Reform of gas prices to ensure supply
Print Edition
China will further reform its tightly regulated prices of gas to ensure supply while improving energy conservation and protecting the environment, the National Development and Reform Commission said yesterday.
China plans to raise city-gate price of gas for non-residential users at “an appropriate time” this year, the country’s top economic planning body said in a work report released before the opening of the National People’ Congress.
The city-gate price is the cost of gas paid to pipeline operators.
That would be the first price increase since last July when the NDRC raised the price to a national average of 1.95 yuan (32 US cents) per cubic meter from 1.69 yuan — a long-awaited move to bring domestic prices closer to import rates and pass on some costs to users.
“The main obstacle for gas pricing reform is the imbalance between supply and demand,” Zhu Zhixin, vice director of the NDRC, said yesterday on the sidelines of the NPC meeting.
Zhu said market-oriented pricing will lead to gas prices rising on a supply gap and this will likely make natural gas unaffordable for residents.
Analysts said the price hike for non-households will see some costs passed to industrial and commercial users while urging gas producers to lift supply to cater to more demand for environmentally friendly fuels.
The NDRC said it would unveil a tiered-pricing system for more resources after a multi-tier electricity pricing method was promoted nationwide and a tiered water pricing was imposed in 30 percent of domestic cities.
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