Risk management in oil and gas construction projects in Vietnam Nguyen Van Thuyet and Stephen O. Ogunlana Asian Institute of Technology, School of Civil Engineering, Bangkok, Thailand, and Prasanta Kumar Dey Aston Business School, Aston University, Birmingham, UK Abstract Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to the identify risk factors, which affect oil and gas construction projects in Vietnam and derive risk responses. Design/methodology/approach – Questionnaire survey was conducted with the involvement of project executives of PetroVietnam and statistical analysis was carried out in order to identify the major project risks. Subsequently, mitigating measures were derived using informal interviews with the various levels of management of PetroVietnam. Findings – Bureaucratic government system and long project approval procedures, poor design, incompetence of project team, inadequate tendering practices, and late internal approval processes from the owner were identified as major risks. The executives suggested various strategies to mitigate the identified risks. Reforming the government system, effective partnership with foreign collaborators, training project executives, implementing contractor evaluation using multiple criteria decision-making technique, and enhancing authorities of project people were suggested as viable approaches. Practical implications – The improvement measures as derived in this study would improve chances of project success in the oil and gas industry in Vietnam. Originality/value – There are several risk management studies on managing projects in developing countries. However, as risk factors vary considerably across industry and countries, the study of risk management for successful projects in the oil and gas industry in Vietnam is unique and has tremendous importance for effective project management. Keywords Oil industry, Gas industry, Risk management, Project management, Vietnam Paper type Research paper Introduction Projects are exposed to both internal risks (financial, design, contractual, construction, personal, involved parties and operational risks) and external risks (economical, social, political, legal, public, logistical and environmental risks). All the risks may influence cost, schedule or quality of the project in negative ways (Charoenngam and Yeh, 1999). Therefore, risk management should be well recognized and handled as an integrated function of project management. Vietnam is an emerging economy with increasing gross domestic product (GDP) (World Bank, 2001). The construction industry is the main contributor to the growth with real expansion of 7.2 percent in 2001 and 14 percent in the first quarter of the year 2002. However, Vietnam’s construction industry has recently encountered many issues that cause negative impacts on construction projects, one of which is the lack of systematic and effective risk management system. The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/1750-6220.htm Risk management 175 International Journal of Energy Sector Management Vol. 1 No. 2, 2007 pp. 175-194 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1750-6220 DOI 10.1108/17506220710761582