National petrol and natural gas trading center opens in Shanghai

SHANGHAI - A national petrol and gas trading center opened for business in Shanghai on Saturday.

Xu Shaoshi, chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, said he wished to see China's three largest fuel providers -- Sinopec, CNPC and CNOOC -- trading actively on the platform.

Mayor of Shanghai Yang Xiong believes the new center will expand Shanghai's influence in the natural resources market.

The China Economic Information Service (CEIS), a subsidiary of Xinhua, is a stakeholder in the center. Cai Mingzhao, president of Xinhua, said that CEIS will get up-to-the-minute petrol and gas trading information from the center and provide professional information products, assisting development of the resource market in China.

The center was established in March 2015, with ten stakeholders, including Sinopec, CNPC, CNOOC and CEIS. Trial operations started in July 2015. It is estimated that gas transactions will exceed 15 billion cubic meters this year, about eight percent of China's total consumption.

The center will conduct both listed transactions and competitive price transactions for natural gas, liquefied natural gas, petrol and other resource products. It plans to have mid- and long-term spot transactions and financial derivative trading in the future.