Chương 1:Luật dầu khí 1993 :Những quy định chung

Chapter I.

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1.- The entire petroleum resources lying underground within the mainland, islands, inland waters, territorial waters, exclusive economic zone and continental shelf of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam belong to the entire-people ownership, and are uniformly managed by the Vietnamese State.

Article 2. The Vietnamese State encourages Vietnamese and foreign organizations and individuals to invest capital and technologies in conducting petroleum activities on the basis of respect for Vietnam’s independence, territorial integrity and national security and observance of Vietnamese law.

The Vietnamese State protects the ownership rights of Vietnamese and foreign organizations and individuals conducting petroleum activities in Vietnam over their investment capital, assets and other legitimate interests.

Article 3. In this Law, the following terms and phrases shall be construed as follows:

1. “Petroleum” means crude oil, natural gas and hydrocarbon in gaseous, liquid, solid or semi-solid form in the natural state, including sulphur and the like accompanying hydrocarbon, but excluding coal, agrillaceous rock, bitum or other minerals, from which oil can be extracted.

2. “Crude oil” means hydrocarbon in liquid form in natural status, asphalt, ozokerite and liquid hydrocarbon obtained from natural gas by method of condensation or extraction.

3. “Natural” gas means the entire hydrocarbon in gaseous form, exploited from drilling wells, including wet gas, dry gas, drilling-well head gas and remaining gas after extraction of liquid hydrocarbon from wet gas.

4. “Petroleum activities” mean activities of prospecting, exploring, developing fields of, and exploiting petroleum, including activities in direct service of these activities.

5. “Petroleum contracts” mean documents signed between Vietnam Petroleum Corporation and organizations or individuals for conducting petroleum activities.

6. “Petroleum services” mean activities related to petroleum prospection, exploration, field development and exploitation, which are conducted by subcontractors.

7. “Lot” means an area delimited with geographical coordinates and determined for petroleum prospection, exploration and exploitation.

8. “Contractors” mean Vietnamese or foreign organizations, individuals, that are permitted to conduct petroleum activities on the basis of petroleum contracts.

9. “Subcontractors” mean Vietnamese or foreign organizations, individuals, that sign contracts with contractors or petroleum joint-venture enterprises for provision of petroleum services.

10. “Petroleum joint-venture enterprises” mean joint-venture enterprises set up on the basis of petroleum contracts or on the basis of agreements signed between the Vietnamese Government and foreign governments.