Petroleum Act 1936

In this Act, subject to the context —

Aerial survey means the examination of the earth’s surface by an observer in an aeroplane or other apparatus capable of maintaining itself in the air without the aid of solid support, and the delineation of features visible on the earth’s surface, whether by means of photography or any other method.

Casinghead petroleum spirit means any liquid hydrocarbons obtained from natural gas by separation or by any chemical or physical process.

Crown land means all land which has not been dedicated to any public purpose, or reserved, or which has not been granted in fee or lawfully contracted to be so granted, or which is not held under lease for any purpose except pastoral or timber purposes. The term includes commons, State forests, timber reserves, and any reserve declared by the Governor to be Crown land for the purposes of this Act, and all land between high and low-water mark on the sea shore and on the margin of tidal rivers and below low-water mark, and also includes the sea-bed and subsoil of the submarine areas contiguous to the coast of Western Australia and its Dependencies to the extent seawards to which State jurisdiction for the time being extends.

Department means the Department of Mines.

Drilling means the perforation of the earth’s surface crust by mechanical means not involving the descent of workmen into the hole caused by such perforation and whether such hole is vertical, inclined or horizontal. The term also includes all operations for preventing collapse of the sides of the hole made by drilling or for preventing such hole from being filled with extraneous materials including water.

Gas means natural gaseous hydrocarbons, whether associated with oil or not.

Geologist means a person who has received such training in the science of geology as the Minister may require, and who has been approved in writing by the Minister as a fit and proper person to carry out geological surveys under and for the purposes of this Act.

Geological survey includes the examination of areas in the field, the collection of necessary specimens of rocks and other materials, investigations in the laboratory, the preparation of maps and geological sections, and all other operations essential for the determination of the geological structure of any such area.

Geophysical survey means the examination of an area with the aid of accurate instruments of a prescribed type, with the object of determining some or all of the physical constituents of geological formation at or below the surface of the earth in such area.

Minister means the Minister for Mines, or the responsible Minister of the Crown for the time being charged with the administration of the Mining Act 1904.

Natural gas means gas obtained from bore holes and consisting primarily of hydrocarbons.

Payable, as applied to petroleum, means petroleum of such quantity and quality that it can under ordinary circumstances be obtained or produced with profit.

Permit to explore means a permit to explore with a view to the discovery of petroleum.

Petroleum includes all naturally occurring hydrocarbons in a free state, whether solid, liquid, or gaseous, and oxidation products thereof, which are contained in the rocks of the earth’s crust and which are capable of extraction therefrom by purely mechanical methods not involving the application of heat or chemical processes.

Petroleum deposit means any accumulation of petroleum at or below the surface of the earth.

Private land means any land which has been or may hereafter be alienated from the Crown for any estate of freehold, or is or may hereafter be the subject of any conditional purchase agreement, or of any lease or concession with or without the right of acquiring the fee simple thereof, other than for pastoral or timber purposes.

Producing well means a bore hole drilled with the object of obtaining petroleum from a petroleum deposit.

Prospect or to prospect means to search for a petroleum deposit.

Reconnaissance survey means a rapid preliminary examination of an area in less detail than is required for a geological survey.

Sand includes any geological formation sufficiently porous to contain or absorb appreciable quantities of free petroleum, water, or gaseous substances.

Scout drilling means the drilling of bore holes for the purpose of procuring scientific information, and not with the immediate object of obtaining payable petroleum.

Test well means a bore hole drilled with the object of determining the presence or absence of petroleum at a particular locality.

Warden means the person for the time being holding office as Under Secretary for Mines for the purposes of the Mining Act 1904, and includes a stipendiary, police, or resident magistrate to whom the warden may at any time temporarily delegate his powers as warden under and for the purposes of this Act.

Water shut-off means all operations necessary for the exclusion of water from any source from any portion of a bore hole drilled in any area which may contain petroleum.

[Section 4 amended: No. 8 of 1940 s. 4; No. 66 of 1954 s. 2.]