Impacts of Dung Quat Oil Refinery on social security, culture, and lifestyleof local people in Quang Ngai province

Abstract

In Vietnam, the development of oil refining industry not only ensures energy security but also contributes to improving livelihood, social security, culture, and lifestyle of local people. While the role of oil refining industries in energy security and livelihood development has been analyzed in various studies, the impact of oil refining industries on social security, culture, and lifestyle has been almost examined and unresolved. Using household structured interviews, key informant semi-structured interviews, and statistics from the Vietnam household living standards survey (between 2004 and 2020), this paper analyzes the impacts of Dung Quat Oil Refinery on social security, culture, and lifestyle of people in Quang Ngai. The results demonstrate that Dung Quat Oil Refinery contributes to ensuring social security, changing some aspects of the locals’ culture and lifestyle. The results also indicate problems to be solved on those aspects. Based on these results, the paper proposes recommendations to improve people’s social security, culture, and lifestyle.