Petroleum Production Licences (Hansard, 27 May 1988)

§ Sir Gerard Vaughan
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if there is a minimum agreed work obligation linked to all petroleum production licences.

§ Mr. Peter Morrison
Most licences in practice include a work obligation, but there is no standard programme.

§ Sir Gerard Vaughan
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he varies or amends obligations entered into with companies to whom petroleum production licences have been granted exclusively.

§ Mr. Peter Morrison
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer my right hon. Friend gave him on 5 May 1988 at columns559–60, which details the circumstances in which amendments or variations are usually made.

§ Sir Gerard Vaughan
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy ifGazette notices are required inviting applications for petroleum production licences which have been surrendered.

§ Mr. Peter Morrison
Surrendered areas which it was proposed to offer for relicensing in a future licensing round would be included in an announcement of the round made by means of parliamentary written statement, press notice andGazette notice. Where the licence has been replaced by another form of licence, there would not be a notice inviting applications for the area.

§ Sir Gerard Vaughan
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy on what basis his Department decides to replace surrendered licences with different types of licences.

§ Mr. Peter Morrison
When considering applications for replacement of surrendered licences with different types of licences, I expect applicants to meet the requirements of the relevant regulations and to establish that it would be appropriate to award them the licence.

§ Sir Gerard Vaughan
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what mechanisms exist, where the holder of a petroleum production licence seeks to have it extended, for other applicants to be considered for the rights conferred by that licence.

§ Mr. Peter Morrison
For certain forms of production licence, I have a discretion, set out in the relevant regulations, to extend the term. I would consider all the circumstances of the case before deciding whether to extend the term. If it was decided that the licence should not be extended, then the area in question would normally be made available in a future licensing round.

§ Sir Gerard Vaughan
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy (1) if it is the practice of his Department to notify owners of land affected when an extension is sought for an existing petroleum production licence;
(2) if it is the practice of his Department to notify owners of land affected when the holder of a petroleum production licence seeks to have the licence altered materially.
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§ Mr. Peter Morrison
No. I refer my hon. Friend to the answers given by my right hon. Friend on 5 May 1988 at column558. A petroleum licence by itself does not confer on the licence holder any rights over the freeholder's land, and the position would not change if the licence were extended.

§ Sir Gerard Vaughan
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy by what the Petroleum (Production) Regulations 1976 (S.I. 1976 No. 1129) were replaced when superseded; and in what ways the regulations were varied.

§ Mr. Peter Morrison
The regulations referred to by my hon. Friend were amended by SIs 1978/929 and 1980/721 and then replaced in their entirety so far as the grant of new licences is concerned by the Petroleum (Production) Regulations 1982. In respect of seaward areas, the 1982 regulations have been amended by SIs 1984/397 and 1986/1021. For landward areas, the 1982 regulations were in turn superseded insofar as the grant of new licences was concerned by the Petroleum (Production) (Landward Areas) Regulations 1984, which are still in force. Details of the new system introduced by the 1984 regulations were given in the 1984 report to Parliament by the then Secretary of State for Energy on the development of the oil and gas resources of the United Kingdom, copies of which are available in the Library of the House.

§ Sir Gerard Vaughan
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy how his Department notifies freehold owners of land that it is the Department's intention to grant or issue a petroleum production licence in respect of their land.

§ Mr. Peter Morrison
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given of 5 May 1988 by my right hon. Friend at column 558. My hon. Friend wil also wish to note that information about the area which will be covered by new licences is given when my Department publishes a press release following every petroleum licensing round, showing the geographical areas over which I intend to issue the new licences. A notice is also published in theLondon Gazette giving the relevant co-ordinates and/or describing the extent of the areas which will be covered by the licences.