China combines three oil pipeline networks into a single operator to improve efficiency

China has combined the oil pipelines operated by the nation’s three state owned energy companies China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), Sinopec Group and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) into a single network named The National Oil and Gas Pipeline Network Group, in a long-anticipated consolidation to improve efficiency and ensure adequate supply.

The new group would own 500 billion yuan (US$71 billion) in combined assets, and be responsible for managing a pipeline network that’s expected to expand by 80 percent to 240,000 kilometers by 2025. It would help China expand its energy infrastructure and marked a key move in deepening oil and gas reforms, Xinhua said.

The new company is likely to be headed by Zhang Wei, the general manager of CNPC, while the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council will be its majority owner, according to media reports.

CNPC owns 85,600 km of pipeline, or 69 percent of the entire network used for distributing domestic crude oil, 76 percent of natural gas pipelines and 43 percent of the pipelines for refined oil, according to local media reports. Production will double from 149 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2018 to 325 bcm in 2040, according to a note by global energy consultancy group Wood Mackenzie in August, and by 2019 China will use up around 310 bcm of natural gas, with consumption set to grow until 2050, predicted the National Energy Administration in September.

For more information please visit:

Website: https://www.petroscaninspection.com

LinkedIn: https://www.dhirubhai.net/company/petroscanz/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/petroscan/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/petroscanz