Pipelines Act 2005

A licensee may surrender a licence with the consent of the Minister.

The Minister must not give his or her consent to the surrender of a licence unless he or she is satisfied that the licensee—

has complied with all the relevant requirements of this Act in relation to the licence; and

has complied with all of the conditions that apply to the licence.

If the pipeline is to be decommissioned on the surrender of the licence, the Minister must not give his or her consent to the surrender of the licence unless—

the licensee has lodged a plan to provide for the decommissioning of the pipeline; and

the Minister is satisfied with that plan; and

the pipeline has been decommissioned in accordance with that plan.

A decommissioning plan must be prepared in accordance with the regulations and set out the prescribed information.

The Minister must not unreasonably refuse to give his or her consent under this section.

If the Minister is not satisfied as to any matter referred to in subsection (2)(a) or (2)(b), he or she may still consent to the surrender of the licence if he or she is satisfied that the failure to comply with the relevant requirement was the result of one or more events beyond the control of the licensee.