Ningxia has taken a significant step to strengthen the management of natural gas pipeline transport pricing, aiming to boost efficiency and foster high-quality development within the sector.
The regional development and reform commission has officially released the Measures for the Management of Natural Gas Pipeline Transport Prices in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, which will take effect on October 1, 2026, and remain valid for a five-year period.
The new measures establish a management framework primarily based on government-set pricing, complemented by transitional government-guided pricing, providing the market with ample room for self-adjustment and adaptation. During the transition period, prices will be guided by a benchmark rate, with a permissible fluctuation range of no more than 20% above or below the baseline, allowing supply and demand parties to negotiate specific prices within this band. Once the transition concludes, the government will implement unified pricing across the entire region.
The pricing methodology retains the established framework of "permitted costs plus reasonable returns," while introducing flexibility to the permitted return rate. The return rate will now be anchored to the national 10-year government bond yield plus 4 percentage points, replacing the previous fixed rate of return with a market-based interest rate. This adjustment enables pipeline transport revenues to dynamically align with macroeconomic cost fluctuations.
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