Under the context of economic transformation and upgrading and the continued advancement of supplyside reforms in China, the development of the energy industry is confronted with many problems and challenges, such as insufficient energy investment, a shortage of financing channels, and the low participation of social capital. In order to fully mobilize social capital to invest in energy, enhance energy investment efficiency, expand energy financing channels, and increase the vitality of the energy industry, the state has recently issued the Implementing Opinions on Deepening the Reform of Investment and the Financing System in the Energy Industry("Opinions"). This paper provides a deep interpretation of this document from the perspectives of the background for the investment and financing system reform in the energy industry, the main content of the reform, the problems and challenges confronting the reform, and the expected effects from the reform, and analyzes the objectives, ideas and problems of the reform, in order to effectively promote the investment and financing system reform in the energy industry.

Tight oil is the unconventional oil resource developed and utilized by the world on the largest scale currently. The output of tight oil of the USA in 2016 was 220 million tons. According to the statistics of EIA, China has abundant tight oil resources, and its reserves rank No. 3 in the world. In the current situation of continuously low oil prices, through the technical progress and optimized management, the development costs of tight oil of the USA are continuously reduced, and the cost-effective development has been successfully realized. By contrast, China still has to carry out the further exploration in such aspects as policy guidance, understanding of tight oil resources, related technologies and management models. At present, through the positive exploration and practice, some oilfields in China have first realized the cost-effective development of tight oil. By the summarization of existing successful experience and the study of advanced technologies of the USA in tight oil development, the sound engineering management system suitable for the development of tight oil resource in China is established, and great efforts should be exerted to realize the large-scale, cost-effective development of tight oil resources as soon as possible.

China surpassed the United States (US) in 2006 to become the largest greenhouse gas emitter. CCS-EOR technology, which meets the dual needs of reducing carbon emissions and enhancing oil recovery, has had much importance attached to it. For the latest decade, the Chinese government has provided support for CCS-EOR technology through policy, funding and research projects. Under the vigorous guidance of the government, oil companies represented by China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) competed to carry out research, demonstration, popularization and operation in major oil fields centering on the CCS-EOR technology and achieved remarkable results. Its scientific and technological achievements are reflected in various sub-projects under the 863 Program, 973 Program and National Science and Technology Major Project. However, while shifting from trial promotion of the current stage to large-scale commercialization, CCS-EOR technology will not only face many opportunities but also quite a few challenges.

The Belt and Road Initiative has brought economic development and prosperity to the countries along its route. Latin America is an important area of economic investment for China, with special focus on oil and gas. However, investment is bound to be accompanied by opportunities and risks. Before investing in oil and gas in the corresponding countries, it is necessary to analyze the risk factors from a risk management perspective so as to establish a risk identification system and early warning mechanism. In this way, enterprises can gain competitive advantages and develop in a sustainable way.

At the end of 2015, the United States lifted a 40-year ban on crude oil exports, which has far-reaching implications for the global crude oil market and crude oil trade patterns. Since the release of crude oil exports, with the recovery of crude oil production and improved export infrastructure in the United States, U.S. crude oil exports have been growing rapidly, with an average of about one million barrels/day in 2017, making the U.S one of the major global crude oil exporters. Currently, the Asia-Pacific region has replaced North America as the first major destination for U.S. crude oil exports. In light of future trends in the oil refining industry of the Asia-Pacific region, it will usher in a new wave of refinery operations around 2020 and crude oil imports will continue to grow rapidly. The American region, represented by the United States, will replace West Africa as the second largest source of crude oil imports to the Asia-Pacific region, and that energy trade cooperation between the Asia-Pacific region and the United States will continue to grow. In particular, for China, the United States will become an important source of crude oil imports for our country in the future, and the two countries will shift from the past of energy competition to energy cooperation. Sino-US energy trade will play a more active role in economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.

The year 2017 saw explosive growth in China's natural gas market, and the apparent consumption was 235.7 billion cubic meters, up 18.2% over the same period of 2016. In 2017, China's domestic production growth picked up significantly, reaching 145.3 billion cubic meters, an increase of 9%. Natural gas imports grew rapidly, and imported pipeline gas and imported LNG totaled 91.6 billion cubic meters. The trade volume of LNG surpassed that of pipeline gas for the first time since 2012. In 2018, the macro-economy is expected to maintain growth at a moderate-to-high rate. However, driven by favorable factors such as environmental policies, China's demand for natural gas is expected to continue to grow rapidly, and natural gas consumption will maintain double-digit growth, roughly at 12%. Nevertheless, the seasonable imbalance between natural gas supply and demand will remain conspicuous.

This paper analyzes the status quo and progress of overseas oil and gas business cooperation built by Chinese oil enterprises in 2017. With the slow recovery of the oil and gas industries as a whole, the overseas oil and gas business of Chinese oil enterprises has continued to grow in size, and all-round cooperation progress was made along the Belt and Road. Breakthroughs were made in oil and gas cooperation between China and the United States. In the meantime, new features have emerged in the overseas cooperation of Chinese enterprises, and a pattern of diversified investors has basically taken shape.