China will officially launch on Monday its long-mooted state oil and gas pipeline group combining the infrastructure assets of the state-owned energy majors into one huge midstream group, which analysts say could be worth between US$80 billion and US$105 billion. China has considered for years creating such a company, but only this year has it approved the setting up of a state-held oil and gas pipeline group. The new company is part of China’s efforts to allow its energy companies to focus on boosting exploration and production. Combining China’s pipeline infrastructure into one firm and opening access to this infrastructure to foreign and private producers would help the state oil and gas firms to focus on exploration at a time when China aims to increase its domestic production. The pipeline plan is the biggest energy ‘reform’ in China since 1998 when the country restructured its oil and gas sector […]