Analysis Of Natural Gas Pipeline Industry System And Investment Incentive Based On Contract Theory

The U.S.natural gas pipeline industry has gradually matured into a competitive market in the evolution of more than one hundred years.This is due to its institutional specificity.A study of its institutional evolution over a century reveals that a special system separates natural gas transportation from the pipeline itself.The definition of transit rights,a marketable and tradable intangible property rights,is the key to the formation of a final competitive market.This paper mainly studies issues such as the system and incentives of the US natural gas pipeline industry,and the formation of a competitive market.The system itself can be regarded as a series of contracts,so the issues of asset specificity in the pipeline transportation of natural gas can be discussed from the perspective of contracts,and the formation of different systems and their investment incentive effects can be explored.The analysis of the US natural gas pipeline industry shows the important role of institutional factors in the formation of a competitive market.At present,China’s natural gas industry is in the stage of marketization reform.The country has deployed reform tasks such as the independence of pipelines and networks,the separation of pipeline transportation and sales,and the opening of pipeline and network facilities.Through comparison and analysis with the U.S.system,it can provide some inspiration for China’s natural gas system reform.