144External territory offshore area—how application for retention licence dealt with

#### 144 External territory offshore area—how application for retention licence dealt with (1) This section applies if the application covers blocks in an external territory offshore area. (2) If the applicant does not do what is required by sections 137 to 141, the responsible Commonwealth Minister (as the Joint Authority for the offshore area) must refuse the application. (3) If the applicant does what is required by sections 137 to 141, the responsible Commonwealth Minister (as the Joint Authority for the offshore area) may: (a) subject to section 145, provisionally grant a retention licence to the applicant; or (b) refuse the application. > Note: Under section 154, the grant of the licence cannot be effective before it is registered (see section 333 for registration). The grant will not be registered until it has been properly accepted (see section 151 for proper acceptance).