Additional regulations on fundamental investigation of petroleum in Vietnam under the Petroleum Law 2022

Additional regulations on fundamental investigation of petroleum in Vietnam under the Petroleum Law 2022 (Internet image)

The National Assembly approved the Petroleum Law 2022 on November 14, 2022.

According to the Petroleum Law 2022, there are additional regulations on fundamental investigation of petroleum compared to the previous one as follows:

1. What is  fundamental investigation of petroleum?

According to Clause 2, Article 3 of the Petroleum Law 2022, fundamental investigation of petroleum includes research, survey and investigation of geological formations and material composition, conditions and laws of petroleum generation in order to assess the petroleum potential as a basis for orientation of hydrocarbon exploration.

2. Organizations conducting fundamental investigations of petroleum in Vietnam

Organizations conducting fundamental investigations of petroleum under Article 10 of the Petroleum Law 2022 include:

- On the basis of strategies and planning in respect of energy and mineral resources and proposals of organizations meeting the requirements prescribed in Article 12 of the Petroleum Law 2022:

The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall take charge and cooperate with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and related ministries and agencies in formulating a list of projects to conduct fundamental investigations of petroleum in a manner of ensuring the totality and uniformity and submitting it to the Prime Minister for approval.

In the list of projects to conduct fundamental investigations of petroleum, contents of organizations presiding over performance, funding sources and cost estimates, conducting period and forms of organization of fundamental investigations of petroleum must be involved.

In case there is a proposal to conduct a fundamental investigation of petroleum in an area where a fundamental geological investigation of minerals or exploration and extraction of minerals under regulations of laws on minerals, the Prime Minister shall decide the cooperation in conducting between relative organizations and individuals on the basis of ensuring the highest efficiency and maximum national interests.

- Budget for fundamental investigations of petroleum shall be included in the state budget estimates, budgets of PVN, organizations and individuals.

- Forms of carrying out petroleum-related fundamental investigation projects include:

+ Assignments in case state authorities and enterprises preside over carrying out the projects;

+ Agreements between PVN and other organizations in case such organizations preside over carrying out the projects.

- On the basis of the approved list of fundamental investigation projects of petroleum, the Ministry of Industry and Trade shall take charge and cooperate with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and related ministries and agencies in performing the following tasks:

+ Approve detailed guidelines and cost estimates for fundamental investigations of petroleum; approve terms and details of the mutual agreements between PVN and organizations presiding over conducting fundamental investigations of petroleum in cases prescribed in Point b Clause 3 of this Article;

+ Guide organization of carrying out fundamental investigations of petroleum; inspect and supervise the progress of petroleum-related fundamental investigation projects;

+ Check before acceptance of the results of fundamental investigations of petroleum and approve them;

+ Appraise expenditures and approve statements of funding from state budget sources (if any), expenditures of PVN (if any) used to conduct fundamental investigations of petroleum.

- Reports on the results of fundamental investigations of petroleum shall be updated on the national geology and mineral database system.

- The Government shall issue detailed regulations on Article 10 of the Petroleum Law 2022.

3. Contents of fundamental investigations of petroleum in Vietnam

Contents of fundamental investigations of petroleum under Article 11 of the Petroleum Law 2022 are as follows:

- Doing geological and geophysical researches and surveys, conducting investigations of geological formations and material compositions, performing parametric drilling to collect data and take samples, make reports, building regional geological and geophysical maps and thematic maps for hydrocarbon exploration, combining to research on hazards of geology, environmental geology and other minerals, making relevant thematic maps.

- Finding signs of petroleum, assessing petroleum potentials and prospects, locating and classifying by separate objects and groups of geological formations in order to identify new potential areas and orient hydrocarbon exploration.

4. Requirements for conducting fundamental investigations of petroleum in Vietnam

According to Article 12 of the Petroleum Law 2022, the requirements for conducting fundamental investigations of petroleum are as follows:

- Organizations presiding over fundamental investigations of petroleum (presiding organizations) must possess sufficient financial and technical capacity as well as experiences in fundamental investigations of petroleum according to regulations of the Government of Vietnam.

- Organizations failing to fully satisfy requirements must establish a consortium with other organizations or individuals to fully satisfy requirements for conducting fundamental investigations of petroleum as prescribed in Clause 1 of Article 12 of the Petroleum Law 2022.

- Individuals participating in conducting fundamental investigations of petroleum must establish a consortium with organizations to fully satisfy requirements for conducting fundamental investigations of petroleum as prescribed in Clause 1 of Article 12 of the Petroleum Law 2022.

The Petroleum Law 2022 takes effect from July 1, 2023, replacing the Petroleum Law 1993, the Law amending Petroleum Law 2000, the Law amending Petroleum Law 2008, and the Law amending a number of articles of the 37 Laws related to planning in 2018.

Quoc Dat

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