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Petroleum Act 1984
Part 3of the Land Title Act 2000.
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Part 3 of the Land Title Act 2000.
park or reserve means a park or reserve within the meaning of the
Territory Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1976 or land declared
under section 9(4) of that Act to be a park or reserve for the
purposes of this Act.
permit means an exploration permit.
permit area means an exploration permit area.
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permittee:
(a) except for Part III, Division 1, Subdivision 2, means a person
who is registered under Part IV as the holder of an exploration
permit; or
(b) for Part III, Division 1, Subdivision 2 – see section 59.
petroleum means:
(a) a naturally occurring hydrocarbon, whether in a gaseous,
liquid or solid state;
(b) a naturally occurring mixture of hydrocarbons, whether in a
gaseous, liquid or solid state; or
(c) a naturally occurring mixture of one or more hydrocarbons,
whether in a gaseous, liquid or solid state, with hydrogen,
hydrogen sulphide, nitrogen, helium or carbon dioxide or any
combination of them,
and includes a hydrocarbon as defined by paragraph (a), (b) or (c)
that has been returned to a natural reservoir.
petroleum infrastructure decommissioning security, see
Part VC, Division 3.
petroleum interest means an exploration permit, retention licence,
production licence or access authority.
petroleum pool means a naturally occurring discrete accumulation
of petroleum.
petroleum surface infrastructure plan, see section 60(3).
pollution, see section 4 of the Waste Management and Pollution
Control Act 1998.
premises includes:
(a) infrastructure, whether stationary or portable; and
(b) a vehicle or other conveyance.
prescribed means prescribed by regulation.
principles of ecologically sustainable development means the
principles set out in sections 18 to 24 of the Environment Protection
Act 2019.
Petroleum Act 1984 9
produce, in relation to petroleum, means to recover or release the
petroleum from a petroleum pool in the course, or as a result, of
any operations.
production licence means a production licence granted or
renewed under Division 4 of Part II.
production licence area means the area constituted by the blocks
that are the subject of a production licence.
production licensee means a person who is registered under
Part IV as the holder of a production licence.
Register means the Register kept in pursuance of section 90(2).
Register of Native Title Claims means the Register of Native Title
Claims established and maintained in accordance with Part 7 of the
Native Title Act.
registered native title body corporate has the meaning given in
section 253 of the Native Title Act.
registered native title claimant has the meaning given in
section 253 of the Native Title Act or, if the claimant is replaced
under section 66B of that Act, means the person who replaced the
claimant.
registered native title rights and interests means:
(a) in relation to a registered native title claimant – the native title
rights and interests of the claimant described in the relevant
entry on the Register of Native Title Claims; and
(b) in relation to a registered native title body corporate – the
native title rights and interests of the body corporate described
in the relevant entry on the National Native Title Register
established and maintained under Part 8 of the Native Title
Act.
Registrar means the person appointed under section 90(1) as
Registrar.
related, for Part IVA, see section 104C.
related corporations, for Part IVA, see section 104A.
repealed Act means the Acts repealed by this Act when this Act
was enacted, as in force immediately before that repeal.
reporting period, see section 5A.
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reservoir means any subsurface formation or geological sequence
containing a petroleum pool.
restricted area means an area which is the subject of a declaration
under section 57.
retention licence means a retention licence granted or renewed
under Division 3 of Part II.
retention licence area means the area constituted by the blocks
that are the subject of a retention licence.
retention licensee means a person who is registered under Part IV
as a holder of a retention licence.
rig release means the point at which a drilling rig conducts its last
operation on a well and its services are no longer required for that
well.
share, for Part IVA, see section 104A.
significant environmental harm, see section 9 of the Environment
Protection Act 2019.
stop work notice means a stop work notice issued under
section 89R.
surface infrastructure means infrastructure located on a
production licence area, downstream from a wellhead, for the
purpose of extracting, processing, refining, storing, transporting or
using petroleum, other than a pipeline as defined in section 3 of the
Energy Pipelines Act 1981.
survey means a systematic geoscientific survey, including a
geological or geophysical survey.
Tribunal means the Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
vary, in relation to the conditions of a petroleum interest or
approved plan, includes adding, suspending, waiving or revoking a
condition of the petroleum interest or approved plan.
waste, see section 4 of the Waste Management and Pollution
Control Act 1998.
well means a hole in the surface of land or the sea-bed made by
drilling, boring or other means in connection with the exploration for,
or operations for the recovery of, petroleum but does not include a
seismic shot hole or a bore as defined in section 4(1) of the Water
Act 1992.
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wellhead means the casing head and includes any casing hanger
or spool, or tubing hanger, and any flow control equipment up to
and including the wing valves.
well operations management plan, see section 60(1).
wilderness zone means a wilderness zone declared under
section 12 of the Territory Parks and Wildlife Conservation
Act 1976.
(2) In this Act, a reference to the term of an exploration permit or
licence is a reference to the period during which the permit or
licence remains in force and a reference to the date of expiration of
an exploration permit or licence is a reference to the day on the
expiration of which the permit or licence ceases to have effect.
(3) In this Act, a reference to a year of the term of an exploration permit
or licence is a reference to a period of one year commencing on the
date from and including which the permit or licence has effect or on
any anniversary of that date.
(4) In this Act, a reference to the renewal of an exploration permit is a
reference to the renewal, under section 25, of the permit in relation
to some of the blocks specified in the first-mentioned permit to
commence on the day after the date of expiration of the first-
mentioned permit or on the day after the date of expiration of the
permit upon a previous renewal of the first-mentioned permit.
(5) In this Act, a reference to the renewal of a licence in respect of the
blocks specified in the licence is a reference to the renewal:
(a) in the case of a retention licence, under section 38; and
(b) in the case of a production licence, under section 52,
of the licence in respect of some or all of those blocks to commence
on the day after the date of expiration of the first-mentioned licence
or on the day after the date of expiration of the licence upon a
previous renewal of the first-mentioned licence.
(6) In this Act, a reference to an exploration permit or licence is a
reference to the permit or licence as varied from time to time under
(7) For the avoidance of doubt, an exploration permit, licence or other
document or instrument granted or issued under this Act is an
instrument of a legislative or administrative character for the
purposes of the Interpretation Act 1978.
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(8) For this Act, environmental harm means direct or indirect
alteration of the environment to its detriment or degradation, of any
degree or duration, whether temporary or permanent.
(9) The regulations may specify alterations of the environment to which
the definition of environmental harm applies.
(10) Without limiting subsection (8) or (9), for this Act, environmental
harm may be caused by pollution whether the harm:
(a) is a direct or indirect result of the pollution; or
(b) results from the pollution alone or from the combined effects of
the pollution or other factors.
(11) For this Act, a discovery of petroleum is taken to have occurred
where:
(a) the presence of petroleum within a reservoir is indicated
during drilling; and
(b) the petroleum is shown to be producible after taking into
account any guidelines published or adopted by the Minister
for the purposes of this subsection.
(12) For this Act, petroleum is recovered or produced on an appraisal
basis if it is recovered or produced under a process intended to
establish the extent and nature of a discovery of petroleum.
Note for section 5
The Interpretation Act 1978 contains definitions and other provisions that may be
relevant to this Act.