Recently,The China (Xinjiang) Freedom Pilot Zone was officially inaugurated。This is China's 22nd free pilot zone and the first free pilot zone established in China's northwest border region, which will have a far-reaching impact on Xinjiang's expansion of opening up and promoting high-quality development.
Standing at a new starting point, as one of the "top ten industries" of Xinjiang's "14th Five-Year Plan", the petroleum and petrochemical industry occupies an important position in Xinjiang's economic development, and is bound to take the lead in the construction of the pilot free trade zone. The road is bright, the responsibilities are heavy, the opportunities are clear, and the challenges are many!
The petroleum and petrochemical industry is facing opportunities and challenges in the construction of the pilot free trade zoneThis article takes you through the first thing. ↓↓
Petroleum and petrochemical industry
In the construction of the Xinjiang Pilot Free Trade Zone, the opportunities are clear
As of December 1, the cumulative gas production of the Kela2 gas field in the Tarim Oilfield exceeded 139 billion cubic meters. This winter and next spring, it is expected that the supply of gas in winter will be about 2.7 billion cubic meters. Photo by Chen Bingbing.
Five mouths lead to eight countries, all the way to Europe and Asia". The establishment of the Xinjiang Pilot Free Trade Zone once again shows that Xinjiang is not a remote area, but a core area and bridgehead connecting Europe and Asia and opening up to the west. Xinjiang is rich in oil and gas resources, and the establishment of the pilot free trade zone has provided new opportunities for the development of the petroleum and petrochemical industry.
First, the complementary production capacity and industrial convergence will facilitate cooperation with the whole industrial chain of Central Asian countries. The "Overall Plan for the China (Xinjiang) Pilot Zone for the Pilot Free Trade Zone" (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan") pointed out that enterprises in the Pilot Free Trade Zone are encouraged and supported to carry out foreign investment in Central Asia and other neighboring "Belt and Road" countries in the fields of energy resources, new materials, special medicines, and agricultural product planting through joint ventures, cooperation, mergers and acquisitions, equity participation and other means。The pilot free trade zone has smoothed the path of complementary energy advantages. MeChina is a major importer of oil and gas, while Central Asia is an important oil and gas production and export area in the world, with remaining proven reserves of oil and natural gas exceeding 4.1 billion tons and 16.1 billion respectively7 trillion cubic meters. The plan encourages and supports joint ventures and cooperation, which is conducive to alleviating the pressure of regional barriers for petroleum and petrochemical enterprises to "go global", realizing complementary advantages, and promoting cooperation with the whole industrial chain in Central Asia. The pilot free trade zone creates opportunities for industrial convergence. Central Asia has a huge potential for new energy, with Kazakhstan alone having a wind power potential of 920 billion kWh per year. The Plan encourages the adoption of various forms of foreign investment in energy resources, which is conducive to enriching the connotation of cooperation in the whole industry chain, facilitating the connection between traditional energy enterprises and new energy, and upgrading the traditional oil and gas industry.
The second is to extend, supplement and strengthen the chain to provide assistance for industrial upgrading and transformation. Actively promoting the extension of the chain, supplementing the chain and strengthening the chain is the main task of the Plan to promote the upgrading and transformation of the petroleum and petrochemical industry. First of all, the extension of the chain promotes industrial upgradingThe implementation of the "port + unloading place" joint supervision model for important mineral products in the pilot free trade zone will promote the coordinated development of petroleum and petrochemical related industries and help the all-round extension of the industrial chain. Secondly, the supply chain should be supplemented to make up for the weak links and help the industry improve and develop. The listing of the pilot free trade zone has created opportunities for Xinjiang to make up for the shortcomings of high-level talents. The Plan encourages scientific researchers to innovate and start businesses in the Pilot Free Trade Zone in accordance with regulations, opening up a new situation of "attracting phoenixes" to the Tianshan Mountains, and attracting global and diversified talents to join the construction of Xinjiang. mostAfter that, the strong chain consolidates its advantages and pursues the best in the industry. The construction of the pilot free trade zone has accelerated the release of the vitality of oil and gas exploitation in Xinjiang, which will boost the morale of the "leading" industries and help promote industrial optimization by using the advantages of energy supply.
The third is "three lines and one order", pollution reduction and carbon reduction, which will boost the development of the industry in the direction of greening. With "three lines and one order" as the framework and pollution reduction and carbon reduction as the framework, it has pointed out the green and low-carbon development direction for the petroleum and petrochemical industry. The plan proposes to "promote the green transformation of industrial development" and "strive to build a green industrial structure with high technology content, low resource consumption and low environmental pollution". Under the influence of the construction of the pilot free trade zone, ecological and environmental protection measures have been prioritized in Xinjiang, creating a general environment for the green development of the petroleum and petrochemical industry. The petroleum and petrochemical industry in Xinjiang has shown a trend of energy saving, pollution reduction and greening.
The pilot free trade zone is under construction
The petroleum and petrochemical industry is facing many challenges
The Tarim Oilfield has supplied more than 340 billion cubic meters of gas to the West-East Gas Pipeline Network. Photo by Chen Mengyu.
In the context of the construction of the pilot free trade zone, the petroleum and petrochemical industry has ushered in opportunities such as cooperation with neighboring countries in the whole industrial chain, industrial upgrading and transformation, and industrial green development, but it is also facing many challenges.
The first is to put forward new requirements for the differentiated innovation of enterprises within the industry. The Plan encourages enterprises to actively "go global". To this end, the country not only innovates the logistics service model and establishes a comprehensive logistics hub connecting Europe and Asia, but also introduces financial service measures to facilitate enterprises in the pilot free trade zone and the countries that jointly build the "Belt and Road". While petroleum and petrochemical enterprises enjoy policy benefits, they also open the curtain of competition. China's dependence on foreign energy has always been high, and it is highly complementary to the economic resources of Central Asian countries. Driven by a fair and favorable environment and policy support, the differentiated advantages brought by enterprise innovation are conducive to enterprises taking the lead in enjoying dividends. This puts forward new requirements for the differentiated innovation of enterprises within the industry.
Second, it increases the difficulty of prevention and control of energy security in the overall development of the industry. The general secretary stressed that energy security is an overall and strategic issue related to the country's economic and social development. On the one hand, there is the challenge of the security of local energy extraction. In the new round of strategic action for breakthrough in prospecting, Xinjiang's goal is to build and expand 7 to 9 large-scale resource bases and submit more than 200 exploration blocks by 2025. The arduous task of energy exploitation reflects the country's high expectations for Xinjiang's energy, and also poses challenges in terms of accurate exploration, guarantee and safe mining. On the other hand, there is the challenge of energy import security. As of May 2023, China has traded more than 430 billion cubic meters of natural gas through the China-Central Asia natural gas pipeline line A, B and C. Close energy transmission puts forward higher requirements for the safe operation of the industry, and the challenges in transaction supervision and emergency prevention and control are increasing.
Leverage your strength
Put forward "two points + two sides" suggestions for the petroleum and petrochemical industry
Fuman Oilfield Fuyuan Joint Station under the rising sun. Photo by Chen Bingbing.
Promote differentiated innovation with "two points":One isReduce energy consumption and improve efficiency through technological innovation, so as to reduce costs and attract industrial cooperation with technical cooperationThe second isRelying on the international industrial development trend to carry out green upgrading, leading the future industrial development, showing bright green prospects and exploring more possibilities, to achieve the effect of lengthening the "going out" route.
Ensuring energy security on both sides:On the one hand,Ensure the safety of oil and gas, do a good job in emergency support capacity building, and broaden the import channels of oil and gas resourcesOn the other hand,Do a good job of internal and external coordination, establish a sound supervision mechanism, and control quality and safety.
In short, the establishment of a pilot free trade zone in Xinjiang reflects the great importance and full affirmation of Xinjiang's opening up and development. Based on the background of the establishment of pilot free trade zones in the country, petroleum and petrochemical enterprises should seize policy opportunities, work hard to meet challenges, strengthen international cooperation, and promote regional prosperity and stability while promoting their own high-quality development.
The original title of this article is: "Petroleum and petrochemical enterprises should plan for new development in seizing opportunities to cope with challenges", see China Petroleum News on December 1, 2023, page 3).
Nurlanbek Khabas is an associate professor at the School of Economics and Management, Xinjiang University, and Chen Yueru is a master's student at the School of Economics and Management, Xinjiang University.
Editor: Guo Siqing.
Editor-in-charge: He Li.
Review: Ma Yingying.
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