PETROLEUM AND GEOTHERMAL ENERGY RESOURCES ACT 1967 - SECT 48G
PETROLEUM AND GEOTHERMAL ENERGY RESOURCES ACT 1967 - SECT 48G
48G . Grant or refusal of renewal of lease
(1) Where —
(a) an
application for the renewal of a lease has been made under section 48F; and
(b) any
further information required by the Minister under subsection (4) of
section 48F has been furnished in accordance with that subsection; and
(c) the
Minister is satisfied that recovery of petroleum from the petroleum lease area
or geothermal energy from the geothermal lease area, as the case requires
—
(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 —
(d)
shall, if the conditions to which the lease is, or has from time to time been,
subject and the provisions of this Part and of the regulations have been
complied with; or
(e) may
if —
(i)
any of the conditions to which the lease is, or has from
time to time been, subject or any of the provisions of this Part and of the
regulations has not been complied with; and
(ii)
the Minister is, nevertheless, satisfied that special
circumstances exist that justify the granting of the lease,
inform the person who
is then the lessee, by instrument in writing served on that person, that the
Minister is prepared to grant to that person the renewal of the lease.
(2) Subject to
subsection (3), where an application for the renewal of a lease has been made
under section 48F and —
(a) any
further information required by the Minister under subsection (4) of
section 48F has not been furnished in accordance with that subsection; or
(b) the
Minister is not satisfied as to the matters referred to in subsection (1)(c);
or
(c) any
of the conditions to which the permit is, or has from time to time been,
subject or any of the provisions of this Part and of the regulations has not
been complied with and the Minister is not satisfied that special
circumstances exist that justify the granting of the renewal of the lease,
the Minister shall, by
instrument in writing served on the person who is then the lessee, refuse to
grant the renewal of the lease.
(3) The Minister shall
not refuse to grant the renewal of the lease unless —
(a) he
has, by instrument in writing served on the lessee, given not less than one
month’s notice of his intention to refuse to grant the renewal of the
lease; and
(b) he
has served a copy of the instrument on such other persons, if any, as he
thinks fit; and
(c) he
has, in the instrument —
(i)
given particulars of the reasons for the intention; and
(ii)
specified a date on or before which the lessee or a
person on whom a copy of the instrument is served may, by instrument in
writing served on the Minister, submit any matters that the lessee wishes to
be considered;
and
(d) he
has taken into account any matters so submitted on or before the specified
date by the lessee or by a person on whom a copy of the first-mentioned
instrument has been served.
(4) An instrument
referred to in subsection (1) shall contain —
(a) a
summary of the conditions to which the lease, on the grant of the renewal, is
to be subject; and
(b) a
statement to the effect that the application will lapse if the lessee does not
make a request under subsection (6).
(5) An instrument
under subsection (2) shall, where the Minister refuses to grant the renewal of
a lease by reason only that the Minister is not satisfied as to the matter
referred to in subsection (1)(c)(i), contain a statement to the effect that
the lessee may, within the period of 12 months after the date of service of
the instrument, make an application for a licence in respect of one or more of
the blocks comprised in the lease.
(6) A lessee 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 on the lessee, by
instrument in writing served on the Minister, request the Minister to grant
the lessee the renewal of the lease.
(7) Where a lessee on
whom there has been served an instrument under subsection (1) has made a
request under subsection (6) within the period referred to in subsection (6),
the Minister shall grant to the lessee the renewal of the lease.
(8) Where a lessee on
whom there has been served an instrument under subsection (1) has not made a
request under subsection (6) within the period referred to in subsection (6),
the application lapses upon the expiration of that period.
(9) Where —
(a) an
application for the renewal of a lease has been made; and
(b) the
lease expires —
(i)
before the Minister grants, or refuses to grant, the
renewal of the lease; or
(ii)
before the application lapses as provided by subsection
(8),
the lease shall be
deemed to continue in force in all respects —
(c)
until the Minister grants, or refuses to grant, the renewal of the lease; or
(d)
until the application so lapses,
whichever first
happens.
(10) Where the
Minister refuses to grant the renewal of a lease by reason only that the
Minister is not satisfied as to the matter referred to in subsection
(1)(c)(i), the lease shall be deemed to continue in force in all respects
—
(a) in a
case to which paragraph (b) does not apply, until 12 months after the date of
service of the instrument under subsection (2); or
(b) in a
case where the lessee makes an application for a licence in respect of one or
more of the blocks comprised in the lease within the period of 12 months after
the date referred to in paragraph (a), until the Minister grants, or refuses
to grant, the licence or until the application lapses, whichever first
happens.
[Section 48G inserted: No. 12 of 1990 s. 34;
amended: No. 28 of 1994 s. 24; No. 35 of 2007 s. 40.]