The operation mode of the whole industrial chain is a new driving force for the development of the natural gas market



Characteristics and changes of natural gas industry chain

Xie Dan introduced that natural gas, as a clean energy, is a fuel and chemical raw material, and the key to its industrial operation lies in three links: first, the acquisition of natural gas resources; The second is the construction of facilities to distribute natural gas to customers; The third is the user.

The acquisition of natural gas mainly includes natural gas exploration and development, surface gathering and transportation, processing and metering handover. The traditional form of natural gas trade is that production enterprises sell gas to traders or end users through pipelines. With the development of natural gas liquefaction technology, trade in liquid products has gotten rid of the constraints of pipelines, completely changed the form of natural gas trade, increased the flexibility and market scale of natural gas trade, and opened up new space for the development of natural gas market.

Natural gas distribution facilities are basically connected into a network based on the construction of trans-regional long-distance pipelines, regional distribution pipelines and user pipelines. Long distance pipeline transportation scale is limited by pipe diameter and pressure, the cost is huge; With the development of natural gas liquefaction and equipment technology, LNG distribution methods have developed rapidly, breaking the requirement that natural gas distribution must rely on seamless pipeline connection, and a new business model has emerged: natural gas liquefaction plant + sea transport (land transport) + LNG offloading storage + direct supply to users (or LNG into the pipeline network nearby).

The user is the end of the industrial chain, which is currently mainly divided into urban civil gas, industrial fuel, power generation fuel, vehicle (ship) fuel and industrial raw materials. Different types of users use gas law and dependence is different, because natural gas is a common alternative energy, not necessary energy, so the development of natural gas users is affected by a variety of factors.

Natural gas consumption law and business model

As a fuel, natural gas consumption has obvious seasonal characteristics. Winter consumption is about 20% more than summer consumption, and it is also greatly affected by user consumption fluctuations. Therefore, how to ensure the smooth distribution and supply of natural gas is the key to the business model. The distribution system must have facilities to cope with fluctuations, so gas storage facilities are particularly important in the natural gas operation business environment, and are an important part of the formation of a complete natural gas business supply model.

In a natural gas distribution system relying on pipelines, the greatest benefit is to ensure the maximum transmission efficiency of the pipeline network. However, the fluctuating digestiability of the pipeline cannot meet the balanced operation frequently. Therefore, it is necessary to build certain peaking gas storage facilities to ensure the stable load and safe operation of the pipeline network, and at the same time ensure the maximum return of assets. The biggest benefit of the receiving station based natural gas distribution system is to ensure the maximum turnover efficiency of the receiving station, and the supporting gas storage system is more important. Therefore, the construction of certain gas storage facilities in the supply chain to balance the internal and regulate the market can achieve the continuity of natural gas supply and maximize business benefits. Xie Dan said that creating an internal control market is the key to achieving a sound business model.

Changes in the development and operation of natural gas industry chain

The natural gas industry and trade have undergone great changes in the past decade with the development of technology. Upstream production: Due to the progress of exploration and development technology, natural gas production continues to increase, and the growth rate of domestic natural gas production has risen from about 8% in the past to about 12.5%.

Midstream storage and transportation: Natural gas storage and transportation technology has been significantly developed in two aspects: natural gas transmission pipeline technology and natural gas liquefaction and storage technology.

Downstream use: With the emergence of LNG, the market development began to depart from the pipeline, based on its flexible distribution, less investment in the development of the market, low cost advantages, LNG as an energy supply development and growth are very rapid.

With the diversification of natural gas supply modes, new changes will occur in the natural gas value chain, the traditional market pattern will be broken, the customer relationship closely linked through the pipeline network in the past will become fragile, the supply and demand relationship will change, and the new market pattern and new customer relationship will be re-established.

A new driving force for the development of natural gas industry - sharing platform

Xie Dan said that the establishment of the national pipeline network company has accelerated the restructuring of the natural gas market pattern, and the resource owners and market owners will penetrate each other, which has been in a state of fierce competition, the original balance has been broken, and the original development momentum of the natural gas market has been weakened. How to rebuild the balance and stimulate the driving force of market development is a natural gas industry chain and value chain issue that all parties in the market need to seriously reflect on.

The key links of natural gas industry chain and value chain are: resources, pipeline network (facilities) and market. In accordance with the national "control the middle, let go of both ends" reform principle, resources and market opening, the formation of a multi-subject operation pattern, is bound to promote upstream enterprises with resources to extend downstream, downstream enterprises with market to extend upstream, the formation of the whole industrial chain operation pattern. In the future, natural gas enterprises are likely to establish a whole-industry development model. However, enterprises with different advantages need to unite and develop together to quickly form the operation mode of the whole industrial chain.

Xie Dan believes that the key to the operation of the whole industrial chain is to integrate the resources of various enterprises in the value chain, establish a sharing platform, and jointly serve the market. This is the new driving force for the development of the natural gas market.

How to establish a sharing platform, specifically, is to form an enterprise alliance according to the division of labor of resource suppliers, facility owners and market owners according to the value chain, rationally allocate value, establish a win-win mechanism, jointly reduce the cost of gas consumption, expand the market scale, improve the competitiveness of natural gas, and promote the healthy development of the industry with scale.