The hottest shale gas bidding breaks the monopoly

Can China start an energy revolution after shale gas bidding breaks the monopoly of giants or introduces private capital

shale gas competition breaks the oligopoly

Caijing national weekly reported that the monolithic oil and gas monopoly pattern has quietly opened a small gap

in addition to the traditional four major oil and gas companies, two "new face" enterprises such as Zoomlion coalbed methane Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Zoomlion coalbed methane") were shortlisted

"as a new attempt to explore the management mode of oil and gas mineral rights, more enterprises will be invited to participate in bidding in the future, including qualified and powerful private enterprises. During the 12th Five Year Plan period, an idea for unconventional oil and gas development is to gradually liberalize and introduce more competitors." Insiders of the Ministry of land and resources told

in the United States, the "hundred regiments war" mode dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises has led to the rapid rise of shale gas development; In China, will shale gas also set off an energy revolution after opening up competition

cautious first step

the rumor of open bidding for shale gas development was widely spread in the industry as early as the first half of 2010

the project bidding originally planned to be launched at the end of last year, but the actual bidding time has been pushed back and forth. Insiders generally speculate that this may be because it is important to open to the private sector

on June 27, 2011, the bidding was finally launched. Contrary to the previous enthusiastic expectations of the industry, the bidding activities were carried out quite low-key. Six companies including PetroChina, Sinopec, CNOOC, Yanchang oil and mineral administration bureau, Zhonglian coalbed methane and Henan coalbed methane development and utilization Co., Ltd. competed on a small scale

there are four shale gas blocks sold in this bidding, mainly located in southwest areas such as Guizhou and Chongqing, including Chongqing Nanchuan shale gas exploration, Guizhou Suiyang shale gas exploration, Guizhou Fenggang shale gas exploration, and Chongqing Guizhou xiangxiushan shale gas exploration, with a total area of about 11000 square kilometers

"there are strict restrictions on the qualifications of enterprises participating in the bid. According to the current oil and gas mining rights management system, only a few enterprises have mining rights with their three ethylene cracking units under construction in full swing. This time, although it is called bidding, it is actually an invitation to bid. The six shortlisted enterprises are invited by the Ministry of land and resources to participate in the bidding." PetroChina insiders revealed

"this is actually a bid. A small number of competitors distribute in a small range, and the symbolic significance of bidding is greater than the practical significance," Cui Xinsheng, Secretary General of the China fund forum and vice president of the petroleum chamber of Commerce, told Caijing national weekly. "The form of bidding is improving. If it is unrealistic to break the monopoly of the oil industry by this step alone, it can only be a step-by-step move forward."

the aforementioned PetroChina insider told Caijing national weekly that the enterprise entered the expert evaluation stage after bidding, and the bidding results are expected to be announced in July

the six enterprises bidding have strong competitive strength in the field of oil and gas development. CNPC, Sinopec, CNOOC and other giants have long been in the shale gas field; Zhonglian coalbed methane and Henan coalbed methane development and utilization Co., Ltd. are two companies specializing in the exploitation of coalbed methane. Because the development technology of coalbed methane is similar to that of shale gas, they also have certain competitiveness

although the final result has not been announced, the exploration of public bidding is the first step to break the monopoly and diversified competition: unlike the management mode of mining rights such as coal mine, iron mine and gold mine, oil and gas mining rights have been managed at the national level, and mining rights are monopolized by a few enterprises. This bidding is the first competitive transfer of oil and gas mining rights

previously rumored companies such as Xinjiang Guanghui group, Zhenhua oil and Sinochem Group did not appear among the bidders; However, two new faces, Zhonglian coalbed methane and Henan coalbed methane development and utilization Co., Ltd., have been added. In particular, the latter is a local state-owned enterprise, and its shortlisting gives more local enterprises hope

it was learned that the Ministry of land and resources will conduct a new round of bidding this year, and it is expected that more enterprises will participate in it. At that time, enterprises like Xinjiang Guanghui may have the opportunity to be shortlisted

in this bidding, Xinjiang Guanghui did not receive the invitation from the Ministry of land and resources. According to the company official, the company has incorporated shale gas into its strategic planning and is actively preparing to participate in future bidding activities in an independent capacity

according to the assumption of the Ministry of land and resources, the central oil enterprises will take the lead first, and then the scope of liberalization will gradually expand, and foreign enterprises may even be allowed to participate

according to the latest news obtained by the national weekly of Finance and economics, the "12th Five Year Plan" for shale gas development has been formulated and submitted to the State Council. In this plan, encouraging market competition and introducing more market competitors are included in the shale gas development idea. Meanwhile, the fiscal subsidy policy for shale gas has also been reported to the Ministry of Finance for final approval

"as far as we know, the subsidy policy for shale gas may refer to coalbed methane, which has been basically determined at present. The subsidy for coalbed methane is 20 cents per cubic meter, and this range can also be used for shale gas. The market cooperation ability is further improved, and the national finance cannot subsidize too much." The aforementioned PetroChina insiders told

difficulties of private enterprises

hair dryer shell made of Jinmin spray free material at present, private enterprises and local state-owned enterprises are trying to seize the opportunity to enter the field of oil and gas development with serious monopoly and rich profits by taking unconventional oil and gas development as the incision

according to the joint research results of the oil and gas resources strategic research center of the Ministry of land and resources and China University of Geosciences, large-scale shale gas may be formed in many places in Sichuan and Chongqing, and the reserve potential may exceed that of conventional natural gas

Sichuan Province, which enjoys a favorable location, established Sichuan energy investment group (hereinafter referred to as "Sichuan energy investment"), with a registered capital of 8billion yuan. Subsequently, Sichuan Energy Investment Co., Ltd. cooperated with Honghua group, a private enterprise, to establish a professional company for shale gas development. Honghua group is listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange, and its subordinate Sichuan Honghua Petroleum Equipment Co., Ltd. is the world's second largest drilling rig manufacturer in terms of revenue and sales volume

"private enterprises have a strong willingness to enter, and public bidding provides a possibility for their entry. But how can private capital effectively enter the electronic and microcomputer controlled products launched by the plant? Like coalbed methane, shale gas also has the problem of division and dispute of mining rights, so it is difficult for private enterprises to participate in competition in a fair environment, and those with exploration rights are state-owned enterprises." Cui Xinsheng told Caijing national weekly

as soon as the joint venture between Sichuan energy investment and Honghua group was established, it was faced with this problem. In Sichuan, all oil and gas exploration blocks registered by PetroChina and Sinopec have been covered. If Sichuan energy investment and Honghua group want to carry out business, they will first face disputes and disputes with central enterprise giants. At present, shale gas is not an independent mineral, and the exploration rights of Sichuan energy investment and Honghua group are not available

according to Li Jingming, chief geologist of PetroChina coalbed methane company, shale gas development has been "hot" in recent years, and private enterprises have obviously insufficient understanding of risks

"this is a high-risk and high investment industry, and it can't be done without money. A horizontal well costs 20million yuan, and a hundred million yuan will be lost if five wells are drilled; even if a well is drilled, there may not be gas, and tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of funds will be lost. If it is not done well, it is likely to be planted at once." Li Jingming issued a warning

at present, the benefits of shale gas development are not good, and most enterprises are in the early stage of investment and testing. At present, PetroChina has several pilot areas, but only the wells drilled by Sichuan Petroleum Administration Bureau have a daily output of more than 10000 cubic meters, which can basically meet the requirements of industrial production

"the overall level of domestic shale gas development is far from true commercialization. Private enterprises all want to rush in, can the return on investment be guaranteed?" Li Jingming asked rhetorically

looking forward to the energy revolution

in the United States, the successful large-scale development of shale gas has become a revolution in the energy field

in 2006, shale gas production in the United States was 1% of the total natural gas production of that year; In 2010, the proportion jumped to 17%, more than 100billion cubic meters. Over the past five years, shale gas production in the United States has increased nearly 20 times. As a result, the United States can not only achieve self-sufficiency in natural gas, but also become a natural gas exporter, surpassing Russia to become the world's largest natural gas producer

the success of the United States lies in the full competition of small and medium-sized enterprises as the main body of development. In order to survive, small and medium-sized enterprises had to speed up innovation, and technological innovation was transformed into production capacity in a short time, which eventually contributed to the great development of the natural gas industry in the United States. When small and medium-sized enterprises develop to a certain extent, large enterprises will purchase, and finally realize the concentration and combination of industries

the new idea of shale gas development in China is obviously inspired by the American model. After breaking the ice of monopoly and introducing competition, will China's energy market also detonate a shale gas revolution

"insufficient technology is the main problem facing the development of shale gas in China. Shale gas has been developed for many years, why can't it be commercialized? The main reasons are that the technology is not mature enough and the cost is too high, which determines the actual utilization value of shale gas." Cui Xinsheng believes

after the introduction of private enterprises, the problem of technological weakness cannot be solved. A very practical problem is that there are few small and medium-sized enterprises with exploration and development technical conditions in China. After the gradual opening of mining rights, how can private enterprises, a new force with infinite vitality, quickly give play to their advantages

at present, encouraging the technical cooperation between private capital and state-owned enterprises and foreign enterprises is the key to the next step. Exchanging resources for technology is a shortcut for the rapid development of shale gas development in China in a short time

the assumption from the internal experts of the Ministry of land and resources is that private enterprises can be encouraged to directly invite foreign enterprises to undertake the specific work of exploration and development investigation

at the government level, Sino foreign cooperation in shale gas has begun

during the second round of China US strategic and economic dialogue in late May 2010, China and the United States issued a joint statement on energy security cooperation. In the statement, the cooperative development of shale gas once again became one of the priorities

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