Abstract

Energy is a significant material basis for human survival and development.The history of social development is，in itself，the history of energy being recognized and utilized.Throughout the development track of human use of energy，this is a process that enters into the low-carbon era from the high-carbon era.From the first generation of energy-firewood，to the second generation of energy-coal，to the third generation of energy-petroleum，natural gas and nuclear power，the history of energy use is the process from uncleanness to cleanliness，from low efficiency to high efficiency，from unsustainability to sustainability，from high-carbon economy to low-carbon economy.At present，China has serious contradictions in energy，as shown in the following areas.Firstly，as China's demand for energy increases every year，the dependence on foreign energy grows dramatically.Especially a surge in the imports of oil and gas has placed China's energy security and geopolitics at risk.Secondly，in view of resource endowment，China has considerable and various energy resources.However，there is an imbalance of resource structure as well as spatial distribution，and the per capita possessions of oil，gas and coal are small.China's energy structure is mainly based on coal and petroleum，and the traditional extensive model of energy use has resulted in the severe deterioration of ecological environment.Hence，the economic development is more and more restricted by environmental factors.

As natural gas has low carbon content，high calorific value and light pollution，it is called “clean energy”.According to the 12th Five-Year Plan，China's non-fossil energy consumption as a share of primary energy consumption will increase to 11.4% and the ratio of the generation capacity of non-fossil energy will increase to 30% by 2015.Meanwhile，the Chinese government made a solemn commitment to the world：“By 2020，non-fossil energy consumption as a share of primary energy consumption will reach 15%.And carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP will be reduced by 40%-45% from 2005.” At such a circumstance，natural gas as a clean energy has been included in the key developing industries in China.The government has invested huge funds in the exploration，exploitation and pipeline construction of natural gas.Guided by both market demand and policy support，the natural gas industry develops rapidly.

Natural gas is an important strategic resource related to national security.Also，we should have an objective understanding of the commodity attribute of natural gas.Since it's a commodity，the market could play a decisive role in the allocation of resources.In the Chinese natural gas sector，large state-owned oil and gas companies cover almost all the parts from upstream exploration and development，to midstream transportation and circulation，to downstream wholesale and retailing.In fact，it's still the dual-track plan and market system under which the price mechanism fails play its price forming and regulating role in energy production and management.Because of insufficient market competition，the economic efficiency as well as the consumer welfare cannot be improved.

To speed up the marketization of the natural gas industry is not only an important part of perfecting the socialist market economic system but also an urgent demand for transforming the economic development pattern.Unlike general competitive sectors，however，the economic and technological attribute of the gas industry determines that its marketization faces special complexities.This requires that we should carry on system constructions with extreme caution.Currently，there exist serious system and mechanism bottlenecks in the process of promoting the sound development of the energy sector.How to promote the market reform of the gas industry is now becoming a critical issue that China's socio-economic development faces.Social and economic transformations are always accompanied by laws which have direct or indirect effects on social changes.In practice，the market economy is an economy under the rule of laws.Throughout the world，whether an economy operates healthily or not depends on its sound legal system and appropriate macro-control policies.So we should have a clear picture of the international situation，combine our socio-economic development and actual resource endowment with the operation of international energy market，rely on the independence and development of the energy industry，in order to push forward the market reform of the natural gas industry by means of national legislation.This book looks at the natural monopoly and public character of the gas industry，as well as attempting to examine and discuss its institutional needs in the process of marketization.In brief，the book includes two parts.The fist one is the establishment of the government supervision mechanism of the natural gas industry.The second one is the legal system provided for the market reform of every segment of the natural gas industry.The book consists of seven chapters.

Chapter Ⅰ：Introduction.This chapter introduces research motive，describes research background，analyzes research significance，examine research status in both China and abroad，as well as explaining the ideas，the structure and the methodologies of this study.The author suggests that it is necessary to carry on systematic researches on the natural gas industry in order to strengthen China's energy strategy and energy security.China's economic transformation and low-carbon economy need assistance from the natural gas industry；the reform of natural monopoly industries should take the natural gas industry as a breakthrough；the market reform of the energy sector is essential；the deepening of the gas industry reform needs supports of the legal regime.

Chapter Ⅱ：The Theoretical Basis of the Legal Regulations on the Natural Gas Industry.As an indispensable raw material and a primary energy，natural gas plays an important role in the national economy，which is determined by the natural attribute of natural gas，the characteristics of natural gas resources as well as the economic and technical characteristics.Based on the exploration of the above issues，this chapter analyzes the supply theory of natural gas products from the perspective of plutonomy，discuss the state public and economic functions，and the corresponding responsibility configuration under the premise of effective supply of natural gas.Also，it looks at the legal regulation of the nation，the market and the society cooperating and interacting in the public and economic sphere.Only on the basis of the in-depth analysis and the precise understanding of gas products nature and its supply mechanism，we may have a discussion about the inherent laws of economic activities and establish external rules that accord with economic activities.Only in this way can we figure out the boundary problems of the market economy and even make this study to a new standard，answer questions like “what can the state-owned economy provide during the transformation period”，“Who can provide” and “how to provide”.We have to further study the pluralistic development trend，the selection criteria and the transition route of public goods providing stakeholders.This is actually the foundation of our study on the legal regulation of the natural gas industry.

Chapter Ⅲ：The Government Supervision Mechanism of the Natural Gas Industry in China.The adjustment and the optimization of China's energy structure require us to raise the proportion of non-fossil energy，and to promote low-carbon traditional energy.In general，the natural gas development is the trend of low-carbon development of fossil energy.And the natural gas industry has an overall and strategic influence in China.It has been found that the healthy development of the natural gas industry depends on scientific and effective government supervision.Yet there still exists some problems concerning supervising subjects，supervising functions and supervising methods in the industry.The top design of China's gas industry regulators should be based on compliance with the general laws of regulation and the industrial features of the natural gas industry.Also，it should take into full account the history and the conditions of China，learn and gain successful experiences from abroad.This chapter attempts to analyze the problems that exist in the Chinese government regulators of the natural gas industry as well as the typical models of the overseas regulators.Based on these experiences，the author raises reconstruction suggestions for the government regulators of the natural gas industry in China.

Chapter Ⅳ：The Research on the Legal Norms of the Upstream Marketization in the Natural Gas Industry.This chapter first extends the vision to the development of China's oil and gas industrial system，and then examines the existing upstream legal norms of the natural gas industry.Due to the bold change of the economic system reform shifting from the plan to market economy，the mining laws have to be change accordingly.In the battle between the government and the market，the marketization of the natural gas industry has a tortuous and long process.The relevant legislations have experienced the curve from nothing to something，from absence to scatter.On the above basis，this chapter points out a series of problems，such as the imperfect legislation of the current legal norms，the absence of a complete legal framework，the relative lack of market subjects who explore，develop and utilize natural gas，the co-existence of dislocation，absence and offside of management subjects who explore，develop and utilize natural gas，a range of problems（including unreasonable upstream pricing mechanism）that arise in the insufficiently developed and monopolistic gas market.It further indicates that the breakthrough to the marketization of the upstream natural gas sector should be the marketization of mining rights.Next，the chapter explores the positive role of the marketization of mining rights in the marketization of the upstream gas sector，as well as making a feasibility analysis of the marketization of mining rights.At last，it sets the legal norms of the upstream marketization of the natural gas industry in three aspects including market access，trade code setting and exist mechanism.

Chapter Ⅴ：The Research on the Legal Norms of the Midstream Marketization of the Natural Gas Industry.This chapter first gives interpretation of “the midstream natural gas sector” and “the marketization of the midstream natural gas sector”.Based on the existing normative documents of the midstream marketization of the industry，this chapter also indicates that although the marketization of China's midstream gas sector is still at the initial stage where the oil and gas pipeline networks gradually opens，it is wise to plan ahead and to realize that the “net-transportation separation” is critical and fundamental to the midstream marketization of the industry.And it's also an essential element of the marketization process of the natural gas industry chain.Furthermore，the “net-transportation separation” contributes more to improve the level of pipeline operation and management，to increase the efficiency of transportation，and to enhance the abilities to ensure the security of gas pipeline networks.It also states that the setup of the normative documents of the midstream maketization should focus on the construction of the “net-transportation separation” system.

Chapter Ⅵ：The Research on the Legal Norms of the Downstream Marketization of the Natural Gas Industry.This chapter first gives interpretation of “the downstream natural gas sector” and “the marketization of the downstream natural gas sector”.Based on the examination of the existing normative documents of the downstream natural gas sector，this chapter suggests that the franchise institution pushes forward the downstream marketization of the gas industry.There are subjective norms of the franchise institution in the current system and its positive effects and functional values are undeniable.However，as a product of the transitional society，the current franchise institution has very distinctive transition features.In addition，the establishment of the institution is still at the stage of exploration.Hence，the institution itself has a lot of imperfections which has led to the bottlenecks of the development of the downstream natural gas sector.Now we should strive to improve the franchise institution，so as to promote the marketization of the downstream sector.In terms of the establishment of specific laws and regulations，the author deems that the downstream market subjects should pay great attention to the prior construction of tender procedures and the setting of competitive negotiation procedures；The market transaction norms should be set according to the equal subjects of the franchise institution and the transaction norms of public sectors；the market exist mechanism should be based on the bankruptcy of franchisers and their asset rights shaped as real rights.

Conclusion：This chapter states that the so called marketization of the natural gas industry should build a unified and open market system，eliminate the administrative barriers of the segmented market and the locked market，encourage multiplex investment subjects to actively march into the market，create a fair，open and competitive market environment，and employ the pricing mechanism to regulate production and consumption.Under the market functions，a market mechanism that involves reasonable competition，supply and demand，stimulation and price could be achieved.The market reform of the natural gas industry is not only a progressive course but also a complex project which requires a series of comprehensive matching work.The market reform of China's gas industry and its legalization are mutually dependent.The reform calls for the follow-up and the improvements of legislation and the successful experiences in the reform should be learned and established in law.We should strive to “connect legislation to reform policies”，to “launch major reforms according to laws”，to “meet the needs for reforms and socio-economic development” in legislative activities，to make use of the “leading and promoting role” of laws.

Key words：the Natural Gas Industry；Marketization；the Study of Legal Norms