Oil And Gas Seeks New Impetus From Carbon Economy

From promoting decentralization and delegation of power to regulations on carbon capture and storage mechanisms, the draft revised Oil and Gas Law is expanding the legal space for businesses to be more proactive, helping the oil and gas industry find new growth drivers.

The draft revised Oil and Gas Law is expanding the legal space for businesses to be more proactive and the oil and gas industry to seek new growth drivers. Photo: Petrovietnam

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Promoting Decentralization And Delegation Of Power

Assessing the new points of the draft Law on Oil and Gas (amended) being submitted to the National Assembly for comments, lawyer Truong Thanh Duc - Director of ANVI Law Firm said that this draft law has many progressive and innovative points compared to before. Especially the expansion of investment and business autonomy for businesses and clarifying the role of Vietnam National Group of Industry and Energy (Petrovietnam).

Mr. Duc said that the draft law expands autonomy for businesses, and at the same time clarifies Petrovietnam's role in oil and gas activities assigned by the State, helping to manage and deploy work faster and more suitable to the specifics of the industry.

According to lawyer Truong Thanh Duc, the draft law cannot directly and too detailedly regulate all procedures, especially for contents that need flexibility, need to be adjusted and changed regularly to meet the practical requirements of investment and business activities. More importantly, the draft law has expanded the legal corridor, creating conditions for the Government to proactively handle arising issues.

Oil and gas is a specialized field, requiring large capital, experience and high expertise, and directly related to energy security, national defense and sovereignty. Therefore, the legal corridor must be wide enough and capable of timely adjustment" - Mr. Duc emphasized.

Regarding decentralization and delegation of power, lawyer Truong Thanh Duc assessed that this is a key point to remove the psychology of fear of responsibility and the situation where businesses have to wait for many levels of procedures.

Vietnam Has Great Opportunities From Carbon Storage But Needs To Move Quickly

Talking to Lao Dong, Mr. Bui Dao Thai Truong - General Director of Roland Berger in Vietnam - analyzed that Vietnam has significant potential in the field of carbon capture and storage (CCS), especially thanks to the advantage of exploited oil and gas fields. When oil and gas fields have been exploited, these geological structures can be researched and utilized to store carbon. This is a new opportunity that not every country in the region has.

Especially for exploited oil and gas fields, when oil and gas resources are depleted, we can take advantage of these geological structures to store carbon, thereby creating a new source of revenue. This revenue can continue to be reinvested in the search, exploration and exploitation of new energy sources. CCS not only has environmental significance but can also open up a new market and source of revenue for the oil and gas industry" - Mr. Truong analyzed.

Mr. Truong emphasized that, scientifically, Vietnam's carbon storage potential is very significant. "The important thing is to turn that potential into a new economic resource," Mr. Truong said.

Incorporating regulations related to CCS into the Oil and Gas Law is a necessary condition for Vietnam to start opening up this market. However, to turn potential into a real project, more support mechanisms and policies are needed.

Mr. Truong believes that Vietnam needs to actively cooperate with countries with strengths in technology and capital such as Japan and South Korea to develop CCS projects, and at the same time form a carbon credit market.

Vietnam is having opportunities but is also one step behind some countries in the region. If other countries have signed, cooperated and formed carbon credit markets with international partners early, the room for Vietnam will shrink" - Mr. Truong warned.

Therefore, Mr. Truong recommended that Vietnam should move faster in building institutions, attracting investment and international cooperation, thereby taking advantage of the advantages of exploited oil and gas fields to develop CCS and open up new sources of revenue from the carbon economy.