Every time international oil prices rise and fall, it almost affects the hearts of domestic consumers; The results of the New York Mercantile Exchange on September 10 were no exception, for example, light crude oil futures ended the day: October delivery fell by $2.96 to settle at $65.75 per barrel. Today's legal Q&A asks: "Why has the rise and fall of refined oil prices become a cause for concern?" The answer to this question needs to start with the attributes of resources.
Today's legal Q&A · Pricing of scarce resources
1. Overview of "Resource Attributes".
What people usually call resources is an open concept, or a broad concept, such as: human resources, natural resources, etc.; The price of refined oil refers to a specific, or narrow, concept, that is, to natural resources alone. Natural resources include land, and many countries have laws that provide for private ownership of land; Most ordinary people reflexively conclude that natural resources attached to the land, such as oil, are also privately owned.
One might ask, is the above conclusion true? Throughout the world, with the exception of a few countries in the Middle East, the laws of most countries or regions have established by law or jurisprudence that mines attached to the land and natural forces that are economically available to the public belong to the whole people; Taxation of private land limits its size, and in the developed countries of the West, there are not many "big landlords" except in the form of enterprises.
Some people may ask, why can't ordinary people in China know the above information? Academics or experts have a monopoly or selectivity in presenting relevant information. For example, in the theory of criminal law, the principle of legality mainly refers to the non-retroactivity of the law, but a few scholars insist that the main content is that "if the law does not expressly stipulate that it is a crime, it shall not be convicted and punished"; Such a simple truth is self-evident and does not need to be clarified by scholars.
Knowing that most countries stipulate that natural resources are owned by the whole people, it is not difficult for most of the public to understand that some countries or regions adopt different prices for natural resources such as oil prices, i.e., domestic prices and foreign prices, and some even free of charge, such as wireless spectrum resources. On the mainland, however, most scholars are reluctant to explain that the value of land has increased, and most countries, or regions, are limited to the increase in labor capital.
One might ask, why do most countries support market prices in terms of oil prices?
Second, the rise and fall of refined oil prices are the reasons for concern
As far as natural resources are concerned, their distribution is uneven around the world, for example, oil resources are currently mainly distributed in "oil-producing countries" or "high seas" and other regions. Most oil-producing countries do not have large populations, and these countries naturally need to apply market prices, but still apply government prices to their own nationals, such as Russia.
Western countries such as the United States also implement market prices for refined oil. However, the reasons may mainly include the following two aspects:
On the one hand, the United States implements a bidding system for the exploitation of natural resources such as oil; The implementation of market prices for petroleum resources may not cause any harm to national interests or public interests, or may not cause much harm. For example, the "welfare" of United States may be tied to the system.
On the other hand, because many Western countries, including the United States, do not have social insurance; Financial capital is exceptionally developed, and capital needs natural resources to implement market prices. For example, financial capital can share the natural resources of other countries through shares; Most countries do not directly list and trade natural resources.
Through the above analysis, the rise and fall of refined oil prices have attracted attention, and the main reasons include the following two aspects:
On the one hand, in order to analyze the income, the group that holds shares or holds futures pays attention to the rise and fall of refined oil prices. For example, the financial capital of Western countries, as well as stockholders, etc.
On the other hand, most people in countries that do not treat oil prices differently are also concerned about the rise and fall of refined oil prices. For example, when oil prices have fallen, many people have ruled out filling up their vehicles.
The reason for the rise and fall of refined oil prices is concerning
One might wonder whether the mainland's current oil price pricing mechanism is legal or reasonable.
3. Understanding of the pricing rules for scarce resources
It is the principle that most countries adhere to the principle that natural resources belong to the state, or are owned by the whole people, and the laws of the mainland directly stipulate that they are owned by the whole people. For example, the first paragraph of Article 3 of the Mineral Resources Law stipulates that "mineral resources belong to the state, and the State Council shall exercise the state's ownership of mineral resources".
However, capital has a way to deal with the above provisions, that is, to guide countries that do not have a sound legal system or cannot understand their own laws to list natural resources, and hold shares to enjoy the resources of other countries. For example, after the "three barrels of oil" were listed overseas, those who held shares "benefited a lot"; In November 2017, the state established the National Energy Investment Group Co., Ltd. accordingly.
On the mainland, there may be different practices for pricing natural resources. For example, the government sets prices for finished gold, but market prices for natural resources such as coal. One might ask, on what basis is the price stated above, and why is it so prescribed?
According to Article 18 of the Price Law, the government may, when necessary, implement government-guided prices or government-set prices for "prices of a small number of commodities with scarce resources"; Gold resources are scarce, and government pricing is implemented accordingly; Natural resources such as coal are not scarce, and market prices are applied.
One might ask, is that really the case? Natural resources belong to the whole people, and the answer is no; The precondition for the implementation of the market price is that the mining rights need to be obtained by auction.
The understanding of the above-mentioned price practice is mainly due to the "Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Mineral Resources Law" stipulating "private mining enterprises", and many mining enterprises have implemented the shareholding system. The consequence of this understanding is that gold is not very important to people's lives, and it is priced by the government; Energy is closely related to the people's livelihood, and the surplus and loss of state-owned and other power generation enterprises must be decided by the mining enterprises.
It is important to understand the pricing rules of scarce resources, for example, rare earths are a scarce resource and are subject to market prices, because they are not very closely related to the lives of ordinary people. The understanding of scarce resources needs to be comprehensively evaluated through the average national occupancy and living relations, according to which, there may be doubts about the legality of the current oil price pricing mechanism, but it is certainly unreasonable, mainly because the "three barrels of oil" issued shares to the outside world.
Understanding of the rules for pricing scarce resources
It should be noted that the main reason for the continuous decline in international oil prices is that the mainland has promoted the new energy policy and caused changes in the relationship between supply and demand; It is normal for the popularization of new energy vehicles to be "blocked" by Western countries such as United States, but it cannot hinder the progress of science and technology. As the reform enters the "deep water zone" and the new energy technology continues to advance, the state and society can finally understand the rules for pricing scarce resources, such as the same $69.19 per barrel, what the price is when the government sets the price.
Links to the main legal provisions
People's Republic of China Mineral Resources Act
Article 3 Mineral resources belong to the State, and the State Council shall exercise the State's ownership of mineral resources. State ownership of mineral resources, whether surface or underground, does not change depending on the ownership or use rights of the land to which they are attached.
People's Republic of China price method
Article 18 The government may, when necessary, implement government-guided or government-fixed prices for the prices of the following commodities and services:
(1) The prices of a very small number of commodities that have a major bearing on the development of the national economy and the people's livelihood;
(2) the price of a few commodities where resources are scarce;
(3) the price of commodities operated by natural monopolies;
(4) the prices of important public utilities;
(5) Prices for important public welfare services.