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The purpose of this Act is to regulate petroleum exploration and production in Victoria.
This Part comes into operation on the day on which this Act receives the Royal Assent.
Subject to subsection (3), the remaining provisions of this Act come into operation on a day or days to be proclaimed.
If a provision referred to in subsection (2) does not come into operation before 1 December 1999, it comes into operation on that day.
The objectives of this Act are to encourage the exploration for petroleum in Victoria and to promote petroleum production for the benefit of all Victorians by providing—
an orderly, fair and competitive system for granting authorities enabling petroleum exploration and production; and
clear and effective administrative frameworks for organising petroleum development activities; and
fiscal regimes that offer petroleum explorers a fair return while benefiting all Victorians; and
easy and effective access to information on Victoria's petroleum geology.
In encouraging petroleum exploration and production, this Act seeks to have regard to economic, social and environmental interests by ensuring—
S. 3(2)(a) amended by No. 55/2010 s. 57(1).
the efficient exploration for, and production of, petroleum; and
S. 3(2)(b) amended by No. 55/2010 s. 57(2).
that the impacts on individuals, public safety, public amenity and the environment as a result of petroleum activities will be minimised as far as is practicable; and
that land affected by petroleum activities is rehabilitated; and
that there will be just compensation for access to, and the use of, land; and
S. 3(2)(e) amended by No. 20/2020 s. 4(a).
that petroleum explorers and producers will comply with all authority conditions that apply to them; and
S. 3(2)(f) inserted by No. 20/2020 s. 4(b).
that the views and interests of Victorians are taken into consideration during decision making.
In this Act—
S. 4 def. of authority amended by No. 57/2009 s. 35(b).
authority means an exploration permit, a retention lease, a production licence, special access authorisation or a special drilling authorisation;
Crown land means land that is, or that is by any Act deemed to be, unalienated land of the Crown, and includes—
land of the Crown that is reserved permanently or temporarily by or under any Act; and
land of the Crown occupied by a person under a lease, licence or other right under this or any other Act—
but does not include—
native title land that is not also wilderness Crown land; or
land that is subject to a licence granted under Part 3A of the Victorian Plantations Corporation Act 1993;
S. 4 def. of current authority holder inserted by No. 57/2009 s. 35(a).
current authority holder means a holder of a primary authorisation;
S. 4 def. of Department amended by Nos 56/2003 s. 11(Sch. item 14), 70/2013 s. 4(Sch. 2 item 34), 20/2020 s. 5(1), 41/2025 s. 4(Sch. 2 item 21).
Department means the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action;
S. 4 def. of drilling authorisation area inserted by No. 57/2009 s. 35(a).
drilling authorisation area means the area specified in a special drilling authorisation granted under Part 6A;
gathering line has the meaning set out in section 82;
S. 4 def. of good oil-field practice repealed by No. 55/2010 s. 58.
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S. 4 def. of hydraulic fracturing inserted by No. 8/2017 s. 8.
hydraulic fracturing means the injection of a substance or substances into a bore under pressure for the purposes of stimulating a geological formation;
improvement notice means a notice issued under section 216;
inspector means a person authorised by the Minister under section 198 to act as an inspector;
Native Title Act means the Native Title Act 1993 of the Commonwealth;
native title land means land in which native title (within the meaning of the Native Title Act) may exist;
S. 4 def. of offshore area inserted by No. 64/2012 s. 46(1).
offshore area has the same meaning as in the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2010;
S. 4 def. of offshore petroleum exploration permit inserted by No. 64/2012 s. 46(1).
offshore petroleum exploration permit means a petroleum exploration permit within the meaning of the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2010;
S. 4 def. of offshore petroleum production licence inserted by No. 64/2012 s. 46(1).
offshore petroleum production licence means a petroleum production licence within the meaning of the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2010;
S. 4 def. of offshore petroleum retention lease inserted by No. 64/2012 s. 46(1).
offshore petroleum retention lease means a petroleum retention lease within the meaning of the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2010;
owner means—
in relation to land that is subject to a licence granted under Part 3A of the Victorian Plantations Corporation Act 1993, the licensee of that land under that Part;
in relation to native title land, the native title holder (within the meaning of the Native Title Act) of the land;
parks Crown land means any land that is a national, State or other park under the National Parks Act 1975;
petroleum has the meaning set out in section 6;
petroleum exploration has the meaning set out in section 7;
petroleum operation means any activity relating to petroleum exploration or to petroleum production;
petroleum pool means a naturally occurring discrete accumulation of petroleum;
petroleum production has the meaning set out in section 8;
petroleum register means the register established under Division 1 of Part 14;
S. 4 def. of primary authorisation inserted by No. 57/2009 s. 35(a), substituted by No. 64/2012 s. 46(2).
primary authorisation means—
an exploration permit; or
a retention lease; or
a production licence; or
an offshore petroleum exploration permit; or
an offshore petroleum retention lease; or
an offshore petroleum production licence;
private land means land that is not Crown land or native title land;
prohibition notice means a notice issued under section 217;
S. 4 defs of P(SL)A lease, P(SL)A licence, P(SL)A permit inserted by No. 57/2009 s. 35(a), repealed by No. 64/2012 s. 46(3).
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reservoir means an underground natural reservoir that is suitable for the storage of petroleum;
S. 4 def. of restricted Crown land amended by No. 63/2006 s. 61(Sch. item 27).
restricted Crown land means any land specified in Schedule 3 to the Mineral Resources (Sustainable Development) Act 1990;
retention period means a period of 60 days after the seizure of a thing under this Act;
S. 4 def. of Secretary inserted by No. 20/2020 s. 5(2).
Secretary means the Department Head, within the meaning of the Public Administration Act 2004, of the Department;
Tribunal means the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal;
unit development agreement means an agreement made under Division 9 of Part 5;
unrestricted Crown land means any Crown land other than wilderness Crown land, parks Crown land and restricted Crown land;
vary, in relation to the conditions of an authority, includes adding conditions to, and removing conditions from, the authority;
well means a hole in the sub-soil made by drilling, boring or any other means in connection with a petroleum operation, but does not include a seismic shot hole;
well-head has the meaning set out in section 151;
wilderness Crown land means land that is a reference area under the Reference Areas Act 1978 or that is a wilderness zone or wilderness park under the National Parks Act 1975;
work program has the meaning set out in section 97.
A reference in this Act to a permit area, a lease area, a licence area, an authorisation area or an authority area is a reference to the area to which the permit, lease, licence, authorisation or authority applies at the relevant time.
A reference in this Act to this Act includes a reference to the regulations.
Without limiting section 37(a) of the Interpretation of Legislation Act 1984, a reference in this Act to a person using a neuter pronoun is not to be taken to indicate that an individual is not included as well as any other person, unless the contrary intention appears.
For the purposes of this Act, a person carries out a petroleum operation by starting, or continuing to carry on, the operation.
Petroleum is—
any naturally occurring hydrocarbon (whether in a gaseous, liquid or solid state); or
any naturally occurring mixture of hydrocarbons (whether in a gaseous, liquid or solid state); or
any naturally occurring mixture of one or more hydrocarbons (whether in a gaseous, liquid or solid state), and one or more of the following: hydrogen sulphide, nitrogen, helium or carbon dioxide.
For the purposes of this Act—
petroleum includes any petroleum as defined by subsection (1)(a), (b) or (c), and any petroleum product specified by the regulations for the purposes of this section, that has been returned to a reservoir in Victoria; but
petroleum does not include any naturally occurring hydrocarbon, or mixture of hydrocarbons, within a deposit of coal or oil shale.
Petroleum exploration is the carrying out of one or more of the following activities for the purpose of finding petroleum or reservoirs—
conducting geological, geophysical and geochemical surveys;
making wells;
taking samples for the purposes of chemical or other analysis;
extracting petroleum from land for the purpose of determining whether it will be viable to extract it commercially.
Petroleum production is—
the extraction of petroleum from land for the purpose of producing it commercially;
the injection and storage of petroleum in reservoirs for the purpose of later recovering it;
the recovering of petroleum from reservoirs into which the petroleum was previously injected;
any activity incidental to any activity listed in paragraph (a), (b) or (c), including the processing of petroleum and transportation of petroleum within the area in which the petroleum is being produced.
This Act binds the Crown in right of Victoria and, so far as the legislative power of the Parliament permits, the Crown in all its other capacities.
S. 10 amended by No. 107/2004 s. 183.
If this Act makes provision in relation to a matter and provision is also made in relation to that matter by, or under, the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 or the Dangerous Goods Act 1985, the provision made by this Act—
if not inconsistent with that other provision, must be observed in addition to that other provision; and
if inconsistent with that other provision, is, to the extent of the inconsistency, of no force or effect and that other provision prevails.
This Act applies to all land in Victoria, other than land that is within the area defined as the offshore area in the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2010.
Despite section 11, the Minister may, by notice published in the Government Gazette and registered in the petroleum register, exempt any land from the application of some or all of the provisions of this Act.
The Minister may do this—
to protect the land for significant environmental reasons; or
to protect significant commercial or economic activity; or
for any other reason the Minister considers to be appropriate.
The Minister may, by notice published in the Government Gazette and registered in the petroleum register, revoke any exemption granted under this section.