英国页岩气矿业权管理制度的特点及启示

从中国前两轮页岩气区块招标的实施情况来看,仅局部地区取得了突破,总体情况并不乐观。中国经济新常态下,如何盘活页岩气等非常规油气资源成为新一轮油气管理体制改革的重点。英国在油气勘探开发领域具有上百年的发展历史,其成熟的管理模式值得借鉴。为此,梳理了英国油气矿业权管理制度的特点,及其为促进页岩气勘探开发所采用的改革措施。分析认为,英国页岩气矿业权管理主要具有以下特点:(1)建有完善的法律制度和配套法规;(2)成立了专门的石油天然气管理机构;(3)建有成熟的矿业权许可体制并注重提高行政审批效率;(4)在行业发展初期非常重视吸引小型、创业型或资金相对不足的企业;(5)建有规范的矿业权准入和退出机制;(6)非常重视勘探开发作业全流程的环境保护;(7)重视社区可持续发展。结合我国页岩气勘探开发所处阶段和存在的问题,提出了建议:中国页岩气管理体制改革需要从深化油气管理体制改革、完善矿业权准入机制、规范矿业权退出机制、加大财政优惠支持力度等多个方面入手。

A strong mineral-rights regulatory regime for developing shale gas in the United Kingdom and its enlightenment to China

From the implementation of the first two rounds of shale gas blocks invitation for bids in China, breakthroughs were made in several local areas but the overall situation is not optimistic. Under the New Normal of Chinese economy, how to vitalize such unconventional hydrocarbon resources as shale gas has become the focus of the government’s new round of oil & gas regulation reform. The United Kingdom with hundreds of years of experiences in regulating the onshore oil and gas industry is worth learning and using for reference in China. In view of this, the following features of the UK’s strong oil and gas regulatory regime were analyzed, especially its positive reform measures adopted for promoting shale gas exploration and development. First, the UK government has enacted a perfect legal system and a complete set of laws and regulations, established specialized oil and gas regulatory agencies, and owned a mature mineral-rights permission system with normative access and exit mechanism, laying emphasis on government review and approval efficiency. Second, at the earlier stage, more policies were made to attract or support those small-scale or start-up companies or those firms with relatively insufficient capital. Third, the UK government attaches great importance to the sustainable development as well as environmental protection issues in the whole process of oil and gas exploration, exploitation and production. Finally, based on the present status and the existing problems in shale gas exploration and development in China, the following proposals were put forward: to deepen the oil & gas regulation reform, to improve the mineral-rights access and exit mechanism, to make financial incentive policies, to strengthen policy support, and so on.