China announced in March it was going to spin off the pipeline operating assets of the three state oil and gas majors and create a separate entity dedicated solely to this infrastructure. The announcement was welcomed by the local energy industry and it should also be welcomed by foreign oil and particularly gas producers. In a recent note, Credit Suisse analysts said, as quoted by Bloomberg’s Dan Murtaugh, that the pipeline asset spin-off would encourage greater competition on the natural gas market and lead to lower prices, which would in turn spur even more demand for the fuel. “We do not believe that the market has taken active views on post-reform pricing. The majority of investors have only focused on asset sales and valuation specific to the pipeline company,” the analysts said in the note. According to them, natural gas prices in China could fall by as much as […]