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Appointment of operators
     24.  - (1) The Licensee shall ensure that another person (including, in the case where the Licensee is two or more persons, any of those persons) does not exercise any function of organising or supervising all or any of the operations of searching or boring for or getting petroleum in pursuance of this licence unless that other person is a person approved in writing by the Minister and the function in question is one to which that approval relates.

    (2) The Minister shall not refuse to give his approval of a person in pursuance of paragraph (1) of this clause if that person is competent to exercise the function in question, but where an approved person is no longer competent to exercise that function the Minister may, by notice in writing given to the Licensee, revoke his approval.

Fishing and navigation
     25. The Licensee shall not carry out any operations authorised by this licence in or about the licensed area in such manner as to interfere unjustifiably with navigation or fishing in the waters of the licensed area or with the conservation of the living resources of the sea.

Training
     27.  - (1) The Minister may from time to time give to the Licensee instructions in writing as to the training of persons employed or to be employed, whether by the Licensee or by any other person, in any activity which is related to the exercise of the rights granted by this licence and the Licensee shall ensure that any instructions so given are complied with.

    (2) The Minister shall not give instructions in pursuance of paragraph (1) of this clause unless he has consulted as to the provisions proposed to be included in such instructions the Petroleum Industry Training Board or such other body of a like nature as may from time to time be carrying on activities of a substantially similar kind to those at present performed by the said Board.

    (3) The Licensee shall furnish the Minister with such information relating to the training of persons referred to in paragraph (1) of this clause as the Minister may from time to time request.

Unit development
     28.  - (1) If at any time in which this licence is in force the Minister shall be satisfied that the strata in the licensed area or any part thereof form part of a single geological petroleum structure or petroleum field (hereinafter referred to as "an oil field") other parts whereof are formed by strata in areas in respect of which other licences granted in pursuance of - 

(a) the Act of 1934, or

(b) that Act as applied by the Act of 1964, or

(c) Part I of the Act of 1998,

are then in force and the Minister shall consider that it is in the national interest in order to secure the maximum ultimate recovery of petroleum and in order to avoid unnecessary competitive drilling that the oil field should be worked and developed as a unit in co-operation by all persons including the Licensee whose licences extend to or include any part thereof the following provisions of this clause shall apply.

    (2) Upon being so required by notice in writing by the Minister the Licensee shall co-operate with such other persons, being persons holding licences under - 

(a) the Act of 1934, or

(b) that Act as applied by the Act of 1964, or

(c) Part I of the Act of 1998,

in respect of any part or parts of the oil field (hereinafter referred to as "the other Licensees") as may be specified in the said notice in the preparation of a scheme (hereinafter referred to as "a development scheme") for the working and development of the oil field as a unit by the Licensee and the other Licensees in co-operation, and shall, jointly with the other Licensees, submit such scheme for the approval of the Minister.

    (3) The said notice shall also contain or refer to a description of the area or areas in respect of which the Minister requires a development scheme to be submitted and shall state the period within which such scheme is to be submitted for approval by the Minister.

    (4) If a development scheme shall not be submitted to the Minister within the period so stated or if a development scheme so submitted shall not be approved by the Minister, the Minister may himself prepare a development scheme which shall be fair and equitable to the Licensee and all other Licensees, and the Licensee shall perform and observe all the terms and conditions thereof.

    (5) If the Licensee shall object to any such development scheme prepared by the Minister he may within 28 days from the date on which notice in writing of the said scheme shall have been given to him by the Minister refer the matter to arbitration in the manner provided by clause 43 of this licence.

    (6) Any such development scheme or the award of any arbitrator in relation thereto shall have regard to any direction pursuant to clause 29 of this licence in force at the date of such scheme.

Directions as to oil fields across boundaries
     29.  - (1) Where the Minister is satisfied that any strata in the licensed area or any part thereof form part of an oil field, other parts whereof are in an area to which the Minister's powers to grant licences pursuant to Part I of the Act of 1998 do not apply, and the Minister is satisfied that it is expedient that the oil field should be worked and developed as a unit in co-operation by the Licensee and all other persons having an interest in any part of the oil field, the Minister may from time to time by notice in writing give to the Licensee such directions as the Minister may think fit, as to the manner in which the rights conferred by this licence shall be exercised.

    (2) The Licensee shall observe and perform all such requirements in relation to the licensed area as may be specified in any such direction.

    (3) Any such direction may add to, vary or revoke the provisions of a development scheme.

Licensee to keep records
     31.  - (1) The Licensee shall keep accurate records in a form from time to time approved by the Minister of the drilling, deepening, plugging or abandonment of all wells and of any alterations in the casing thereof. Such records shall contain particulars of the following matters - 

(a) the site of and number assigned to every well;

(b) the subsoil and strata through which the well was drilled;

(c) the casing inserted in any well and any alteration to such casing;

(d) any petroleum, water, mines or workable seams of coal encountered, and

(e) such other matters as the Minister may from time to time direct.

    (2) The Licensee shall keep in the United Kingdom accurate geological plans and maps relating to the licensed area and such other records in relation thereto as may be necessary to preserve all information which the Licensee has about the geology of the licensed area.

    (3) The Licensee shall deliver copies of the said records, plans and maps referred to in the two foregoing paragraphs to the Minister when requested to do so either - 

(a) within any time limit specified in the request; or

(b) if there is no time limit specified, within four weeks of the request.

Returns
     32.  - (1) The Licensee shall furnish to the Minister three months from the date of this licence and at intervals of three months thereafter during the period in which this licence is in force a return in a form from time to time approved by the Minister of the progress of his operations in the licensed area. Such return shall contain - 

(a) a statement of all geological work, including surveys and tests, which has been carried out and the areas in which and the persons by whom the work has been carried out and the results thereof;

(b) the number assigned to each well, and in the case of any well the drilling of which was begun or the number of which has been changed during such period of three months, the site thereof;

(c) a statement of the depth drilled in each well;

(d) a statement of any petroleum, water, mines or workable seams of coal or other minerals encountered in the course of the said operations; and

(e) a statement of all petroleum won and saved.

    (2) Within two months after the end of each calendar year in which this licence is in force and within two months after the expiration or determination of this licence or any renewal thereof the Licensee shall furnish to the Minister an annual return in a form from time to time approved by the Minister of the operations conducted in the licensed area during that year or the period prior to such expiration or determination as the case may be together with a plan upon a scale approved by the Minister showing the situation of all wells. The Licensee shall also indicate on the said plan all development and other works executed by him in connection with searching, boring for or getting petroleum.

    (3) The Licensee shall furnish the Minister with such information as the Minister may from time to time request about any aspect of activities of the Licensee which are attributable directly or indirectly to the grant of this licence, except that the Licensee shall not by virtue of this paragraph be required to furnish information in respect of his activities in connection with any crude oil after he has appropriated it for refining by him.

    (4) The Licensee shall comply with any request for information made in accordance with paragraph (3) about either - 

(a) within any time limit specified in the request; or

(b) if there is no time limit specified, within four weeks of the request.

    (5) The functions of the Minister under paragraph (3) above shall not only be exercisable by him but also be concurrently exerciseable by the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Licensee to keep samples
     33.  - (1) As far as reasonably practicable the Licensee shall correctly label and preserve for reference for a period of five years samples of the sea bed and of the strata encountered in any well and samples of any petroleum or water discovered in any well in the licensed area.

    (2) The Licensee shall not dispose of any sample after the expiry of the said period of five years unless - 

(a) he has at least six months before the date of the disposal given notice in writing to the Minister of his intention to dispose of the sample; and

(b) the Minister or any person authorised by him has not within the said period of six months informed the Licensee in writing that he wishes the sample to be delivered to him.

    (3) The Minister or any person authorised by him shall be entitled at any time - 

(a) to inform the Licensee in writing that he wishes part of any sample preserved by the Licensee to be delivered to him; or

(b) to inspect and analyse any sample preserved by the Licensee.

    (4) The Licensee shall forthwith comply with any request for the delivery of the whole or any part of any sample which is made in accordance with the preceding provisions of this clause.

Reports to be treated as confidential
     34. All records, returns, plans, maps, samples, accounts and information (in this clause referred to as "the specified data") which the Licensee is or may be from time to time required to furnish under the provisions of this licence shall be supplied at the expense of the Licensee and shall not (except with the consent in writing of the Licensee which shall not be unreasonably withheld) be disclosed to any person not in the service or employment of the Crown:

Provided that - 

(i) the Minister shall be entitled at any time to make use of any of the specified data for the purpose of preparing and publishing such returns and reports as may be required of the Minister by law;

(ii) the Minister shall be entitled at any time to furnish any of the specified data to the Natural Environment Research Council and to any other body of a like nature as may from time to time be carrying on activities of a substantially similar kind to the geological activities at present carried on by the said Council;

(iii) the Minister, the said Council and any such other body shall be entitled at any time to prepare and publish reports and surveys of a general nature using information derived from any of the specified data;

(iv) the Minister, the said Council and any other such body shall be entitled to publish any of the specified data of a geological, scientific or technical kind either - 


(a) after the expiration of the period of five years beginning with the date when the data was due to be supplied to the Minister in accordance with clause 31 or 32 of this licence, or if earlier, the date when the Minister received that data; or

(b) after the expiration of such longer period as the Minister may determine after considering any representations made to him by the Licensee about the publication of data in pursuance of this sub-paragraph.

Inspection of records etc.
     35. The Licensee shall - 

(a) permit any person in the service or employment of the Crown who is appointed by the Minister for the purpose to inspect, and to take copies of and make notes from, all books, papers, maps and other records of any kind kept by the Licensee in pursuance of this licence or in connection with activities about which the Minister is entitled to obtain information in pursuance of clauses 27(3) and 32(3) of this licence; and

(b) furnish that person at reasonable times with such information and provide him at reasonable times with such reasonable assistance as he may request in connection with or arising out of an inspection in pursuance of this clause.

Rights of access
     36. Any person or persons authorised by the Minister shall be entitled at all reasonable times to enter into and upon any of the Licensee's installations or equipment used or to be used in connection with searching, boring for or getting petroleum in the licensed area for the purpose hereinafter mentioned - 

(a) to examine the installations, wells, plant, appliances and works made or executed by the Licensee in pursuance of the licence and the state of repair and condition thereof; and

(b) to execute any works or to provide and install any equipment which the Minister may be entitled to execute or provide and install in accordance with the provisions hereof.

Power to execute works
     37. If the Licensee shall at any time fail to perform the obligations arising under the terms and conditions of any of clauses 14, 19, 22 and 23 of this licence, the Minister shall be entitled, after giving to the Licensee reasonable notice in writing of such his intention, to execute any works and to provide and install any equipment which in the opinion of the Minister may be necessary to secure the performance of the said obligations or any of them and to recover the costs and expenses of so doing from the Licensee.

Right of distress
     38. If and whenever any of the payments mentioned in clause 9(1) of this licence or any part thereof shall be in arrear or unpaid for 28 days next after any of the days whereon the same ought to be paid (whether the same shall have been legally demanded or not) then and so often as the same may happen the Minister may (as an additional remedy and without prejudice to any other rights and remedies to which he would be entitled) enter into and upon any of the Licensee's installations and equipment used or to be used in connection with searching, boring for or getting petroleum in the licensed area and may seize and distrain and sell as a landlord may do for rent in arrear all or any of the stocks of petroleum, engines, machinery, tools, implements, chattels and effects belonging to the Licensee which shall be found in or upon or about the installations and equipment so entered upon and out of the moneys arising from the sale of such distress may retain and pay all the arrears of the said payments and also the costs and expenses incident to any such distress and sale rendering the surplus (if any) to the Licensee.

Indemnity against third party claims
     39. The Licensee shall at all times keep the Minister effectually indemnified against all actions, proceedings, costs, charges, claims and demands whatsoever which may be made or brought against the Minister by any third party in relation to or in connection with this licence or any matter or thing done or purported to be done in pursuance thereof.

Advertisements, prospectuses etc.
     40. No statement shall be made either in any notice, advertisement, prospectus or other document issued by or to the knowledge of the Licensee or in any other manner claiming or suggesting whether expressly or by implication that Her Majesty or any Government Department or any person or body acting on behalf of Her Majesty has or have formed or expressed any opinion that the licensed area is from its geological formation or otherwise one in which petroleum is likely to be obtainable.

Restrictions on assignment, etc.
     41.  - (1) The Licensee shall not, except with the consent in writing of the Minister and in accordance with the conditions (if any) of the consent do anything whatsoever whereby, under the law (including the rules of equity) of any part of the United Kingdom or of any other place, any right granted by this licence or derived from a right so granted becomes exercisable by or for the benefit of or in accordance with the directions of another person.

    (2) An agreement permitting the carrying out of geological surveys by physical or chemical means in the licensed area otherwise than by drilling is not prohibited by paragraph (1) of this clause if the person by whom such surveys are to be carried out is - 

(a) the holder of a licence granted by the Minister of the right, in common with all other persons to whom the like right may have been granted, to search for petroleum in respect of an area which would include the licensed area, but for a proviso therein excluding the exercise of such rights in the licensed area without the consent of the Licensee; or

(b) the holder of a licence granted by the Minister to search and bore for, and get, petroleum in an area adjacent to the licensed area;

and if the information intended to be obtained by such survey is reasonably necessary to enable that holder more efficiently to exercise the rights granted by the licence which he holds from the Minister.

    (3) The Licensee shall not enter into any agreement providing for a person other than the Licensee to become entitled to, or to any proceeds of sale of, any petroleum which, at the time when the agreement is made, has not been but may be won and saved from the licensed area unless the terms of the agreement have been approved in writing by the Minister either unconditionally or subject to conditions, but the preceding provisions of this paragraph do not apply to - 

(a) an agreement for the sale of such petroleum under which the price is payable after the petroleum is won and saved; and

(b) an agreement in so far as it provides that, after any petroleum has been won and saved from the licensed area, it shall be exchanged for other petroleum.

    (4) The Licensee shall not, without the consent of the Minister, dispose of any petroleum won and saved in the licensed area or any proceeds of sale of such petroleum in such a manner that the disposal does, to the knowledge of the Licensee or without his knowing it, fulfil or enable another person to fulfil obligations which a person who controls the Licensee, or a person who is controlled by a person who controls the Licensee, is required to fulfil by an agreement which, if the person required to fulfil the obligations were the Licensee, would be an agreement of which the terms require approval by virtue of paragraph (3) of this clause; and subsections (2) and (4) to (6) of section 416 of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988[108] shall apply, for the purposes of determining whether for the purposes of this paragraph a person has control of another person, with the following modifications, namely - 

(a) for the words "the greater part" wherever they occur in the said subsection (2) there shall be substituted the words "one-third or more"; and

(b) in the said subsection (6), for the word "may" there shall be substituted the word "shall", the words from "and such attributions" onwards shall be omitted and in the other provisions of that subsection any reference to an associate of a person shall be construed as including only a relative of his (as defined by section 417(4) of that Act), a partner of his and a trustee of a settlement (as defined by section 681(4) of that Act) of which he is a beneficiary.

    (5) Where the Licensee is two or more persons, then, without prejudice to the preceding provisions of this clause, none of those persons shall enter into an agreement with respect to the entitlement of any of them to - 

(a) the benefit of any right granted by this licence; or

(b) any petroleum won and saved from the licensed area; or

(c) any proceeds of sale of such petroleum,

unless the terms of the agreement have been approved in writing by the Minister, but the preceding provisions of this paragraph do not apply to an agreement for the sale of such petroleum under which the price is payable after the petroleum is won and saved and an agreement in so far as it provides that, after any petroleum has been won and saved from the licensed area, it shall be exchanged for other petroleum.

Power of revocation
     42.  - (1) If any of the events specified in the following paragraph shall occur then and in any such case the Minister may revoke this licence and thereupon the same and all the rights hereby granted shall cease and determine but subject nevertheless and without prejudice to any obligation or liability incurred by the Licensee or imposed upon him by or under the terms and conditions hereof.

    (2) The events referred to in the foregoing paragraph are - 

(a) any payments mentioned in clause 9(1) of this licence or any part thereof being in arrear or unpaid for two months next after any of the days whereon the same ought to have been paid;

(b) any breach or non-observance by the Licensee of any of the terms and conditions of this licence;

(c) the bankruptcy of the Licensee;

(d) the making by the Licensee of any arrangement or composition with his creditors;

(e) if the Licensee is a company, the appointment of a receiver or any liquidation whether compulsory or voluntary;

(f) any breach or non-observance by the Licensee of the terms and conditions of a development scheme;

(g) if the Licensee is a company, the Licensee's ceasing to direct and control either - 


(i) its operations under the licence; or

(ii) any commercial activities in connection with those operations from a fixed place within the United Kingdom;



(h) any breach of a condition subject to which the Minister gave his approval in pursuance of clause 41(3) of this licence;

(i) any breach of clause 41(5) of this licence;

and where two or more persons are the Licensee any reference to the Licensee in sub-paragraphs (c) to (g) of this paragraph is a reference to any of those persons.

    (3) The Minister may revoke this licence, with the like consequences as are mentioned in paragraph (1) of this clause, if - 

(a) the Licensee is a company; and

(b) there is a change in the control of the Licensee; and

(c) the Minister serves notice in writing on the Licensee stating that the Minister proposes to revoke this licence in pursuance of this paragraph unless such a further change in the control of the Licensee as is specified in the notice takes place within the period of three months beginning with the date of service of the notice; and

(d) that further change does not take place within that period.

    (4) There is a change in the control of the Licensee for the purposes of paragraph (3)(b) of this clause whenever a person has control of the Licensee who did not have control of the Licensee when this licence was granted; and subsections (2) and (4) to (6) of section 416 of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 shall apply, for the purpose of determining whether for the purposes of this paragraph a person has or had control of the Licensee, with the modifications specified in clause 41(4) of this licence.

    (5) Where two or more persons are the Licensee and any of them is a company, paragraphs (3) and (4) of this clause shall have effect as if - 

(a) sub-paragraph (a) of paragraph (3) were omitted;

(b) in sub-paragraph (b) of that paragraph, after the word "of" there were inserted the words "any company included among the persons who together constitute"; and

(c) for the word "Licensee" in any other provision of those paragraphs there were substituted the word "company".

Arbitration
     43.  - (1) If at any time any dispute, difference or question shall arise between the Minister and the Licensee as to any matter arising under or by virtue of this licence or as to their respective rights and liabilities in respect thereof then the same shall, except where it is expressly provided by this licence that the matter or thing to which the same relates is to be determined, decided, directed, approved or consented to by the Minister, be referred to arbitration as provided by the following paragraph.

    (2) The arbitration referred to in the foregoing paragraph shall be by a single arbitrator who, in default of agreement between the Minister and the Licensee and, in the case of arbitration in relation to a development scheme, other Licensees affected by that scheme, as to his appointment, shall be appointed by the Lord Chief Justice of England for the time being.