692Royalty for petroleum not payable in certain cases

692 Royalty for petroleum not payable in certain cases

(1) Royalty under this Act—

(a) is not payable in respect of petroleum that the Minister is satisfied was unavoidably lost before the quantity of that petroleum was ascertained; or

(b) is not payable in respect of petroleum that is used by a petroleum exploration permittee, petroleum retention lessee or petroleum production licensee, as approved by the Minister, for the purposes of petroleum exploration operations or operations for the recovery of petroleum; or

S. 692(1)(c) amended by No. 26/2021 s. 36(a).

(c) is not payable in respect of petroleum that, with the approval of the Minister, is flared or vented in connection with operations for the recovery of petroleum; or

S. 692(1)(d) inserted by No. 26/2021 s. 36(b).

(d) is not payable in respect of petroleum that was extracted or recovered outside the offshore area and injected into a reservoir in the offshore area; or

S. 692(1)(e) inserted by No. 26/2021 s. 36(b).

(e) is not payable in respect of petroleum that the Minister identifies as petroleum in respect of which royalty has already been paid.

(2) In addition, royalty under this Act is not payable in respect of petroleum that—

(a) has been recovered by a petroleum exploration permittee, petroleum retention lessee or petroleum production licensee; and

(b) with the approval of the Minister, has been returned to a natural reservoir.

(3) However, subsection (2) does not affect the liability of the petroleum exploration permittee, petroleum retention lessee or petroleum production licensee, or any other petroleum exploration permittee, petroleum retention lessee or petroleum production licensee, to pay royalty in respect of petroleum that is recovered from (and not returned to) the natural reservoir.