Petroleum and Submarine Pipe-lines Act 1975 (repealed 15/02/1999)

(14A) (1) The Licensee shall not suspend work on the drilling of a development well, or having suspended it in accordance with this paragraph shall not begin it again, except with the consent in writing of the Minister and in accordance with the conditions, if any, subject to which the consent is given. (2) When work on the drilling of a development well is suspended in accordance with paragraph (1) of this clause, the Licensee shall forthwith furnish the Minister with such information relating to the well as the Minister may specify. (3) The Licensee— (a) shall not do any completion work in respect of a well in the licensed area except in accordance with a programme of completion work approved by the Minister in respect of the well; (b) shall furnish to the Minister, in accordance with the provisions of such a programme, particulars of any completion work done by him in respect of a well in the licensed area ; and (c) shall not remove or alter any casing or equipment installed by way of completion work in respect of a well except with the consent in writing of the Minister and in accordance with the conditions, if any, subject to which the consent is given. (4) In this clause— - " completion work ", in relation to a well, means work, by way of the installation of a casing or equipment or otherwise after the well has been drilled, for the purpose of bringing the well into use as a development well; and - " development well " means a well which the Licensee uses or intends to use in connection with the getting of petroleum in the licensed area, other than a well which for the time being he uses or intends to use only for searching for petroleum.

7

• (1) In Clause 16 of the relevant clauses, after paragraph (2) there shall be inserted the following paragraphs:—

(2A) Notwithstanding anything in the preceding provisions of this clause, the Licensee shall not— (a) flare any gas from the licensed area ; or (b) use gas for the purpose of creating or increasing the pressure by means of which petroleum is obtained from that area, except with the consent in writing of the Minister and in accordance with the conditions, if any, of the consent. (2B) An application for consent in pursuance of paragraph (2A) of this clause must be made in writing to the Minister and must specify the date on which the Licensee proposes to begin the flaring or use in question; and subject to paragraph (2C) of this clause that date must not be before the expiration of the period of two years beginning with the date when the Minister receives the application. (2C) If the Minister gives notice in writing to the Licensee stating that, in consequence of plans made by the Licensee which the Minister considers are reasonable, the Minister will entertain an application for consent in pursuance of paragraph (2A) of this clause which specifies a date after the expiration of a period mentioned in the notice which is shorter than the period mentioned in paragraph (2B) of this clause, an application made in consequence of the notice may specify, as the date on which the applicant proposes to begin the flaring or use in question, a date after the expiration of that shorter period. (2D) Before deciding to withhold consent or to grant it subject to conditions in pursuance of paragraph (2A) of this clause, the Minister shall give the Licensee an opportunity of making representations in writing to the Minister about the technical and financial factors which the Licensee considers are relevant in connection with the case and shall consider any such representations then made to him by the Licensee. (2E) Consent in pursuance of paragraph (2A) of this clause shall not be required for any flaring which, in consequence of an event which the Licensee did not foresee in time to deal with it otherwise than by flaring, is necessary in order— (a) to remove or reduce the risk of injury to persons in the vicinity of the well in question ; or (b) to maintain a flow of petroleum from that or any other well; but when the Licensee does any flaring which is necessary as aforesaid he shall forthwith inform the Minister that he has done it and shall, in the case of flaring to maintain a flow of petroleum, stop the flaring upon being directed by the Minister to stop it.

• (2) In paragraph (3) of the said clause 16, for the words " within three days of" there shall be substituted the words " forthwith after " and after the words " that event" there shall be inserted the words " and shall, forthwith after the occurrence of any event causing escape of petroleum into the sea, give notice of the event to the Chief Inspector of Her Majesty's Coastguard ".

• (3) In the said clause 16, after paragraph (3) there shall be inserted the following paragraph:—

(4) The Licensee shall comply with any reasonable instructions from time to time given by the Minister with a view to ensuring that funds are available to discharge any liability for damage attributable to the release or escape of petroleum in the course of activities connected with the exercise of rights granted by this licence; but where the Minister proposes to give such instructions he shall before giving them— (a) give the Licensee particulars of the proposal and an opportunity of making representations to the Minister about the proposal; and (b) consider any representations then made to him by the Licensee about the proposal.

8

After clause 16 of the relevant clauses there shall be inserted the following clause:—

(16A) (1) The Licensee shall ensure that another person (including, in the case where the Licensee is two or more persons, any of those persons) does not exercise any function of organising or supervising operations for searching or boring for or getting petroleum in pursuance of this licence unless the other person is a person approved in writing by the Minister as respects that function. (2) The Minister shall not refuse to give his approval of a person in pursuance of paragraph (1) of this clause if that person is competent to exercise the function in question ; but where an approved person is not competent to exercise that function the Minister may, by notice in Writing given to the Licensee, revoke his approval.

9

• (1) In paragraph (1) of clause 21 of the relevant clauses—

• (a) for the words " on or before the fifteenth day of each month " there shall be substituted the words " three months from the date of this licence and at intervals of three months thereafter during the period ";

• (b) for paragraph (a) there shall be substituted the following paragraph—

(a) a statement of all geological work, including surveys and tests, which has been carried out and the areas in which and the persons by whom the work has been carried out and the results thereof;

• (c) for the words " in that month " in paragraph (b) there shall be substituted the words " during such period of three months "; and

• (d) after the word " coal" in paragraph (d) there shall be inserted the words " or other minerals ".

• (2) For paragraph (3) of the said clause 21 there shall be substituted the following paragraph:—

(3) The Licensee shall furnish the Minister with such information as the Minister may from time to time request about any aspect of activities of the Licensee which are attributable directly or indirectly to the grant of this licence, except that the Licensee shall not by virtue of this paragraph be required to furnish information in respect of his activities in connection with any crude oil after he has appropriated it for refining by him.

10

For clause 23 of the relevant clauses there shall be substituted the following clause:—

(23) All records, returns, plans, maps, samples, accounts and information (in this clause referred to as " the specified data") which the Licensee is or may be from time to time required to furnish under the provisions of this licence shall be supplied at the expense of the Licensee and shall not (except with the consent in writing of the Licensee which shall not be unreasonably withheld) be disclosed to any person not in the service or employment of the Crown: Provided that— (i) the Minister shall be entitled at any time to make use of any of the specified data for the purpose of preparing and publishing such returns and reports as may be required of the Minister pursuant to the Petroleum and Submarine Pipe-lines Act 1975 or otherwise required by law ; (ii) the Minister shall be entitled at any time to furnish any of the specified data to the Institute of Geological Sciences and to any other body of a like nature as may from time to time be carrying on activities of a substantially similar kind to those at present performed by the Institute of Geological Sciences ; (iii) the Minister, the said Institute and any such other body shall be entitled at any time to prepare and publish reports and surveys of a general nature using information derived from any of the specified data ; (iv) the Minister, the said Institute and any such other body shall be entitled to publish any of the specified data of a geological, scientific or technical kind after the expiration of the period of five years beginning with the date when the Minister received the data or after the expiration of such longer period as the Minister may determine after considering any representations made to him by the Licensee about the publication of data in pursuance of this sub-paragraph.

11

For clause 24 of the relevant clauses there shall be substituted the following clause:—

(24) The Licensee shall— (a) permit any person in the service or employment of the Crown who is appointed by the Minister for the purpose to inspect, and to take copies of and make notes from, all books, papers, maps and other records of any kind kept by the Licensee in pursuance of this licence or in connection with activities about which the Minister is entitled to obtain information in pursuance of clause 21(3) of this licence ; and (b) furnish that person at reasonable times with such information and provide him at reasonable times with such reasonable assistance as he may request in connection with or arising out of an inspection in pursuance of this clause.

12

In both versions of clause 27 of the relevant clauses for the words "considerations by way of royalty or otherwise specified by Schedule 2 hereto " there shall be substituted the words " payments mentioned in clause 8(1) of this licence " and for the word " consideration " there shall be substituted the word " payments ".

13

For clause 30 of the relevant clauses there shall be substituted the following clause:—

(30) (1) The Licensee shall not, except with the consent in writing of the Minister and in accordance with the conditions (if any) of the consent, do anything whatsoever whereby, under the law (including the rules of equity) of any part of the United Kingdom or of any other place, any right granted by this licence or derived from a right so granted becomes exercisable by or for the benefit of or in accordance with the directions of another person. (2) The Licensee shall not enter into any agreement providing for a person other than the Licensee to become entitled to, or to any proceeds of sale of, any petroleum which, at the time when the agreement is made, has not been but may be won and saved from the licensed area unless the terms of the agreement have been approved in writing by the Minister either unconditionally or subject to conditions; but the preceding provisions of this paragraph do not apply to— (a) an agreement for the sale of such petroleum under which the price is payable after the petroleum is won and saved ; and (b) an agreement in so far as it provides that, after any petroleum has been won and saved from the licensed area, it shall be exchanged for other petroleum. (3) The Licensee shall not, without the consent of the Minister, dispose of any petroleum won and saved in the licensed area or any proceeds of sale of such petroleum in such a manner that the disposal does, to the knowledge of the Licensee or without his knowing it, fulfil or enable another person to fulfil obligations which a person who controls the Licensee, or a person who is controlled by a person who controls the Licensee, is required to fulfil by an agreement which, if the person required to fulfil the obligations were the Licensee, would be an agreement of which the terms require approval by virtue of paragraph (2) of this clause ; and subsections (2) and (4) to (6) of section 302 of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1970 shall apply, for the purpose of determining whether for the purposes of this paragraph a person has control of another person, with the following modifications, namely— (a) for the words "the greater part" wherever they occur in the said subsection (2) there shall be substituted the words " one-third or more "; and (b) in the said subsection (6), for the word " may " there shall be substituted the word " shall " , the words from " and such attributions" onwards shall be omitted and in the other provisions of that subsection any reference to an associate of a person shall be construed as including only a relative of his (as defined by section 303(4) of that Act), a partner of his and a trustee of a settlement (as defined by section 454(3) of that Act) of which he is a beneficiary. (4) Where the Licensee is two or more persons, then, without prejudice to the preceding provisions of this clause, none of those persons shall enter into an agreement with respect to the entitlement of any of them to— (a) the benefit of any right granted by this licence ; or (b) any petroleum won and saved from the licensed area ; or (c) any proceeds of sale of such petroleum, unless the terms of the agreement have been approved in writing by the Minister; but the preceding provisions of this paragraph do not apply to an agreement for the sale of such petroleum under which the price is payable after the petroleum is won and saved and an agreement in so far as it provides that, after any petroleum has been won and saved from the licensed area, it shall be exchanged for other petroleum.

14

• (1) In clause 31 of the relevant clauses—

• (a) in paragraph (2)(a) for the words " consideration specified in Schedule 2 hereto " there shall be substituted the words " payments mentioned in clause 8(1) of this licence "; and

• (b) in paragraph (2)(g) the words " to be a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies or to be resident in the United Kingdom or " and the word " ceasing " after those words shall be omitted.

• (2) In the said clause 31, at the end of paragraph (2) there shall be inserted the following words: —

(h) any breach of a condition subject to which the Minister gave his approval in pursuance of clause 30(2) of this licence ; (i) any breach of clause 30(4) of this licence ; and where two or more persons are the Licensee any reference to the Licensee in sub-paragraphs (c) to (g) of this paragraph is a reference to any of those persons.

• (3) In the said clause 31, after paragraph (2) there shall be inserted the following paragraphs: —

(3) The Minister may revoke this licence, with the like consequences as are mentioned in paragraph (1) of this clause, if— (a) the Licensee is a company ; and (b) there is a change in the control of the Licensee ; and (c) the Minister serves notice in writing on the Licensee stating that the Minister proposes to revoke this licence in pursuance of this paragraph unless such a further change in the control of the Licensee as is specified in the notice takes place within the period of three months beginning with the date of service of the notice ; and (d) that further change does not take place within that period. (4) There is a change in the control of the Licensee for the purposes of paragraph (3)(b) of this clause whenever a person has control of the Licensee who did not have control of the Licensee when this licence was granted ; and subsections (2) and (4) to (6) of section 302 of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1970 shall apply, for the purpose of determining whether for the purposes of this paragraph a person has or had control of the Licensee, with the modifications specified in clause 30(3) of this licence. (5) Where two or more persons are the Licensee and any of them is a company, paragraphs (3) and (4) of this clause shall have effect as if— (a) sub-paragraph (a) of paragraph (3) were omitted ; (b) in sub-paragraph (b) of that paragraph, after the word " of" there were inserted the words " any company included among the persons who together constitute "; and (c) for the word " Licensee " in any other provision of those paragraphs there were substituted the word " company

.

15

• (1) In the relevant clauses all the words in brackets beginning with the words "the marginal note whereof is" and the brackets enclosing the words so beginning shall be omitted ; and accordingly in clause 26 of those clauses for the words from " the Clauses " to " case" there shall be substituted the words " clauses 9, 13, 15, 16 or 18 of this licence

• (2) In the provisions included in the relevant clauses by virtue of the Petroleum (Production) (Amendment) Regulations 1972, for the words " Secretary of State " wherever they occur there shall be substituted the word " Minister ".

PART II — Schedule 3 to the Petroleum (Production) Regulations 1966 as further amended

SCHEDULE 4

PART I — Works authorisations

1

Provisions may be made by regulations as to the manner in which an application for a works authorisation is to be made and as to the information to be included in or furnished in connection with an application; and, without prejudice to the generality of the power to make regulations conferred by the preceding provisions of this paragraph, regulations in pursuance of this paragraph may require the payment of fees in connection with an application.

2

It shall be the duty of the Secretary of State on receiving an application for a works authorisation—

• (a) to decide whether the application is to be considered further or rejected; and

• (b) to serve notice of his decision on the applicant and—

• (i) in the case of a decision that the application is to be considered further, to give the applicant such directions with respect to the application as the Secretary of State considers appropriate for the purposes of paragraph 3 of this Schedule, and

• (ii) in the case of a decision to reject the application, to include in the notice a statement of the reasons for the decision except any reason which in the opinion of the Secretary of State it would be against the national interest to state.

3

Where in pursuance of the preceding paragraph the Secretary of State serves notice on an applicant that the application is to be considered further, it shall be the duty of the applicant—

• (a) to publish, in such manner as the Secretary of State directs,

a notice which—

• (i) contains such particulars of the application as the Secretary of State directs, and

• (ii) states that representations with respect to the application may be made in writing to the Secretary of State within the period of twenty-eight days beginning with the date on which the notice is first published in pursuance of this paragraph or within such longer period beginning with that date as is specified in the notice in pursuance of a direction of the Secretary of State; and

• (iii) states where the map mentioned in sub-paragraph (b) of this paragraph may be inspected during the period specified in the notice in pursuance of paragraph (ii) of this sub-paragraph ; and

• (b) to secure that a map of such scale and containing such particulars as the Secretary of State directs is available for inspection by the public free of charge from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on each weekday during the period so specified ; and

• (c) to serve a copy of the notice on such persons as the Secretary of State directs;

and it shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to defer his further consideration of the application until he is satisfied that the applicant has performed the duty imposed on the applicant by this paragraph.

4

Where the Secretary of State decides that an application for a works authorisation is to be considered further and is of opinion, either on his own initiative (except in relation to the purpose mentioned in paragraph 6(b) of this Schedule) or in consequence of representations made to him by the applicant or any other person,—

• (a) that the route proposed for the pipe-line or part of it in the application ought to be altered in a particular manner for any of the purposes mentioned in paragraph 6 of this Schedule ; or

• (b) that the capacity proposed for the pipe-line or part of it in the application ought to be increased for any of the purposes mentioned in sub-paragraphs (b) and (d) of the said paragraph 6,

it shall be the duty of the Secretary of State, before deciding whether to issue an authorisation in consequence of the application, to serve notice of his opinion on the applicant and, where the opinion relates to an alteration of the route proposed for the pipe-line or part of it, on any persons whom the Secretary of State considers are likely to be affected by the alteration or on any person appearing to the Secretary of State to represent such persons.

5

Where the Secretary of State serves notice of his opinion on any person in pursuance of the preceding paragraph it shall be his duty—

• (a) where the notice is served on the applicant, to give him an opportunity of being heard with respect to the opinion; and

• (b) where the notice is served on any other person, to state in the notice that representations in writing with respect to the opinion may be made to the Secretary of State within a period specified in the notice;

and where a person is heard in pursuance of sub-paragraph (a) of this paragraph the Secretary of State may give such other persons, if any, as he thinks fit an opportunity to be heard at the hearing.

6

The purposes referred to in paragraph 4 of this Schedule are—

• (a) the purpose of avoiding or reducing danger to navigation, to persons engaged in and vessels and equipment used for fishing, to some structure or apparatus (which may be the pipe-line) or to marine flora or fauna ;

• (b) the purpose of facilitating the use of the pipe-line by persons other than the applicant where it appears to the Secretary of State that such persons desire to use the pipe-line;

• (c) the purpose of avoiding or reducing interference with fishing or the exploitation of mineral resources;

• (d) any other purpose which the Secretary of State considers proper;

and it shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to state the reasons for his opinion in any notice of his opinion served in pursuance of paragraph 4 of this Schedule except any reason which he considers that it would be against the national interest to state.

7

Where the Secretary of State—

• (a) is satisfied that an applicant for a works authorisation has performed the duty imposed on him by paragraph 3 of this Schedule; and

• (b) has considered any representations relating to the application which were made to the Secretary of State—

• (i) within the period specified in that behalf in the notice published in respect of the application in pursuance of sub-paragraph (a) of the said paragraph 3 ;

• (ii) at a hearing held in pursuance of sub-paragraph (a) of paragraph 5 of this Schedule ; and

• (iii) in accordance with a notice served by the Secretary of State in respect of the application in pursuance of sub-paragraph (b) of the said paragraph 5,

it shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to decide whether to issue an authorisation in consequence of the application and to publish his decision in accordance with the following paragraph

8

In the case of a decision not to issue a works authorisation in consequence of an application it shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to serve on the applicant, and on each person on whom a copy of notice of the application was required to be served in pursuance of paragraph 3(c) of this Schedule, a notice stating the decision and, in the case of the notice served on the applicant, stating also the reasons for the decision except any reason which the Secretary of State considers that it would be against the national interest to state; and in the case of a decision to issue a works authorisation in consequence of an application it shall be the duty of the Secretary of States—

• (a) to serve notice of the decision on the applicant and each such person and on any other person who made representations as mentioned in sub-paragraph (b)(ii) or (iii) of the preceding paragraph ; and

• (b) to publish a copy of the notice in the London and Edinburgh and Belfast Gazettes, or in such of them as he considers appropriate, and in any other publication which he considers appropriate.

9

Where the Secretary of State issues a works authorisation it shall be his duty—

• (a) to serve on the persons on whom notice in respect of the authorisation was required to be served by the preceding paragraph, excluding the applicant, a notice stating that the authorisation has been issued and containing the name and address of the person to whom it was issued and such particulars as the Secretary of State considers appropriate of the route of the pipe-line, the authorised capacity of it, the things authorised to be conveyed by it and the persons authorised to use it and containing such other information (if any) about the pipe-line as the Secretary of State considers appropriate; and

• (b) to publish a copy of the notice in the London and Edinburgh and Belfast Gazettes, or in such of them as he considers appropriate, and in any other publication which he considers appropriate.

PART II — Other authorisations

10

Where the Secretary of State issues an authorisation other than a works authorisation, it shall be his duty to publish in the London and Edinburgh and Belfast Gazettes or in such of them as he considers appropriate, and in any other publication which he considers appropriate, a notice stating that the authorisation has been issued and containing the name and address of the person to whom it was issued and such particulars as the Secretary of State considers appropriate of the route and capacity of the relevant pipe-line, the things authorised to be conveyed by it and the persons authorised to use it and containing such other information (if any) about the pipe-line as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.