The gas pricing mechanism still needs to be sorted out

At present, the natural gas pricing mechanism is still not perfect, in the current high gas prices, industrial users and urban fuel enterprises are under great pressure. The industry is crying out that it is necessary to realize the upstream and downstream price linkage of natural gas as soon as possible, cancel cross-subsidies, and rationalize the price mechanism.

On April 6, the China LNG comprehensive import CIF price Index jointly released by the Global Trade Monitoring and Analysis Center of the General Administration of Customs and the Shanghai Oil and Natural Gas Trading Center showed that from March 28 to April 3, China LNG comprehensive import CIF price index was 117.93, up 38.69% year-on-year.

In view of the recent high natural gas prices, some regions have launched support policies for the upstream and downstream price linkage mechanism.

A few days ago, the Hunan Provincial Development and Reform Commission issued the "Notice on Clarifying the off-season Non-residential gas Sales Price in 2022", deciding that the off-season non-residential gas sales price in 2022 will not implement a new linkage adjustment, and 10 cities such as Changsha and Zhuzhou will continue to implement the 2021 heating season price, of which Loudi has the highest price, reaching 3.968 yuan/cubic meter.

"At present, some regions have indeed issued relevant notices, among which Hunan Province is the first province led by the provincial government to implement the corresponding price this year, and the gas price determined by it is enforceable, if implemented in place, it can alleviate the operating pressure of various gas companies to a certain extent." Boyi consulting general manager Yang Changxin said.

Insiders said that at present, China's upstream and downstream natural gas pricing mechanism is still imperfect, downstream price adjustment lags behind, and natural gas price market-oriented reform is still a long way to go.

Multiple documents to adjust prices

According to the monitoring of the Shanghai Oil and Gas Trading Center, the number of natural gas spot market transactions is relatively small, and Chinese buyers have not participated in the high price spot transactions reached recently. It is reported that in the current natural gas landed price index, the spot part of the pricing time is February this year, and the high spot price during this period, to a certain extent, the market has suppressed the demand for spot. Under the influence of many factors, the comprehensive import to shore price index of LNG has fluctuated greatly recently, and enterprises' purchasing enthusiasm is not high.

Therefore, in addition to Hunan, Shanghai, Zhejiang Zhoushan, Hebei Shijiazhuang, Guangdong Shaoguan, Fujian Nan 'an, Guangxi Sanjiang and other places have also introduced off-season non-resident gas price schemes. In these programs, some areas directly increase prices, and other areas continue to use the last year's heating season prices to ease the pressure on urban fuel enterprises.

Among them, the Shijiazhuang Development and Reform Commission issued a document for non-resident gas prices in the off-season, clearly following the heating season price, and the maximum sales price of pipeline natural gas for non-residents in the main urban area was adjusted to 3.95 yuan/cubic meter.

According to Shanghai regulations, the benchmark price of natural gas sales for gas power plants and Caojing thermal power plants will be raised by 0.4 yuan per cubic meter, and the benchmark price for other non-residential users will be raised by 0.6 yuan per cubic meter. At the same time, the seasonal difference will be abolished, and the actual sales price will be determined by the supplier on the basis of the benchmark price set by the government within a floating range of 5%.

Zhejiang Zhoushan Putuo District Development and Reform Commission said that in order to alleviate the operating pressure caused by the rising price of natural gas enterprises, according to the upstream and downstream linkage mechanism of non-resident natural gas prices, adjust the price of non-resident natural gas, and the maximum sales price of non-resident pipeline natural gas terminal was raised from 5.32 yuan/cubic meter to 6.8 yuan/cubic meter.

"In the case of residential gas prices that are difficult to adjust, the price reduction space generated by the currently vigorously implemented gas transmission and distribution price reform and the direct supply of large users can be used to reduce industrial and commercial gas prices." However, whether the price can be smoothly adjusted, and whether the relevant policies can really land is still unknown. For example, a gas company in Zhoushan sells gas at a price of 5 yuan/cubic meter for industrial gas and 5.3 yuan/cubic meter for commercial gas. Due to the continued high spot price of LNG, the gas company has applied to the government for an increase to 6.8 yuan per cubic meter. Even so, the current applied gas price can not cover the current cost gas price, and whether the applied gas price can be implemented is still unknown, and it is still a little difficult to adjust the price to downstream end users." A person close to the Zhoushan gas market said, "From a business point of view, gas companies in order to ensure the stable supply of gas sources, it is understandable to bear some cost pressure, but also hope that there are relevant subsidy policies to 'yield profits'."