Market-oriented reform in China’s oil and gas industry: Current dynamics and strategic pathways

China’s oil and gas market-oriented reform, developed through decades of exploration, has established a structure featuring multi-entity exploration in the upstream, independent operation of the national pipeline network in the midstream, and diversified competition in the downstream. Nevertheless, systemic challenges persist. A highly concentrated supply structure poses risks to energy security, while inadequate competition and limited market openness constrain operational efficiency. The green transition is hampered by insufficient policy coordination and economic viability barriers, and R&D transformation bottlenecks impede technological innovation. Furthermore, regional disparities in public service provision undermine social equity. Resolving these contradictions necessitates a systematic approach to reconfigure pathways for factor mobility, risk-sharing, and policy coordination through market mechanisms. Accordingly, this study constructs a five-dimensional analytical framework integrating energy security, market efficiency, green transition, technological innovation, and public welfare. It proposes a reform strategy system centered on market mechanism reconstruction: facilitating factor integration to strengthen energy security, employing financial empowerment to enhance market efficiency, implementing low-carbon incentives to accelerate the green transition, establishing risk-sharing mechanisms to boost technological innovation, and fostering public-private partnerships to ensure equitable public services. Ultimately, this framework achieves a dynamic equilibrium among secure supply, competitive efficiency, low-carbon transformation, technological breakthroughs, and social well-being. This study systematically incorporates multiple objectives into the analysis of oil and gas market-oriented reform and discusses future pathways considering renewable energy integration and AI trends, providing institutional support for constructing a new energy system during the 15th Five-Year Plan period.