City gas companies set to get protection after Oil Min proposes new rule

No company, except the licensee, can sell natural gas to homes and vehicle owners in a licensed area without the central government’s permission even after the city gas network has been declared a common carrier by the regulator, the oil ministry has proposed.

This essentially means a city gas licensee may face automatic competition only for its industrial and commercial customers after the end of the exclusivity period while its home and super-profitable CNG business may get longer protection.