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This post was last edited by Yitailong'er on 2016-12-21 at 14:24. Daily Economic News (He Hongyuan): The countdown to the introduction of the oil and gas reform plan has begun. On December 16, CNPC’s official website reported that **Lian Weiliang, vice minister of the National Development and Reform Commission, and his team visited CNPC for an inspection. Lian Weiliang revealed during the investigation that \"the reform framework for the oil and gas sector (hereinafter referred to as the framework) is being developed at full speed.\" ”**The Energy Bureau announced as early as August that it would steadily advance reforms to the oil and gas sector, working in conjunction with the **National Development and Reform Commission to have a draft set forth by the end of 2016. Implementation of the reform plan may be postponed until next year; the process of formulating the oil and gas sector reform plan, which has been in development for nearly three years, has been tortuous and low-key. It is worth noting that, according to the \"Notice on the Progress of Rectifications Related to Inspections issued by the Party Leadership Group of the **** Energy Bureau\", published on the official website of the Energy Bureau on August 25, efforts will be made to advance the reform of the oil and gas industry system, and work will be carried out in conjunction with the **Development and Reform Commission to have a draft set forth by the end of 2016. In a recent investigation into CNPC, Lian Weiliang stated outright that plans for reforming the oil and gas industry system are being actively developed. Lin Boqiang, director of the Institute of China’s Energy Policy at Xiamen University, analyzes that due to ongoing differences, the introduction of this plan may be delayed, with it likely to be introduced by the first half of next year at the latest. He believes that the biggest disagreement lies in the role assigned to oil companies. If only the domestic market is considered, the smaller the oil companies, the more intense the competition. However, when the international market is taken into account, larger state-owned enterprises are necessary. China relies heavily on oil imports, and this degree of dependence will further increase in the future. “There is also the issue of energy security here; how to strike a balance with efficiency remains a point of debate. In response, Lin Boqiang suggested that it is not very difficult to open up the upstream sector from a ** perspective, but due to low oil prices and the uncertainties associated with exploration and extraction, there is little incentive for private capital to get involved. Following the reforms, further relaxation of restrictions on crude oil imports and the allowance for private enterprises to enter the refining sector are also expected in the industry. CNPC should play a demonstrative role. During the investigation, Lian Weiliang also emphasized that CNPC must actively support relevant reform measures, act as a model to drive others, and promote its own sustainable and healthy development through these reforms. In fact, the \"Big Three Oil Companies\" are also key players in the new round of oil and gas reforms. Guojin Securities believes that oil and gas reforms will accelerate the reform of state-owned enterprises in the petrochemical industry, with cooperation with private capital being a key aspect. This includes promoting joint ventures and cooperation between state-owned oil enterprises and private investors in areas such as upstream assets, oil sales, engineering technology services, and equipment manufacturing ； Multiple forms of capital cooperation to jointly develop overseas markets ； Business restructuring of state-owned oil enterprises, mixed-ownership reforms and listings, etc. Currently, both of the major oil companies are advancing the opening up of their pipeline assets in different ways, driven by an acceleration in the reform of oil and gas pipelines. Lin Boqiang said that CNPC has initiated various reforms in response to the challenges posed by low oil prices and related demands, which has also helped improve its performance. He also believes that PetroChina’s involvement in Lian Weiliang’s this investigation does not necessarily hold any special significance for the company; it is more of a message sent to the \"Big Three\" oil companies. It’s possible that other oil companies were also surveyed, but the results have not been made public yet. ”