Policy analysis and suggestions for promoting direct supply of natural gas to large users

Third, urban gas operators are responsible for the investment, construction, operation, maintenance and management of gas facilities according to gas planning, which is a statutory duty entrusted by the state. According to the Regulations on the Administration of Urban Gas, urban gas operators shall assume the responsibility for the operation, maintenance, rush repair and renovation of the gas facilities outside the exclusive part of the owner within the user's building zoning. The newly revised Regulations of Jiangsu Province on Gas Management in 2020 stipulate that pipeline gas operators shall invest and construct gas facilities in accordance with urban gas development plans. The newly revised Regulations on Gas Management of Hebei Province in 2019 stipulate that within the coverage of the pipeline network built by urban gas business enterprises in line with the special gas planning, independent gas supply facilities built by gas enterprises without authorization, including point supply stations and direct supply pipelines, are illegal. Fourth, the government's support for urban gas business enterprises to construct pipeline gas facilities other than the owner's proprietary facilities within the building division is the embodiment of compliance with regulations and keeping promises. When the government is unable to invest and operate the huge gas infrastructure, it establishes a project company by introducing social capital to grant franchise rights. Only when the government guarantees the right, can the investment enterprises recover the costs within the time limit stipulated in the franchise agreement according to the economic calculation model in the original feasibility study report, and can they continue to provide good public service products for the local government.

3.2 Conflict analysis between large user direct supply and urban gas operation enterprises

When upstream gas source units or large users build gas pipelines to supply gas within the scope of urban gas operation enterprises, they violate the pipeline gas franchise agreement signed between the government and urban gas operation enterprises, and violate the rights and interests of investors. First, large users are of great significance to the gas structure and stable gas supply of urban gas business enterprises. The gas facilities built according to the special planning of urban gas have advanced and huge investment. Affected by the current price mechanism and structure, on the one hand, urban gas business enterprises need to rely on large users to maintain survival and ensure basic operations; on the other hand, large users play an important supporting role in balancing the gas load of urban pipe network, optimizing the gas structure and improving the gas volume. Second, urban gas business enterprises need to rely on large users to increase the scale of gas consumption to maintain normal operation. Among the operating costs of urban gas, residents have dispersed gas points, many gas terminals, low unit gas consumption, difficult safety management, and the highest operating gas supply cost, especially in inspection, charging, customer service, maintenance, emergency, peak load balancing and other aspects of investment costs are much higher than industrial and commercial users.

Third, the current price system needs to rely on the increase of industrial and commercial gas to subsidize the loss of residential gas prices. We are a socialist country, and the price of residential gas has been strictly controlled by the government, unable to reflect the actual cost, and the price has been inverted for a long time [4]. In order to ensure the supply of residents and social stability, urban gas business enterprises have to use non-resident users gas price income to subsidize the loss of resident gas supply.

Therefore, the "direct supply" mode of self-built pipeline will have adverse effects on urban gas operation enterprises: first, it breaks the integrity of gas franchise, resulting in damage to the interests of urban gas operation enterprises, and affects the enthusiasm of social capital to participate in public infrastructure construction projects; Second, in order to compete for large users leading to vicious market competition, repeated construction of pipelines, in violation of the overall layout planning of gas facilities; Third, the profitability of urban gas business enterprises is reduced, the lack of sufficient funds to maintain pipe network facilities, can not ensure the safety and stability of users of gas, but also hurt the people's livelihood, forming an unstable factor.

3.3 How should the government deal with the relationship between the "direct supply" model and urban gas operators

Due to the adjustment of the natural gas industry policy, the state encourages large users to purchase gas directly from upstream resources, which is in direct conflict with the granted franchise rights. So what should local governments do? First of all, the government should keep its promise, according to the relevant national laws and regulations, give priority to urban gas business enterprises to invest in the construction of gas pipelines, and prohibit the use of gas without authorization to build direct supply pipelines that do not meet the planning requirements. Secondly, the procedures should be carried out according to the relevant national regulations, taking into account the interests of both sides of gas supply and consumption, and urban gas business enterprises can be required to open the function of pipeline transportation, reasonable accounting of gas transmission costs, and reduce gas consumption costs.