The hottest refined oil pricing mechanism exists i

The refined oil pricing mechanism "exists in name only" is brewing for readjustment

"the oil price management method announced in May 2009 is only for trial implementation, which itself shows that the method is not perfect. After more than a year of trial operation, we have also found many problems in the application method of steel bar repeated bending testing machine, and there is indeed room for further adjustment in the specific operation of the refined oil pricing mechanism." On August 26, an official of the national development and Reform Commission told

recently, the domestic refined oil market has reached the conditions for reduction but has not been adjusted, making the domestic refined oil pricing mechanism enter a "dormant period", which has caused widespread discussion in the industry about "whether the new refined oil pricing mechanism is still being implemented"

this statement of the national development and Reform Commission confirmed that the current refined oil pricing mechanism has reached the edge of being revised

the above-mentioned person from the national development and Reform Commission also revealed that the national development and Reform Commission will mainly adjust the domestic refined oil pricing system in some details, including whether the 22 working days are too long. "The general direction of revision is to be more flexible and better reflect the cost changes of the market and enterprises."

the pricing mechanism is "fuzzy"

"the national development and Reform Commission has set its own system. The oil price must be adjusted when the conditions of 22 days and 4% are met, but now we often don't know whether to meet the conditions or do nothing at all." The person in charge of a gas station in Shenzhen told me

in May 2009, the "oil price management measures (Trial)" issued by the national development and Reform Commission was called the domestic new refined oil pricing mechanism. According to the above "measures", when the moving average price of crude oil in the three places in the international market changes by more than 4% for 22 consecutive working days, the price department of the national development and Reform Commission can adjust the prices of gasoline, diesel, aviation kerosene and other refined oil products accordingly

in fact, the national development and Reform Commission did adjust the oil price in a relatively timely manner according to the regulations in the first period of time after the release of the measures. But after a period of time, this price adjustment mechanism began to become blurred

take the recent period as an example. Since the national development and Reform Commission lowered the maximum retail price of refined oil on June 1 this year, the maximum retail price of refined oil has remained stable for nearly three months

during this period, the delay in adjusting the maximum retail price of domestic refined oil is not due to the fact that the list of CMA national quality inspection center failed to meet the conditions for price adjustment by the national development and Reform Commission

in fact, at the end of July this year, the two conditions for reducing the price of refined oil were both met, and public opinion also prompted that the window for price adjustment had appeared. However, the national development and Reform Commission not only did not adjust the price of refined oil, but also made comments that did not meet the conditions for price adjustment

the current practice of "fuzziness" has led some insiders to question that the pricing mechanism of new refined oil products has "existed in name only"

in addition, since the promulgation of the new pricing mechanism, there have been many fuzzy terms. For example, according to the new product oil pricing mechanism, when the price of crude oil in the international market is higher than $80 per barrel, the processing profit margin will be deducted until the product oil price is calculated according to the processing zero profit; When the price of gasoline and diesel is higher than 130 US dollars per barrel, the production and supply of refined oil shall be guaranteed by taking into account the interests of producers and consumers and adopting appropriate fiscal and tax policies. In principle, the price of gasoline and diesel shall not be raised or less raised

dilemma

the vague handling method of the national development and Reform Commission is considered by many people as "chasing up but not down, and safeguarding the monopoly interests of oil enterprises". On the other hand, oil companies also have some complaints about the current pricing mechanism

at Sinopec's interim performance Conference on August 23, Wang Xinhua, Sinopec's chief financial officer, publicly said, "the national development and Reform Commission is reviewing the refined oil pricing mechanism that has been implemented for more than a year, and I believe that the mechanism will gradually move towards marketization"

Sinopec and PetroChina feel that the current mechanism is not market-oriented enough, while public opinion believes that the national development and Reform Commission has always been "raising the price faster and lowering the price slower, with a large increase and a small decrease" on the issue of oil prices. For the current situation that the price adjustment of refined oil is "not flattering at both ends" among oil enterprises and consumers, the above-mentioned officials of the national development and Reform Commission are upset, "Due to the time lag of price adjustment and taking into account the overall economic situation and people's livelihood, the increase range is often not in place. When reducing the price, we should also take into account many factors, including the production cost and appropriate benefit compensation to enterprises, as well as preventing subsequent ups and downs."

"in addition, from the perspective of the current pricing mechanism that adjusts the price with the two indicators of 22 days and 4%, there are two advantages of marketization and transparency, but the disadvantages are also obvious, that is, it is easy to create speculation opportunities for the market. As long as there is no unexpected window during construction, oil hoarding often occurs everywhere." The official said, "if the price is adjusted strictly according to the current two indicators, it may lead to the normalization of speculation."

for the dilemma of the national development and Reform Commission in the price adjustment of refined oil, Lin Boqiang, an energy expert who once participated in the discussion on the pricing mechanism of the national development and Reform Commission, believes that transparency and accelerating the frequency of adjustment may be the ultimate way out of the embarrassing situation

"there is no doubt that the new refined oil mechanism has played some positive roles, including the stable performance of the two groups and the heating up of market competition. However, if the price system is opaque, it will not only be detrimental to enterprises, but also aggravate public disputes." Lin Boqiang pointed out

in terms of specific operation, Lin Boqiang believes that the range of 4% can be appropriately shortened first, so that the market can more sensitively reflect the changing trend of international and domestic oil prices; Secondly, the price adjustment time can be shortened from the original 22 days to about 10 days

in fact, Lin Boqiang's view is also the consensus of many industry experts

"instead of avoiding speculation through fuzzy processing, it is better to realize it by making the pricing mechanism transparent, shortening the price adjustment cycle and accelerating the price adjustment frequency. On the basis of information symmetry, it can better ensure the credibility of the national development and Reform Commission." Chen Qing said

the above-mentioned officials of the national development and Reform Commission pointed out that in general, the formation mechanism of refined oil prices is gradually moving towards marketization, but it is not simply in line with the international market, because the price of refined oil is also loaded with factors such as the balance between the affordability of all parties in society and the economic benefits of enterprises, as well as the protection of national energy security. "We should try to adopt a more flexible price formation system, but at this stage, China's refined oil pricing cannot be fully introduced to the market."

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