Vietnam: Amending contents of state management of oil and gas activities

Specifically, according to Clause 18 Article 1 of the Law amending and supplementing the Law on Petroleum in 2008, which amends and supplements Article 38 of the Law on Petroleum 1993 of Vietnam, contents of state management of oil and gas activities are specified as follows:

- The Government shall perform the unified state management of oil and gas activities.

- The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall take responsibility before the Government for its state management of oil and gas activities prescribed below:

+ To promulgate according to its, competence or submit to competent state agencies for promulgation legal documents, strategies, master plans and plans on development of the oil and gas industry;

+ To assume the prime responsibility for submitting to the Prime Minister for approval oil and gas contracts and oil and gas investment projects according to the investment law, reporting on reserves, overall plans and plans on field development, results of oil and gas lot and contract biddings and foreign cooperation schemes for oil and gas activities in overlapping areas with foreign countries, extending the oil and gas exploration and prospecting periods or the terms of oil and gas contracts, and the time of suspension of oil and gas contracts in force majeure circumstances and special cases;

+ To organize the formulation of, and submit to the Prime Minister for promulgation, lists of lots and divisions and adjustments of lot limits;

+ To review, monitor and report on the development and results on exploration, prospecting, exploitation and domestic sale and export of oil and gas;

+ To approve programs and plans on early exploitation in areas under contract; to approve plans on and examine and handle violations in the clearing up of fixed works, equipment and means for oil and gas activities no longer in use and the environmental restoration according to law;

+ To permit the burning of associated gas; withdraw fields if contractors fail to develop fields and exploit oil and gas according to schedules under approved field development plans;

+ To manage the training, retraining and development of human resources for oil and gas activities; to formulate appropriate mechanisms and policies to attract human resources for oil and gas activities;

+ To carry out international cooperation on oil and gas;

+ To propagate, disseminate and educate the law on oil and gas;

+ To examine, inspect, handle violations and settle complaints and denunciations about, oil and gas activities;

+ To perform other tasks regarding the state management of oil and gas activities according to law.

- Ministries and ministerial-level agencies shall, within the ambit of their tasks and powers, perform the state management of oil and gas activities according to law.

- People's Committees of provinces and centrally run cities shall, within the ambit of their tasks and powers, perform the state management of oil and gas activities in their localities according to law.

View more amendments and supplements at: The Law amending and supplementing the Law on Petroleum in 2008 of Vietnam takes effect from January 01, 2009.

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