PETROLEUM AND GEOTHERMAL ENERGY RESOURCES ACT 1967 - SECT 48CB

PETROLEUM AND GEOTHERMAL ENERGY RESOURCES ACT 1967 - SECT 48CB

48CB .         Grant or refusal of lease in relation to application by licensee

        (1)         If —

            (a)         an application has been made under section 48CA(1); and

            (b)         the applicant has given any further information as and when required by the Minister under section 48CA(6); and

            (c)         the Minister is satisfied that recovery of petroleum from the unused area —

                  (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 written notice served on the applicant, inform the applicant that the Minister is prepared to grant to the applicant a petroleum retention lease in respect of the unused area.

        (2)         If —

            (a)         an application has been made under section 48CA(2); and

            (b)         the applicant has given any further information as and when required by the Minister under section 48CA(6); and

            (c)         the Minister is satisfied that recovery of geothermal energy from the unused area —

                  (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 written notice served on the applicant, inform the applicant that the Minister is prepared to grant to the applicant a geothermal retention lease in respect of the unused area.

        (3)         If an application has been made under section 48CA and —

            (a)         the applicant has not given further information as and when required by the Minister under section 48CA(6); or

            (b)         the Minister is not satisfied as mentioned in subsection (1)(c) or (2)(c), as the case requires, in relation to the unused area,

                the Minister shall, by written notice served on the applicant, refuse to grant a lease to the applicant.

        (4)         A notice under subsection (1) or (2) 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 (5) in respect of the grant of the lease.

        (5)         An applicant on whom a notice is served under subsection (1) or (2) may request the Minister to grant the lease to the applicant.

        (6)         The request must be in writing and must be made —

            (a)         before the end of the period of one month after the date of service of the notice on the applicant under subsection (1) or (2); or

            (b)         if the Minister, on application in writing made to the Minister before the end of that period, allows a further period of not more than one month for the making of the request — before the end of that further period.

        (7)         If the applicant makes the request within the period applicable under subsection (6), the Minister shall grant to the applicant a petroleum retention lease or geothermal retention lease, as the case requires, in respect of the unused area.

        (8)         If the applicant does not make the request within the period applicable under subsection (6), the application lapses at the end of that period.

        (9)         On the day on which a lease is granted under this section in respect of an unused area comes into force, the licence in respect of the block or blocks of which the area consists or in which the area is included ceases to be in force in respect of the area.

        [Section 48CB inserted: No. 42 of 2010 s. 28.]