Following the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the Ministry of Commerce have also successively made statements from their respective perspectives on addressing the natural gas supply gap issue. On December 7th, Beijing Business Journal reporter learned from the industry that the Ministry of Ecology and Environment has issued an emergency document to the "2+26" cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and surrounding areas, titled "Letter on Requesting Comprehensive Treatment of Small Coal and Ensuring the Warm Winter for the Public." It clearly states that for coal-to-gas (electricity) projects not yet completed and localities, the past coal-burning heating methods or other alternative methods should continue to be used. Meanwhile, at the Ministry of Commerce's regular press conference on the same day, spokesperson Fenggang also made it clear that China actively supports enterprises in diversifying their imports of overseas natural gas resources. However, in the industry's view, the slow progress of gas storage facility construction and the entire oil and gas system reform process are the core issues that China needs to face in the natural gas supply process.
Join forces to ensure supply
As China's energy structure continues to evolve, natural gas's role in energy consumption is increasingly strengthened, with its importance in heating and power supply continually increasing.
However, the document issued by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment also points out that recently, during the verification process, the Ministry has discovered issues such as a shortage of gas sources during the heating season in some regions. Therefore, the document states that in the progress of coal-burning treatment, completed projects and localities must ensure a stable supply of gas and electricity as well as stable pricing.
On the same day, Fenggang also clarified his stance on ensuring natural gas supply from the import perspective, "Our country attaches great importance to the guarantee of natural gas supply and actively supports enterprises in increasing domestic natural gas production while diversifying imports of overseas natural gas resources." Fenggang said that with the completion and operation of new cross-border natural gas pipelines, coastal liquefied natural gas receiving stations, and other infrastructure, our country's import capacity and level of natural gas is expected to be further enhanced.
On the other hand, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the authority in charge of pricing, has also started to strictly regulate the prices of natural gas supply. Data shows that the price of liquefied natural gas at the factory has surged sharply in the short term, reaching a historical peak of 9,400 yuan/ton on December 1st. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the market price for this product was only 4,337 yuan/ton at the end of October. Beijing Business Journal reporter learned from the industry that the NDRC has issued a "Notice on Deploying a Meeting to Remind and Advise on Liquefied Natural Gas Price Regulatory Policies" to local NDRCs (Price Bureaus) across the country, clearly reminding and advising liquefied natural gas enterprises and relevant social organizations to:自觉 comply with price laws and regulations, maintain industry price order, refrain from fabricating and spreading price increase information, from malicious hoarding and price gouging, from abusing market dominance, and from entering into monopolistic agreements, etc.
