38BGrant or refusal of lease in relation to application

#### 38B Grant or refusal of lease in relation to application (1) If: (a) an application has been made under section 38A; and (b) the applicant has furnished any further information as and when required by the Designated Authority under subsection 38A(3); and (c) the Joint Authority is satisfied that: (i) the area comprised in the block, or any one or more of the blocks, specified in the application contains petroleum; and (ii) the recovery of petroleum from that area is not, at the time of the application, commercially viable but is likely to become commercially viable within 15 years after that time; the Joint Authority must, by written notice served on the applicant, tell the applicant that it is prepared to grant to the applicant a lease in respect of the block or blocks as to which the Joint Authority is satisfied as mentioned in paragraph (c). (2) Where an application has been made under section 38A and: (a) the applicant has not furnished any further information as and when required by the Designated Authority under subsection 38A(3); or (b) the Joint Authority is not satisfied as to the matters referred to in paragraph (1)(c) in relation to the block, or all the blocks, specified in the application; the Joint Authority shall, by instrument in writing served on the applicant, refuse to grant a lease to the applicant. (2A) If: (a) an application has been made under section 38A specifying 2 or more blocks; and (b) the Joint Authority is not satisfied as to the matters referred to in paragraph (1)(c) in relation to one or more, but not all, of the blocks; the Joint Authority must, by notice in writing served on the applicant, refuse to grant a lease to the applicant in respect of the block or blocks as to which it is not satisfied as mentioned in paragraph (1)(c). (3) An instrument under subsection (1) 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 (4) in respect of the grant of the lease. (4) An applicant 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, or within such further period, not exceeding one month, as the Designated Authority, on application in writing served on the Designated Authority before the end of the first‑mentioned period of one month, allows, by instrument in writing served on the Designated Authority, request the Joint Authority to grant the lease to the applicant. (5) Where an applicant on whom there has been served an instrument under subsection (1) has made a request under subsection (4) within the period applicable under subsection (4), the Joint Authority shall grant to the applicant a retention lease in respect of the block or blocks specified in the instrument. (6) Where an applicant on whom there has been served an instrument under subsection (1) has not made a request under subsection (4) within the period applicable under subsection (4), the application lapses upon the expiration of that period. (7) On the day on which a lease granted under this section in respect of a block or blocks comes into force, the permit in respect of the block or blocks ceases to be in force in respect of those blocks.