China to form national oil and gas pipeline company: state planner

[BEIJING] China will create a national oil and gas pipeline company, the country's state planner said on Tuesday in the first official acknowledgement of a reform that has been anticipated by the energy industry.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) did not give a timetable or any details of the plan in its annual work report published at the opening of the annual meeting of parliament.

Creating a central oil and gas operator will help China's state-owned energy companies separate the cost of pipeline transportation from the sale of oil and gas.

Reuters reported last month that a formal plan for the pipeline group combining the long distance pipeline assets of the country's state-owned energy companies will be announced this year.

The NDRC on Tuesday also repeated its goal of speeding up domestic oil and gas exploration.

REUTERS