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Wan LixinOpinion deputy editor of Shanghai Daily
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Gas giants lift output as supply runs short
By Wang Xiang |
November 21, 2009, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINA'S two largest natural gas producers claim they have increased output to full capacity as many southern cities hit by the unusual early winter are suffering supply shortages.
The daily natural gas supply has been increased by 20 million cubic meters, or 11.8 percent, since November 11, according to the China National Petroleum Corp's Website. The company said yesterday its production units and pipelines were operating at maximum capacity.
Huang Wensheng, spokesman for China Petroleum Chemical Corp, said his firm was also running at full capacity, according to yesterday's edition of the National Business Daily.
Meanwhile, thousands of taxis in Chongqing Municipality have been lining up for refills since Monday.
The government in Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province, has stopped sending natural gas supplies to the city's 26 service stations and is paying operators of natural gas-powered vehicles 100 yuan (US$14.64) a day so they can switch over temporarily to gasoline.
In Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province, the government has shut down 11 gas-consuming factories and asked residents to minimize gas consumption while cooking.
Gas shortages are also affecting Hunan, Henan, Jiangsu and Sichuang provinces even as the price for each ton of natural gas increased by 500 yuan to 700 yuan, or more than 20 percent, around the beginning of the month, China News Service reported yesterday.
The report quoted an industry insider who accused the gas producers of being slow to expand production as a tactic to coerce the National Development and Reform Commission to raise prices again. The source said natural gas is now the cheapest energy option.
The Huafeng gas company in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, said it can get more supply from the CNPC, but only if it is willing to pay 103 percent more to buy gas from Sichuan. Downstream gas firms can buy only the more expensive gas from Sichuan if they exceed their contract amounts for cheaper gas, the unnamed source said.
The source said the giants are trying to push up the price of gas. Yet a price reform plan will not be released this year, said Cao Changqing, head of the price division of the National Development and Reform Commission.
The new price system will surely led to a price rise, but it will be gradual, said Dong Xiucheng, a professor at the China University of Petroleum.
The daily natural gas supply has been increased by 20 million cubic meters, or 11.8 percent, since November 11, according to the China National Petroleum Corp's Website. The company said yesterday its production units and pipelines were operating at maximum capacity.
Huang Wensheng, spokesman for China Petroleum Chemical Corp, said his firm was also running at full capacity, according to yesterday's edition of the National Business Daily.
Meanwhile, thousands of taxis in Chongqing Municipality have been lining up for refills since Monday.
The government in Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province, has stopped sending natural gas supplies to the city's 26 service stations and is paying operators of natural gas-powered vehicles 100 yuan (US$14.64) a day so they can switch over temporarily to gasoline.
In Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province, the government has shut down 11 gas-consuming factories and asked residents to minimize gas consumption while cooking.
Gas shortages are also affecting Hunan, Henan, Jiangsu and Sichuang provinces even as the price for each ton of natural gas increased by 500 yuan to 700 yuan, or more than 20 percent, around the beginning of the month, China News Service reported yesterday.
The report quoted an industry insider who accused the gas producers of being slow to expand production as a tactic to coerce the National Development and Reform Commission to raise prices again. The source said natural gas is now the cheapest energy option.
The Huafeng gas company in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, said it can get more supply from the CNPC, but only if it is willing to pay 103 percent more to buy gas from Sichuan. Downstream gas firms can buy only the more expensive gas from Sichuan if they exceed their contract amounts for cheaper gas, the unnamed source said.
The source said the giants are trying to push up the price of gas. Yet a price reform plan will not be released this year, said Cao Changqing, head of the price division of the National Development and Reform Commission.
The new price system will surely led to a price rise, but it will be gradual, said Dong Xiucheng, a professor at the China University of Petroleum.
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