On June 7, 2021, the National Development and Reform Commission issued the "Interim Measures for the Administration of Natural Gas Pipeline Transportation Prices" and the "Interim Measures for the Supervision and Review of Pricing Costs for Natural Gas Pipeline Transportation", which are important measures for deepening China's oil and gas system reform.
Two measures, in accordance with the overall requirements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council on deepening the reform of the oil and gas system, aim to improve the pricing mechanism for natural gas pipeline transportation, standardize the supervision and review of pricing costs, strengthen price supervision in natural monopoly links, and promote high-quality development of the natural gas industry.
The "Interim Measures for the Administration of Natural Gas Pipeline Transportation Prices" clarify the pricing principles, methods, and regulatory requirements for pipeline transportation prices, and establish a price management system that adapts to the "National One Network" operation mode. The Pricing Cost Supervision and Audit Office Regulations provide detailed regulations on the cost composition, supervision procedures, and cost verification standards of pipeline transportation enterprises, providing institutional guarantees for scientifically determining pipeline transportation prices.
Industry experts say that the introduction of these two measures marks the further improvement of China's natural gas pipeline transportation price supervision system, which is conducive to promoting the formation of a unified, open, and competitive natural gas market system, and accelerating the formation of an oil and gas market pattern with multiple upstream resources and channels, efficient gathering and transportation of intermediate unified pipeline networks, and full competition in downstream sales markets.