The government's recent move to allow private firms to act as
wholesale marketers of refined oil products will not particularly
rock the sector which is still largely dominated by the largest two
oil firms in China, experts and traders say.
But the green light to opening what until now has been a tightly
controlled market indicates that PetroChina
and Sinopec will
face some stiffer competition.
Local major companies may be helped in preparing for what is
ahead by the door left ajar to increasing the number of domestic
players before the market is completely exposed to foreign giant
firms in 2006 as part of China's commitment to the World Trade
Organization.
Earlier this month, the domestically listed Hubei Tianfa
Group, a refined oil products trader, announced it had obtained
a wholesale license for its refined oil products. It was the first
wholesale license granted by the government in four years.
In a market overhaul in 1999, the government recalled thousands
of wholesale licenses for refined oil products and consolidated the
business into just a duopoly featuring PetroChina and Sinopec.
The government hoped the move would help the two companies get a
better grip of the market and control prices to sustain the
revenues at their lumbering refineries that absorb millions of
workers and contribute millions in tax revenues to the
government.
Tianfa, which operates more than 100 filling stations, said the
license-call-off has virtually paralyzed its oil storage facilities
- which absorbed an investment of more than 10 billion yuan (US$1.2
billion) - and sent its profits plummeting. As a result, the
company suffered heavy losses for two consecutive years, and was on
the verge of being delisted on the stock market.
To rescue the flagship private firm in Central China's Hubei
Province, Yu Zhengsheng, Communist Party secretary of the province,
lobbied hard to get the central government to help the company
regain its license.
With a wholesale license in hand, company officials say they
plan to occupy half of the wholesale market for refined products in
Hubei Province, which is now being dominated by Sinopec.
According to its blueprint, Tianfa also plans to expand its
retail network to 3,000 gasoline stations and become the third
largest retailer in five years.
But experts said Tianfa's participation is not likely to
reshuffle the market, since PetroChina and Sinopec still control
the oil supply at the wholesale level, and most storage
facilities.
"The two giants have a strong say on the market," said an
official with Sinochem, a major State-owned oil trader. "It is
unlikely for the two giants to support others to beat
themselves."
As for the retail network, an official with Sinopec said petrol
stations are dependent on where storage facilities are located, and
the "Big Two" have occupied almost all the best places.
"How could you compete without storage?" the official asked.
Another source with the China National United Oil Corp, a
State-owned oil trader, said: "The government would like to see
competition in the market, but not too much competition.
"The development of Tianfa may be restricted to Central China,
rather than develop nationwide."
(China Daily October 23, 2003)