China is welcoming foreign oil and gas companies' continued investment in the country, as it believes reform of the industry will offer more opportunities for cooperation.

Foreign companies are welcome to invest in China in oil and gas exploration, production capacity, oil and gas management and reserves, science and technology research and talent training in the sector, said Nur Bekri, head of the National Energy Administration, at the 2017 International Petroleum and Natural Gas Enterprises Conference in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on Sept 18.

China is currently implementing a reform plan for its oil and gas industry, eyeing improved efficiency and competitiveness by giving the market a decisive role in the sector, including allowing private companies to take part in upstream oil-gas exploitation, encouraging midstream pipeline owners to split gas sales from the pipeline business for more efficient allocation of resources.

As part of the reform, the China (Zhejiang) Pilot FTZ and Northeast AsiaBonded Fuel Oil Trading Center began operations this April in Zhoushan, focusing on oil refueling by scaling up storage capacity, increasing the openness of the oil processing industry and boosting trade in oil products.

Zhoushan port's bonded fuel oil supply reached 1.045 million metric tons at the end of August, a year-on-year increase of 62.4 percent, surpassing the whole-year supply of 2016. The trading center's bonded fuel oil trade volume was about 1.8 million tons, while the natural gas got 1 million tons and steam coal about 5.2 million tons.

International oil and gas business giants are seeing new opportunities in the FTZ. A total of 14 foreign oil and gas enterprises have signed project or framework contracts with local governments, SOEs and private companies involving oil storage, trade and processing at the ongoing conference.

Honeywell, the world's leading industrial giant, will invest in a new joint venture with local Rongsheng Holdings to produce catalysts to support Rongsheng's new refinery, which is designed to have an annual processing capacity of 40 million tons of crude oil.

Contact the writers at zhengxin@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 09/22/2017 page25)