Pipeline Transportation in China - Industry Market Research Report

The Pipeline Transportation industry in China is expected to post revenue growth of annualized 1.2% over the five years through 2022, to $15.4 billion. This includes a jump of 6.2% in 2022. Profit has been high but decreased over the period, and is estimated to account for 12.8% of revenue in 2022. Large-scale construction of pipelines in China began in the 1970s with the development of the country's oil and gas sector. Currently, oil and gas transported through pipelines accounts for over 90.0% by volume of total pipeline transportation. The national length of oil and gas pipelines in China totaled 150,000 kilometers at the end of 2021. Among them, the length of natural gas pipeline is about 89,000 kilometers, accounting for 59.3%, the length of crude oil pipeline is about 31,000 kilometers, accounting for 20.7%, and the length of refined oil pipeline is about 30,000 kilometers, accounting for 20.0%. The Pipeline Transportation industry in China is highly concentrated, with the four largest players, National Petroleum and Natural Gas Pipeline Network Group, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), China Petrochemical Corporation and China National Offshore Oil Corporation, expected to account for 90.6% of total industry revenue in the current year. The top four largest players are all large state-owned enterprises and dominate the oil and gas transportation sector. Industry revenue is forecast to grow by an annualized 3.8% over the five years through 2027, to reach $18.5 billion. Advances in automation technology, rising market demand, and the industry's growing competitive advantage over other transportation modes will likely drive growth over the period. By the end of 2027, the total length of oil and gas pipelines in China is forecast to exceed 200,000 kilometers.

Trends and Insights

• Rapid economic growth and social development have driven industry demand.
• The demand for energy, water resources, industrial raw materials, etc., has been constantly increasing in China, stimulating the demand for pipeline transportation. Gas pipelines have 58.6% of total pipeline length.
• The uneven distribution of gas fields and gas consumption in China results that gas must be transported over these long distances through pipelines. Industry companies transport natural gas to eastern regions.
• Natural gas resources are mainly distributed in the western regions but less in eastern regions, which requires pipeline for transportation. Industry concentration level is high.
• The industry is highly concentrated. The largest company, PipeChina, is expected to account for 71.5% of total industry revenue in 2024.

Industry Overview

Industry revenue has grown at a CAGR of 1.2 % over the past five years, to reach an estimated $15.4bn in 2024.

Trends and Insights