Chinese Taipei
Natural Gas Action Strategy Update
APEC Energy Working Group Nineteenth Meeting
6-7 April, 2000
Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam
In compliance with the priority principles for implementation in natural gas initiative, Chinese Taipei has implemented the following actions:
- Alleviate the risk of policy and regulation in private investment
- Ensure fair competition and protect public interests through establishing rules and regulations
- Facilitate loan of equity and debt and insurance of political risk through proper bilateral and multilateralarrangements.
- Enhance the relation between government and private sectors and support research and development. Chinese Taipei has completed the following actions:
(1)No non-tariff barriers on natural gas import
Regarding the regulations of import of natural gas, all non-tariff barriers have been removed.
(2) Lower tariff and good tax of natural gas
To encourage the use of natural gas, the tariff of natural gas has been removed from 5% to 4%, goods tax was lowered from NT$0.11/cubic meter to NT$0.055/cubic meter. Natural gas is expected to be exempt from tariff and goods tax within 2-3 years.
(3)Supply to industrial sector
In order to set up a sound competition market of natural gas, we removed the related restraint in “gas utility management regulation” in June 1999; Since then, both private gas-fuel utility and gas-fuel supplier can directly deliver gas to industrial consumers.
(4) Alleviate the restraint on foreign investment
In view of the fact that proper introduction of foreign investment can enhance the operation efficiency and technology in domestic private-owned public gas-fuel utility and benefit customers and enterprises with high quality and better service, we opened private public gas-fuel utility to allow foreign investment to participate in with a sharelimit of 50% in September 1999.
(5) Infrastructure
In the construction of infrastructure of natural gas, we are doing a series of infrastructure construction projects which includes liquefied natural gas station, underground storage tank, long distance pipeline, to further secure the stable supply of natural gas. Meanwhile, for encouraging private investment on infrastructure of natural gas and introducing the competition mechanism, we encourage private sector to participate in cooperative construction on cross border system of pipeline network.
The third expansion project for the Yung-An LNG receiving station owned by CPC in southern Chinese Taipei is constructed under schedule. This project will be finished at the end of this year. The LNG receiving capacity will expand from 4.5 million tons per year to 7.87 million tons per year.
Another LNG receiving terminal in northern Chinese Taipei is located at Kuan-Tan of Taoyuan County and owned by Private Tunex Gas Corp. The change of this area into industrial zone has been approved. The construction application for the industrial-use only harbor is under way. The formal construction work will begin in June of this year.
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