Vietnam was a war torn nation for thirty years until 1975 and then entered a period of economic and social isolation for the next 12 years. Only in 1987 did the Government introduce its "open door" policy to encourage foreign investment. At the same time Vietnam reopened its territorial waters to Western oil exploration companies to search for new reserves of oil and gave the opportonity to bid for concessions to produce from reserves previously discovered but not yet developed.

The country's infrastructure and legislative base for oil and gas exploitation were very poorly developed but rapid progress bas been made in the last 4 years. Tins paper describes the cooperation between the Oil Industry and Government in the development of standards and procedures for conservation of the environment in which the search for oil is taking place.

Keywords:
safety, partnership, petrovietnam, vietnam, society of petroleum engineers, government, vietsovpetro, great importance, national assembly, environmental protection
Subjects:
Environment, Oil and chemical spills
Copyright 1994, Society of Petroleum Engineers
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