China's oil industry: A decade in review and challenges ahead.

摘要

As part of the general trend of economic reform in the past 10 years, Mainland China's energy industries have experienced significant change, but the critical nature of the industry has kept them more closely under central control. Prevented from exercising autonomy over most production and pricing decisions, the energy industries failed to enjoy the boom that deregulation produced in so many other sectors of the economy. Fearing the inflationary consequences of a needed rise in domestic coal, oil, gas, and electricity prices, the government stabilized most energy prices, which began to fall rapidly in real terms after mid-decade. As a result, even the profitable refining sector began to see red ink. Energy output initially fell or stagnated in the early 1980s as the industry closed down many inefficient producers and reorganized its administrative structure. These measures led to a rebound in production, especially after 1983 when a second, higher tier of prices was introduced to promote above-quota production. By the end of the decade, output of hydropower and coal were up by 100% and 68% respectively, while crude oil output rose by 30%. The laggard has been natural gas; suffering from decades of underinvestment, high costs, and low prices, the industry has barely managed to exceed the output level reached a decade ago. 11 figs., 9 tabs.