Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1982

The registered holder of an instrument, being a permit, licence or pipeline licence, may, at any time, by application in writing served on the Minister, apply for consent to surrender the instrument—

in the case of a permit or licence—as to all or some of the blocks in respect of which it is in force; or

in the case of a pipeline licence—as to the whole or a part of the pipeline in respect of which it is in force.

Subject to subsection (3), the Minister shall not give his or her consent to a surrender of an instrument under subsection (1) unless the registered holder—

has paid all fees and amounts payable by the registered holder under this Act, or has made arrangements that are satisfactory to the Minister for the payment of those fees and amounts; and

has complied with the conditions to which the instrument is subject and with the provisions of this part and of the regulations; and

has, to the satisfaction of the Minister, removed or caused to be removed from the area to which the surrender relates all property brought into that area by any person engaged or concerned in the operations authorised by the instrument, or has made arrangements that are satisfactory to the Minister with respect to that property; and

has, to the satisfaction of the Minister, plugged or closed off all wells made in that area by any person engaged or concerned in the operations authorised by the instrument; and

subject to this part and to the regulations, has made provision, to the satisfaction of the Minister, for the conservation and protection of the natural resources in that area; and

has, to the satisfaction of the Minister, made good any damage to the seabed or subsoil in that area caused by any person engaged or concerned in the operations authorised by the instrument;

Where the registered holder of an instrument, being a permit, licence or pipeline licence, has not complied with the conditions to which the instrument is subject and with the provisions of this part and of the regulations, the Minister may give his or her consent to a surrender of the instrument under subsection (1) if the Minister is satisfied that, although the registered holder has not so complied, special circumstances exist that justify the giving of consent to the surrender.

Where the Minister consents to an application under subsection (1), the applicant may, by instrument in writing served on the Minister, surrender the instrument accordingly.

In this section—

in relation to a surrender of a permit or licence—the area constituted by the blocks as to which the permit or licence is proposed to be surrendered; and

in relation to a surrender of a pipeline licence—the part of the adjacent area in which the pipeline, or the part of the pipeline, as to which the pipeline licence is proposed to be surrendered is constructed.