for nearly 10 years, has ushered in a new stage of development since the second half of 2017. In June 2017, Guangdong Natural Gas Pipeline Network Co., Ltd. was reorganized. The restructuring, the introduction of PetroChina's shareholding, and the realization of the Yudean Group with a 28% stake relative to the holding of Guangdong Province natural gas pipeline network company.

In the winter of 2017, due to the tight supply of gas in the north, in order to protect the north, the natural gas pipeline network in Guangdong Province was used as a channel, and through the gas displacement method, the “southern gas transmission” was successfully realized, and the province’s “one network” was played. Advantage. Thereafter, by the winter of 2018, due to the need for interconnection and security, Guangdong's provincial network continued to play a role in the “southern gas transmission”.

Since 2018, the province's pipeline construction, which has been stagnant for many years in Guangdong Province, has started again.

In September 2018, the Huizhou-Heyuan branch line project of the Yuedong Natural Gas Main Pipeline Network was approved by the Guangdong Provincial Development and Reform Commission. The Huizhou-Heyuan branch line project is an important part of the “13th Five-Year Plan” for energy development in Guangdong Province. The construction of the project can undertake the supply of natural gas to Guangdong Province in the third line of the West-East Gas Pipeline, and realize the management with Guangdong Province. The first and second phases of the network are connected.

In October 2018, the Zhaoqing-Yunfu branch trunk line project of the natural gas main pipeline network of Yuexi started, and the Zhaoqing-Yunfu trunk line was the first project in the natural gas main pipeline network project of Yuedong Yueyue and Yuebei. This marked the shift of the focus of the construction of “one province's one network” from the Pearl River Delta to the east and west wings and the northern part of Guangdong Province, which opened the prelude to the construction of the natural gas pipeline network in Yuedong, Guangdong, and Guangdong.

At present, Guangdong Natural Gas Pipeline Network Co., Ltd. is stepping up its work to complete the pipeline construction task of 21 cities in the province completed by the Guangdong Provincial Government in 2020. Various signals indicate that the Guangdong provincial government is determined to build a “one network” of natural gas in the province, and even proposes to support the construction of “one network” in the province by means of financial subsidies to solve the problem of losses in the Guangdong provincial network.

In the context of the tight supply of the domestic natural gas market, coupled with the support of the Guangdong Provincial Government, the Guangdong Natural Gas Pipeline Company has swept the past haze and has more chips with the gas source.

In mid-March this year, the Guangdong Branch of PetroChina Natural Gas Sales issued a letter of advice to users in Guangdong Province about the end of winter supply and the maintenance of the current pressure on the Guangdong Provincial Pipeline Network. In the letter of advice, PetroChina complained that the maintenance of the Guangdong Provincial Pipeline Network to maintain high pressure will make PetroChina face the risk of not being able to supply gas to downstream users.

Some people familiar with the operation of the natural gas pipeline network in Guangdong Province told eo: "In the past, PetroChina was delivered to the user by the Guangdong Provincial Pipeline Network with 4Mpa. The design pressure of the Guangdong Provincial Pipe Network is 9.2Mpa. In the process of China Petroleum Substituting, it is quite 'accepted'. In the past, the current Guangdong Province pipe network can maintain the high-pressure operation of the pipe network by transferring other gas volumes, and improve the operation efficiency of the pipe network. Satisfy."

However, with the approach of the national oil and gas pipeline reform approaching, whether the Guangdong pipeline network that was built to catch up with the construction industry was finally rejected as the “national team” is still full of uncertainty.

Jiangsu launches new provincial-level pipe network construction

On the occasion of the delay in the construction of the national oil and gas pipeline network, the newly established provincial-level natural gas pipeline network company in Jiangsu, the largest province for domestic natural gas consumption, has quietly established for five months.

The newly established Jiangsu Coastal Gas Transmission Pipeline Co., Ltd. is 100% owned by Jiangsu State-owned Assets. Its shareholders are Jiangsu Guoxin Group Co., Ltd. (51%), Xuzhou Mining Group Co., Ltd. (38%), Jiangsu Coastal Development Group Co., Ltd. (10%), China Jiangsu International Economic and Technical Cooperation Group Co., Ltd. (1%) ). According to the requirements of the Jiangsu Provincial Government, the newly established Jiangsu Coastal Gas Pipeline Company will carry out the construction of the coastal pipe network in accordance with the “Jiangsu Provincial Coastal Pipeline Special Plan (2018-2022)”.

According to the "Jiangsu Province Coastal Pipeline Special Plan", Jiangsu will deploy a coastal gas pipeline from north to south, which will contact the six LNG receiving stations that have been built and planned. At the same time, the pipe network also plans to connect the gas storage warehouse, and reserved the inter-provincial link line interfaces of Anhui, Henan and Shandong.

The coastal pipeline in Jiangsu Province is the provincial-level pipe network construction plan with the longest investment scale in domestic planning and construction.

The Jiangsu coastal pipeline to be launched will be positioned for interconnection, public distribution, fair opening, and market carriers. The coastal pipeline will assume the functions of public infrastructure, open to all types of entities, and not engage in natural gas sales and sales.

After the completion of the Jiangsu coastal gas pipeline, it will become the second provincial network in Jiangsu Province and the largest one. In addition, Jiangsu Provincial Natural Gas Co., Ltd., an existing provincial network company, is a joint venture between Jiangsu Guoxin Group and Sinopec. The main business area is Sunan. Due to the lack of resources of Sinopec, the development of the provincial pipe network company has been stalled for many years.

Provincial Pipe Network and National Pipe Network: Competition and Cooperation

How does the national pipe network company develop, and how will the relationship between the national pipe network and the provincial pipe network develop? There are different opinions in the industry.

Yang Jianhong, chairman and chief researcher of Beijing Shichuang Energy Consulting Co., said in an interview with eo that the national pipe network should be competitive and cooperative with the regional provincial network.

From the perspective of natural gas logistics, natural gas reaches the end users, and the national pipe network and the regional provincial pipe network need to be interconnected and cooperated to achieve the smooth circulation of natural gas resources. “The national network is dedicated to the country. It mainly controls the national trunk pipelines and feeder lines; the provincial pipeline network is in the region, and it mainly controls provincial trunk lines and feeder lines.”

Yang Jianhong analyzed that in the future, the national pipe network and the provincial pipe network may have a competitive relationship on some key routes, such as parallel routing. How to coordinate and handle the contradiction and competition between the two? "The best way is to take some of the key provincial routes of intestinal obstruction to the national pipeline."

Previously, many people in the industry worried that after the establishment of the national pipe network company, it will face difficulties in coordination with the provincial pipe network. In the process of the establishment of the national pipe network, the local government will enlarge and strengthen the provincial pipe network, and the pipeline construction in the beach area will not be conducive to the future development of the national pipe network. Yang Jianhong believes that the current provincial highway construction is a good thing for the development of the entire natural gas industry.

"The current domestic natural gas pipeline construction capacity is insufficient. Accelerating pipeline construction will help meet the needs of natural gas development and achieve smooth resource allocation." Yang Jianhong said.

In addition, some local governments are worried that the provincial pipe network may be included in the national pipe network company in the future reform. Yang Jianhong believes that if the national pipe network reform is to take the step of accommodating the provincial pipe network, then for the local government In other words, these pipeline assets can achieve a premium, why not?

For the national pipe network that is about to land, the mentality of each local government is different. Some places have hoped for the independence of the national pipe network to break the interests and contradictions that are intertwined with the upstream gas source.

For example, the current Heilongjiang Pipeline Network Company and PetroChina's opening rights, gas source and market competition issues, along with the landing of the national pipeline company, the issue of the right to open is expected to usher in a turning point.

Some provinces are also worried that after the establishment of the national management network, it will limit the development and construction of its provincial pipelines, and the development prospects of the provincial network are uncertain.

As the relevant reform plan has not yet been announced, the future division of labor between the provincial pipe network company and the national pipeline company is still unclear. However, it is basically certain that this round of provincial-level pipe network is bigger and stronger, and it is also a "good thing" for local and national gas pipeline network construction.