China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) announced on Wednesday that it has passed guidelines on reforms toward a market-oriented economy and mixed-ownership, according to a statement on the company's website.
A market-oriented economy is the direction of China's economic system reform. "The guidelines are helpful to improve the pricing mechanism for our products and services, establish a market and benefit-centered investment, budget and assessment system…and prioritize capital and business structure," CNPC Chairman Wang Yilin was quoted as saying in the statement.
The domestic oil and gas sector's reform toward a market-oriented economy is expected to accelerate with the issue of numerous documents concerning reforms of the industry.
The Central Economic Work Conference, which ended on Friday, stressed the need to deepen economic reforms and required State-owned Enterprises to take substantial steps toward mixed-ownership in sectors including oil, natural gas and railways.
Since mid-August, a series of documents on price and system reform for the gas sector have been issued.
On December 14, the National Energy Administration released guidelines for boosting the usage of natural gas. The guidelines stated that system reform in the gas sector should first take place in Shanghai, East China's Jiangsu Province and North China's Hebei Province.
In December, China Petroleum & Chemical Corp sold a 50 percent stake in its pipeline unit to domestic investors involving China Life Insurance Co for 22.8 billion yuan ($3.28 billion). This is the first time the pipeline unit received an investment from another independent company, domestic news portal cs.com.cn reported on Wednesday.
An overall reform plan for the oil and gas sector might be rolled out by the end of December or during the first quarter of 2017, the report said.
