PETROLEUM (SUBMERGED LANDS) ACT 1982 - SECT 37B
PETROLEUM (SUBMERGED LANDS) ACT 1982 - SECT 37B
37B—Grant or refusal of lease in relation to application
(a) an
application has been made under section 37A; and
(b) the
applicant has furnished any further information as and when required by the
Minister under section 37A(3); and
(c) the
Minister is satisfied that recovery of petroleum from the area comprised in
the blocks specified in the application—
(i)
is not, at the time of the application, commercially
viable; and
(ii)
is likely to become commercially viable within the period
of 15 years after that time,
the Minister shall, by instrument in writing served on the applicant, inform
the applicant that the Minister is prepared to grant to the applicant a lease
in respect of the block or blocks specified in the application.
(2) Where an
application has been made under section 37A and—
(a) the
applicant has not furnished any further information as and when required by
the Minister under section 37A(3); or
(b) the
Minister is not satisfied as to the matters referred to in
subsection (1)(c) in relation to the blocks specified in the application,
the Minister shall, by instrument in writing served on the applicant, refuse
to grant a lease to the applicant.
(3) An instrument
under subsection (1) shall contain—
(a) a
summary of the conditions subject to which the lease is to be granted; and
(b) a
statement to the effect that the application will lapse if the applicant does
not make a request under subsection (4) in respect of the grant of the
lease.
(4) An applicant on
whom there has been served an instrument under subsection (1) may, within
a period of one month after the date of service of the instrument, or within
such further period, not exceeding one month, as the Minister, on application
in writing served on the Minister before the end of the firstmentioned period
of one month, allows, by instrument in writing served on the Minister, request
the Minister to grant the lease to the applicant.
(5) Where an applicant
on whom there has been served an instrument under subsection (1) has made
a request under subsection (4) within the period applicable under
subsection (4), the Minister must grant to the applicant a retention
lease in respect of the block or blocks specified in the instrument.
(6) Where an applicant
on whom there has been served an instrument under subsection (1) has not
made a request under subsection (4) within the period applicable under
subsection (4), the application lapses upon the expiration of that
period.
(7) On the day on
which a lease granted under this section in respect of a block or blocks comes
into force, the permit in respect of the block or blocks ceases to be in force
in respect of those blocks.