Petroleum and Minerals Authority Act 1973 (Cth)

PETROLEUM AND MINERALS AUTHORITY ACT 1973

No. 43 of 1974

An Act to establish a Petroleum and Minerals Authority.

BE IT ENACTED by the Queen, the Senate and the House of Representatives of Australia, as follows:—

PART I—PRELIMINARY

Short title. 1. This Act may be cited as the Petroleum and Minerals Authority Act 1973.

Commencement 2. This Act shall come into operation on a date to be fixed by Proclamation.

Interpretation. 3. In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears— "approved bank" means a bank approved by the Treasurer; "Australian continental land mass" means so much of the morphological unit of which Australia forms part as comprises Australia and the part of that unit surrounding Australia extending to the outer boundary of the continental shelf, within the meaning of the Convention, adjacent to that coast, that is to say— (a) subject to paragraph (b), to the foot of the continental rise or, in any place where there is no continental rise, to the foot of the continental slope; and (b) in any place where the outer boundary of the continental shelf, within the meaning of the Convention, adjacent to the coast of Australia has, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, been determined by agreement between Australia and another country—to that boundary, but does not include— (c) Papua New Guinea; or (d) a part of that morphological unit adjacent to Papua New Guinea declared by Proclamation to be excluded from the Australian continental land mass; "Authority" means the Petroleum and Minerals Authority established by this Act

"Chairman" means the Chairman of the Authority, and includes a person acting as the Chairman of the Authority; "construction material" means sand, clay, stone, earth or gravel; "Convention" means the Convention entitled "Convention on the Continental Shelf" signed at Geneva on 29 April 1958; "Executive Member" means the Executive Member of the Authority, and includes a person acting as the Executive Member of the Authority; "member" means a member of the Authority, and includes a person acting as a member of the Authority; "mineral" means a naturally occurring substance or mixture of substances (other than petroleum); "minerals exploration area" means an area on the Australian continental land mass declared, by a notice under section 43 that is in force, to be a minerals exploration area for the purposes of this Act; "part-time member" means a member of the Authority appointed to be a part-time member, and includes a person acting as a part time member of the Authority; "petrochemical" means a substance, whether in a gaseous, liquid or solid state, but not being a petroleum product, manufactured from any of, or from a mixture of any of, the following sub­stances, that is to say, a petroleum product, petroleum or a petroliferous mineral; "petroleum" means— (a) any naturally occurring hydrocarbon, whether in a gaseous, liquid or solid state; (b) any naturally occurring mixture of hydrocarbons, whether in a gaseous, liquid or solid state; or (c) any naturally occurring mixture of a hydrocarbon or hydrocarbons, whether in a gaseous, liquid or solid state, and one or more of the following, that is to say, hydrogen sulphide, nitrogen, helium and carbon dioxide; "petroleum exploration area" means an area on the Australian con­tinental land mass declared, by a notice under section 43 that is in force, to be a petroleum exploration area for the purposes of this Act; "petroleum pool" means a naturally occurring accumulation of petroleum; "petroleum product" means— (a) any hydrocarbon or mixture of hydrocarbons produced by subjecting petroleum to a process of refining or produced from petroliferous minerals; or (b) any mixture of a hydrocarbon or hydrocarbons so produced with another substance or other substances;